The best retail camera shops in Dublin

jock101

Which retail camera shops in Dublin are the best for prices, service and choice!

mdebets

For service and price, Gunns wins by a mile.
If you're looking for a DSLR, they have a good choice of Canon and Nikon (but no other and no 3rd party lenses).
They also have compact cameras, but I don't know what choice they have.
For accessories and film, they have a good choice as well.
If they don't have something in stock, they are pretty good with ordering it in.

Al Bino

for all the money I have spent in 3 well known Dublin camera shops I have only ever gotten a warm handshake and genuine smile in one.

they now get all my business.

Al

CabanSail

The experience of dealing with Gunn's is just so pleasant too. You very quickly stop feeling like a customer and more like a friend. It is a family business and has a different feel about it to other shops.

Thecageyone

How are their prices on repair job? I e-mailed them earlier but imagine I won't get a direct quote for my problem until I bring the camera in. I just don't want to head to Dublin just to be told "€200" :eek:

magicbastarder

gunn's don't handle repairs in-house - if you need a repair job, you're better off going to one of the dedicated repair companies.

i shop in gunns and in the camera exchange.

Morf3h

Ahhh!! Mother of god! They're closed till the 13th and I need a Fastpack 100 by Friday!

magicbastarder

yep, they're on their holidays.

the_syco

Morf3h wrote: »

Ahhh!! Mother of god! They're closed till the 13th and I need a Fastpack 100 by Friday!

HallCameras on Talbot St sells them for €69 www.hallcameras.ie @ 01 8749597

MiniPhoto in Lucan also have them for €69
http://www.miniphoto.com/product.asp?id=1531 @ 01-6282492

Simplicius

another vote for Gunns, would never bother going anywhere else ..

Drummerboy2

i have always found the staff of Dublin Camera Exchange in South Great Georges Street to be extremely helpful and well informed.

pixbyjohn

I have always been happy to deal with Bermingham's camera shop.
www.berminghamcameras.ie

thefizz

Simplicius wrote: »

another vote for Gunns, would never bother going anywhere else ..

Same here.

Borderfox

Gunns by a mile

sineadw

Morf3h wrote: »

Ahhh!! Mother of god! They're closed till the 13th and I need a Fastpack 100 by Friday!

My exact reaction when I rang earlier about paper developer. Second choice was Camera exchange, where I've always had good experiences, and the guy on the phone was less than helpful

Gunns FTW!

MaggyM

I have been in every camera shop in Dublin over the years and I find Gunn's great but my favourite is Hall's on Talbot street.
The tall young guy in there is very helpful and seems to have a genuine passion for photography (not just the gear), which is something I find oddly lacking in a lot of camera shops.

magicbastarder

i've probably mentioned this here before, but when i went into hall's looking for a sigma 30mm f1.4, four thirds mount, i was told it doesn't exist. the shop assistant actually became kinda angry when i insisted he was wrong.

MartMax

magicbastarder wrote: »

i've probably mentioned this here before, but when i went into hall's looking for a sigma 30mm f1.4, four thirds mount, i was told it doesn't exist. the shop assistant actually became kinda angry when i insisted he was wrong.

Maybe he's right... it didn't exist in his store! :P

Gunns FTW of course, pity it's close till 15 July I think. I'm hunting for a new body but no luck in other shops!

crazyFeet

don't know who came up with the opinion that camera exchange is cheap but they are wrong, in my case very wrong. I'v been looking for s90 or lx3 for quite a while now (reasonable pricewise). Camera exchange offered me the highest price so far, even in far uncivilised mayo they told me 415 instead of 490 like CE. P.S if anyone can help me with my search please pm, might reward

Barname

Morf3h wrote: »

Ahhh!! Mother of god! They're closed till the 13th and I need a Fastpack 100 by Friday!

John is hardly marching?

Heebie

and.. which one is that?

Al Bino wrote: »

for all the money I have spent in 3 well known Dublin camera shops I have only ever gotten a warm handshake and genuine smile in one.

they now get all my business.

