Green's Camera World

Zero stars!! I bought a 100-400mm Nikkor lens on Amazon through Green's Camera World and got SCAMMED. I paid full price for this scam lens, marketed as new. When I received it, I attempted to register it with Nikon. I called their tech support line and they told me the serial number was bogus. Apparently a fake serial number sticker (see photo) covered the actual serial number and when I removed the sticker, it revealed a different serial number engraved on the lens body. According to Nikon, the engraved serial number on this lens has been used on two other lens, neither of which is the actual lens I purchased. Essentially I got ripped off! I feel violated, and unfortunately, unless you know the vendor is legitimate, such as Adorama or B&H Photo, you leave yourself open for exploitation. I've started the process of getting a refund, but I've got to waste time and resources to do so. BE CAREFUL!! Shame on you Green's for pilfering this junk!!

Phenomenal customer service. I went in looking for an old PC flash cable, but they were fresh out. The staff were so helpful, they even went through some yet-to-be sorted cables that had just come in to see if they had another one in back. They then took my name and phone number for when they get it back in stock, and called me a few weeks later to let me know they had one for me. Really kind helpful people here who know a ton about all kinds of old and new cameras. Thank you Roman and everyone else who helped me out! You guys are the best!

THEY LOST MY MEMORIES AND RUINED MY FILM!!!!! USE CAUTION WHEN DOING BUSINESS HERE. Incredibly disappointed in the service and will not be bringing any film here for processing EVER again. I dropped off four disposable cameras, and I was not asked if the film was B&W or color. The shop assumed it was color and ruined all four spools of film. My memories from my vacation, trip and bachelorette party are all gone now. I will never get those back thanks to this store. They easily could’ve called me to confirm the film type, googled the type of camera, or processed one test roll first before proceeding to process the remaining three film rolls. Especially considering they told me they were uncertain of the film type. Unprofessional, lazy and incompetent. DON’T bring your film here unless you want to lose all your memories and photos.

I had a camera rewind my film early, then stop working when I messed with the battery. Staff member at the desk helped me get it running again (I just had the battery in incorrectly!) and also did a quick clean of the inside for me, to try to combat that issue in the future. Developed some prints, too, and they turned out great, at least by my standards. Maybe some reviewers are right that you could find some film stock cheaper elsewhere, but having a local store like this is priceless IMO.

The store is nice, with a lot of good equipment, and the staff are somewhat knowledgeable and helpful. However, if you are looking to buy film or drop it off for development, go somewhere else. To start, their film prices are unreasonably high. A roll of Kodak Ultramax 400 cost me $15, which would have only cost $9 online or at another shop. If you have the ability to buy your film somewhere else I would highly suggest doing so. When it comes to developing film things get even worse. The price isn’t bad, but the results are well below average. My roll of black and white film was underdeveloped, resulting in flat images lacking depth and contrast. The scans were very low resolution and therefore lacked detail. You might doubt my claims, but I worked in a darkroom and have developed and scanned hundreds of rolls of film. I have also been shooting film for years and I shot this particular roll on a Leica. I am positive that my film was not improperly exposed and that any lack of detail was not a result of my equipment. I would have loved to leave a good review for this shop. I always try to shop at local business, but I can’t support a service that just isn’t up to par. My review might seem harsh, but I’m just being honest. I just went through a big move so I don’t have my own chemicals set up, but it seems I’ll just have to continue processing and scanning my own film from now on.

I had an amazing experience with this store. I rocked up, of expecting to buy a lens, but to see what they had. The employee let me try out a couple of lenses on a body in store and then on our own camera body. After testing out a couple and deciding on one, we went off to drive south on our road trip. About 20 miles away we stopped for lunch, I opened the lens to test it out and it didn't work, drove back to the shop and tested it on a body they had in store, confirming that the lens wasn't working. They swapped it out for me as they knew we were on a big trip and wouldn't be able to send it off. I'm really thankful for the staff here and if I'm ever back in the area, wouldn't hesitate to buy from them again.

SUMMARY: Hit or miss with customer service, and their film prices are comically absurd. So I’ve only been here about 2-3 times to get film, but unfortunately that was enough for me to understand it’s not going to be somewhere I will shop. First and foremost, there are two younger men in the shop that were helpful and kind whenever I came in. However, for some reason the woman who works there is fairly rude. I can’t tell if she is trying to be rude, but seems to have a bad attitude towards most customers and seems irritated when a customer asks questions for help. Secondly, their film prices are the highest I have EVER seen anywhere online or in person. For example - Kodak Tri-X is selling for $10 and some change on B&H and other online film retailers. Here they charged me $16 PER ROLL. I only picked up a roll because I was in a pinch but i will never buy film here again. I understand that film is rising in price, but to me this seems like they are directly taking advantage of being the primary film retailer in the area and up charging photographers. Which in my opinion is not at all healthy for the photography community, it’s just healthy for their bottom line. Overall, If you are on vacation and need help with a camera, or a hobbyist that shoots digital, or anything in between this is an OK place to go, although I would suggest elsewhere. But if you were at all serious about photography, I would stick to online retailers and other stores in SF and the like.