Al

Al Bino

Heebie wrote: »

and.. which one is that?

Gunns.

magicbastarder

i think the problem for the other shops is that gunns have raised the bar so high - it's not that they're the friendliest staff (i use the word advisedly) of any camera shop i've been in in dublin, they're the friendliest staff of any shop i've been in in dublin.

and it's gas the way that rubs off on the customers - my gf was looking for a light meter as a 30th birthday present for me, and went up to gunns cos she knew i shopped there. john gunn served her, and when he heard what she was there for, his face fell and he had to explain that he'd just sold the last one in stock to the chap standing beside her. when the other customer heard the situation, he was happy to hand it back and take a refund as he wasn't in a big hurry for it.

democrates

+1 for John Gunn

One thing to watch like a hawk when you buy a new lens in particular is that it hasn't been rented out as some shops do. A display model is usually ok and that fact is a minor bargaining chip.

Higher friendliness won't trump price for me, but rudeness is game over. I found John Gunn to be a gentleman who'll have a laugh with you he has a great philosophy on life as well as business, but the owner of another store was pig ignorant and gratingly arrogant with his 80's suit and loud boorish "I'm the big man" routine, he'd learn by headbutts if he wasn't out of range the insufferable short-arse

lang

Hi Guys,

My gf is looking to buy the Panasonic Lumix G2. Couple of questions regarding this.

1. Would it come recommended? (Would be used for basic shots. Nothing spectacular needed. Think she might take photography up as a bit of a hobby perhaps).

2. If recommended, where is the best place in Dublin City/South Dublin to buy one for a decent price?

3. If not recommended, then could you give suggestions of other DSLR to buy?

Any help greatly received.

enterprise

I've brough the majority of my camera equipment in Gunns since I've got interested in photography in 2006. I find there service 2nd to none and always with a friendly smile and helpful advice.

Up in Dublin next weekend and i'm tempted to add an external flash to my growing DSLR collection. I'll be popping into Gunns if I do decide to purchase!

Enterprise.

thebaz

just to say was in Gunns today - great experience as always - nice to see a photo of Danny "Valentia" on the wall - 2 legends

lang

lang wrote: »

Hi Guys,

My gf is looking to buy the Panasonic Lumix G2. Couple of questions regarding this.

1. Would it come recommended? (Would be used for basic shots. Nothing spectacular needed. Think she might take photography up as a bit of a hobby perhaps).

2. If recommended, where is the best place in Dublin City/South Dublin to buy one for a decent price?

3. If not recommended, then could you give suggestions of other DSLR to buy?

Any help greatly received.

Got it all sorted. The gf went out the other and picked up a standard digital camera from the place that used to be Pixels on Liffey Street. Said the guy she dealt with was very helpful and was able to advise her on what she needed/wanted the camera for. Thanks forth advise given.

punchdrunk

lang wrote: »

Got it all sorted. The gf went out the other and picked up a standard digital camera from the place that used to be Pixels on Liffey Street. Said the guy she dealt with was very helpful and was able to advise her on what she needed/wanted the camera for. Thanks forth advise given.

I'm pretty sure that was me

punchdrunk

magicbastarder wrote: »

i've probably mentioned this here before, but when i went into hall's looking for a sigma 30mm f1.4, four thirds mount, i was told it doesn't exist. the shop assistant actually became kinda angry when i insisted he was wrong.

it's not imported into Ireland by the distributor in 4/3'rds mount,as they don't shift enough units to warrant importing it iirc
so I'm guessing when he rang up it was in fact them telling him that it didn't exist i.e it's not on their system

magicbastarder

nah, he told me straight off it didn't exist, without checking; i told him he could check it on the web but he refused.

punchdrunk

magicbastarder wrote: »

nah, he told me straight off it didn't exist, without checking; i told him he could check it on the web but he refused.

yeah that's a bit poor alright :mad:

trafficman

I was planning to buy a new lens in a camera shop in Dublin but having read this thread decided to give Gunnes a try. I bought the lens on the spot. The price was comparible to the quote i got elsewhere but the service far exceeded other shops. I have no problem with the service in other shops but the professionalism and friendliness of Gunnes won out by a mile.

A.Partridge

Gunn's.

magicbastarder

everyone who works there is a gunn, so you could say it's 'gunns' too.

coolmoose

Paid my first visit to Gunn's yesterday for developing bits & pieces while I was in Dublin. Absolute pleasure to deal with, and will certainly be visiting again!

nick 56

I had got hold of some money and wanted to get a digital Nikon slr and lenses. By the time I had tried all the usual city centre shops I was depressed by the stupidity and misinformation and high prices I meet and decided to take a trip to London

By chance I found out about Gunns (via Boards.ie), went in got sound advice and purchased all my gear there

Yes it would be a bit cheaper in London but when there was a problem with one gadget it was replaced with out question.

I am retired and over the years have done business with lots of firms and Gunns is the only one I would 100% recommend.

nicknackgtb

Where is gunnes guys??

.Longshanks.

nicknackgtb wrote: »

Where is gunnes guys??

Knock yourself out
http://www.johngunn.ie/

sineadw

Continuing the love: Got a Hasselblad to try out for someone - a very old 57 film back. I couldn't find instructions or a video to fit the exact back, and long story short I accidentally spooled a whole roll through without exposing. Went in there last week and John patiently took me through the whole procedure with a big smile on his face, even though the shop was busy. He even went in back and respooled the roll back for me, despite me saying it was grand and I'd just buy a new one.

The whole family are genuinely a pleasure to deal with, and are always there with knowledgeable advice and help.

DougL

Gunns +1 from me!

A few weeks ago, I bought a tripod at short notice. They didn't have the head I was looking for, and I was planning to use it the next day. They loaned me a different one free of charge for the weekend so I wouldn't be stuck. All this despite the fact they didn't know me and I'd never been in the shop before.

xia

Looks like I'm the only one with bad experience there. Won't go there again and can't recommend them. Maybe they only treat people not that nice that "only" want to get 17 prints (12x8) done for 3.50 each - even after buying already a DSLR there.

Looks that they don't value customers high where they think they do only snaps in their opinion and don't think those customer may improve and become regular customers. At least that's what I gathered from being in that shop three times trying to get that problem sorted - to no avail. Just saying.

pete4130

xia wrote: »

Looks like I'm the only one with bad experience there. Won't go there again and can't recommend them. Maybe they only treat people not that nice that "only" want to get 17 prints (12x8) done for 3.50 each - even after buying already a DSLR there.

Looks that they don't value customers high where they think they do only snaps in their opinion and don't think those customer may improve and become regular customers. At least that's what I gathered from being in that shop three times trying to get that problem sorted - to no avail. Just saying.

Sorry you've had bad experiences there. I've been using Gunns for nearly 10 years and in that time I've seen people in the shop getting anything from disposable cameras to digital enlargements done, b&w hand dev & scanned and a whole host of other requests. Sometimes there are crossed wires from my wishes/expectations to what they normally see/expect on a daily basis and you do have to specify exactly what you want. No shop is going to be infalable. They are better than anywhere else in Dublin by a long shot....and thats without trying to sound like I'm up their a$$.

xia

Well, my impression from that experience is: They might be good if they know you for years or if you're happy with their service. But their customer service is really bad once there is a problem. And such a situation is usually the one where you find out how good a shop really is. I gave them three chances to keep me as a customer but they didn't care. End of story for me.

Trev M

Just wanted to add my voice to the chorus of people praising Gunns. My own recent experience was with the charming and very capable Cathy Gunn.

Cathy answered my email query same day, provided clear and concise response that was to the point and helpful.
As indicated in a lot of posts above, friendly when we met in person for the first time and actually listened when I asked a question or made an observation. It was nice to be addressed by my name second time round. I was very happy with the price I paid for my gear and to be honest felt welcomed and not at all intimidated. I dunno if its being a relative new comer to photography or what but Ive always felt awkward when asking questions in some other camera shops :rolleyes: not in Gunns. I was invited to call in again if I wanted to get hands on with a lense or chat about anything...never mind camera shop , this is in fact the best customer service Ive had anywhere.

I left with great gear at a great price and a bit of extra knowledge I didnt have when I enetered..... it was nice to see a copy of Valencias book there aswell....ya dont get more ear to the ground and in touch with your customer base than that.

Id also like to add that while I waited another young customer (i.e not a loaded , "I shop here all the time" type) who was purchasing a simple filter less than a 10 euro was given every bit as much attention as I was. Top notch.

thefizz

xia wrote: »

Well, my impression from that experience is: They might be good if they know you for years or if you're happy with their service. But their customer service is really bad once there is a problem. And such a situation is usually the one where you find out how good a shop really is. I gave them three chances to keep me as a customer but they didn't care. End of story for me.

Would you tell us what the problem was?

magicbastarder

Trev M wrote: »

It was nice to be addressed by my name second time round.

john gunn always apologises to me as he can never remember which of the two common variations in spelling of my surname i use.

PaulieC

magicbastarder wrote: »

john gunn always apologises to me as he can never remember which of the two common variations in spelling of my surname i use.

bastard and ???

bullpost

I visited Gunns last week while shopping around for some studio kit.

I'd been a bit wary of the hype surrounding this shop and as an old cynic suspected that it was being used as a means of beating up on some other less favoured Dublin camera shops.

However after my visit and subsequent purchases I have revised my opinion and now fully understand why people on here rave about them.

Their prices were far lower than the competition for the items I wanted and they were friendly and knowledgeable to deal with - Cathy I think it was who served me. They even offered to allow me exchange an item I bought when the one I originally wanted became available.

So hats off from another convert - its important to acknowledge great customer service in this day and age.

oldyouth

Just to update on my situation. I had another thread enquiring where was the best place to buy a Canon 550d with 18/55 lens. Anyway, the cheapest and most convenient I found was Argos here in Wexford at €839.99. However, on reading the responses and other reviews here, I gave Gunns a call and they quoted me €840.

Anyway, I decided to go with Gunns because of all the positive feedback here and this morning, my son who lives in Dublin, called in to make the purchase for me. He asked a lady there if he could look at the gear and she was more than helpful. He told her that he had heard good things about the shop and she was delighted to hear about it.

He mentioned that he would need a 4GB memory card but she suggested the 8GB card because of the HD movie function and threw it in for free. In the end, she took €835. She also took the time to go through camera care with him and said to give her a call with any questions he may have.

While he was there another customer came in to collect his camera, which was in for minor repairs. When he was told there was no charge for the work done, he went off and came back with a box of ice creams for the staff and my son was a happy recipient of one of them too.:)

Excellent service and I think I went to the right place in the end and I'll be back for more camera toys in the future.

thefizz

oldyouth wrote: »

Just to update on my situation. I had another thread enquiring where was the best place to buy a Canon 550d with 18/55 lens. Anyway, the cheapest and most convenient I found was Argos here in Wexford at €839.99. However, on reading the responses and other reviews here, I gave Gunns a call and they quoted me €840.

Anyway, I decided to go with Gunns because of all the positive feedback here and this morning, my son who lives in Dublin, called in to make the purchase for me. He asked a lady there if he could look at the gear and she was more than helpful. He told here that he had heard good things about the shop and she was delighted to hear about it.

He mentioned that he would need a 4GB memory card but she suggested the 8GB card because of the HD movie function and threw it in for free. In the end, she took €835. She also took the time to go through camera care with him and said to give her a call with any questions he may have.

While he was there another customer came in to collect his camera, which was in for minor repairs. When he was told there was no charge for the work done, he went off and came back with a box of ice creams for the staff and my son was a happy recipient of one of them too.:)

Excellent service and I think I went to the right place in the end and I'll be back for more camera toys in the future.

Its good to hear stories like this. With so many people buying gear from abroad, its great to know you are supporting jobs in Ireland. Fair play to you