Great experience at Dodd. I was searching for a new camera for future travel and really haven't…read morebought a camera in probably decades. Rye, the sales person that assisted me, was great. He walked me through the basics, recommended both a camera, lens, storage and accessories. I will definitely be back for anything further I need. I'm really looking forward to use my new camera and Dodd made it easy!

Guy over charged me for a quick release plate said $15 at the store when I got home and checked…read morereceipt he charged me $20 Double check your receipts or see what they're charging u for when getting rung up! don't appreciate getting ripped off by a small camera shop won't be back just order on Amazon

I needed a repair on my Canon camera. They charge 35.00 for the initial evaluation which is applied…read moreto the final repair cost if you elect to have your camera repaired. Their repair cost seemed reasonable which also included a camera cleaning. You pay upfront for the repair and they communicate via email with updates. They have a storefront that sells a wide array of cameras and equipment for the beginner or advanced photographer. They do camera trade-ins as well. I am glad I found them.

Service amazing!!! Friendly staff, helpful, guiding. Welcoming to store. Would love to go to one…read moreof there photography events. Small price.

this spot was a GOD SEND i recently bought a film camera from somewhere and didn't know how to use…read moreit. went to this store to get film and a battery for this camera and to maybe have someone look at it and show me how to use it. the staff was great and very smart on camera equipment/ knowledge. they have a large selection of various film. the staff showed me how this camera works (it's from 1965 only a year older than my mom lol) and i'm very happy with what knowledge and products they had to offer. they offer cameras and other various equipment as well. stop buying film from walgreens which is a mega cooperate giant and come to this human owned business instead highly recommend this spot 10/10 will definitely be back

We used to go here a lot prior to COVID and the fire. My husband purchased a couple of cameras and…read morewe would get our film developed here. Always had good experiences for the most part. We recently got back into film photography, so we decided that we wanted to hit up Central Camera to purchase some film, see about development services, and just look at their general stock. We waited about 15 or so minutes at the film counter and no one came over. We knew what we wanted and weren't looking to have some lengthy conversation. I was going to buy the five-roll box of Portra 400 and my husband was looking to get a few boxes of different black and white films to try out. We were really looking forward to purchasing today from a local business (and honestly, we'd probably purchase this amount of film + development monthly), but just being completely ignored was really frustrating. I don't mind paying more for film or for cameras or for development at a local shop. By going to a local shop, you are paying for their product curation and the person experience and not just being a random name printed out in on a packing slip. I don't expect to have my ass-kissed the entire time I'm in a store, but at least some acknowledgement of our presence would have been great. And if we were standing in the wrong spot to get serviced, some direction about where to go would have been great too. Move film and cameras to the same side of the store. That way your employees can stay behind the counters and still service guests who are interested in different products without having to zig-zag across the store. If someone is looking at a used camera for a long time, it would still allow the team to service more quick serve guests without neglecting one or the other. When we were there, guests and employees were bouncing around from counter to counter and it just looked completely inefficient for everyone. I would set it up as on the left is register, film/photo pickup, and then cameras. On the right should be Central Camera merch, Photo Booth, and bench. Keeps your repeat/quick serve guests closer to the front of the store and the more engaged customers towards the back.

Brought an old point-and-shoot camera to them. They got back to me in the original estimated time…read moreframe and were extremely kind throughout the whole process. While I did not go ahead with the repair (old camera, wasn't worth it), the proposed pricing was fair. Overall a great experience!

Yes. Good service - had my camera checked and then fixed (on-off switch stopped working). Took a…read morebit longer than originally promised, but got done in time for a trip.

I have bought 4 or 5 new Leicas from Dan. Great advice, great service and nice selection of…read moreaccessories as well. The only place to go for Leica! He also has beautiful leather bags!

Great selection of new and pre-owned Leicas. Dan and Scott were both very helpful. For a working…read morecamera or to add to a collection, Tamarkin Camera is superb.

In November 2024, I paid $350 to repair my Sony FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM II lens (valued at $2,500). Bill…read moredemonstrated it working in his shop, but it broke again within days with the same issue. I returned the lens on November 25, 2024. Bill acknowledged the failed repair and promised to fix it at no charge. Over the next year, Bill kept my lens and never returned a single call. I visited the shop at least five times and called periodically, too. Each time he seemed anxious and irritated by my persistence, promised to call, and then didn't. On October 29, 2025, I delivered a demand letter with the building's security guard as a witness. Bill tried to make me sign a receipt stating I'd received cash before actually handing me any money and after I declined his offer of writing me a personal check. After I finally received the $350, he forgot he was still holding my lens and had to search for it. He appeared confused throughout the interaction. Multiple recent reviews describe nearly identical experiences: repairs failing immediately, equipment held for months with no communication, one customer calling police after seven months, another told "I gave up" after four months. Bill was once regarded as the best in the city, in fact, he repaired my equipment perfectly back in 2005. But now it's clear he can no longer handle repairs or manage his business. TL;DR: Repair failed immediately, took one year and a legal threat to get my money and lens back. Bill forgot he had my lens during the final exchange. Check the other recent 1 and 2 star reviews showing the same pattern. Find another repair shop.

The kindest man helped me with my film camera. It ended up being a simple fix, but he didn't charge…read moreme anything. Despite a slight language barrier he was very knowledgeable, kind, and helpful. I highly recommend!

I had excellent service by doorstep-digital ; from the timely response to my initial inquiry to the…read moretwo very professional technicians who came to my home and transferred thousands of slides to digital images. I highly recommend them, and will use them again.

From the owner: Photo Scanning, Slides Scanning,…read moreNegatives Scanning, Album Archiving, Film Transfer, Tape Transfer, Mobile, Convenient on-site scanning available, Data Backup Services, Digital Organization, Photography Lessons, Photo Organizing Software Lessons with Lightroom, Apple Photos, Apple and PC Computer Optimization, Home Media Server and Private Cloud Install, Home Networking -- wired and wireless install and upgrades

My son said they were great. Took a few weeks to find the fix but once they found it they were…read moreable to get the camera in mint condition.

I came in genuinely looking for camera recommendations and hoping to support a small business by…read moreshopping in person rather than online. Unfortunately, the experience was disappointing. Instead of being helpful, the woman assisting me came off as passive-aggressive and told me I should "do my research" before coming in. If I already knew exactly what I needed, I wouldn't have come in asking for advice. I wanted to support local, but customer service like this makes it easy to take my money elsewhere. A missed sale and a missed opportunity.

I made a call to inquire about selling my equipment and although they're not doing that Brian took…read morehis time to guide me to business that might be doing that. Awesome customer servi, would definitely recommend.

ProGear rocks! I've rented elsewhere in Chicago, but never again. I got fantastic help and advice…read morepre-rental from Steve, and even better service during pick-up and return. The lights, stands, and Chimeras I rented were in excellent condition, their pricing was spot on, and the guys put everything perfectly together. Made the whole experience simple.

It seems like all at once and out of nowhere I started receiving ads from a bunch of different film…read moredevelopment companies and those rolls sitting in the back of a drawer started screaming out to me to solve their mysteries. When I found that there was a shop right here in Chicago offering a first roll development and scan free I figured I would give the local option the first crack. So I signed up for the offer and placed some old rolls in a sandwich bag in my jacket pocket but then weeks passed by and it just kept slipping my mind. This was where Bellows first impressed me. I received direct messages from the shop saying that my offer would be expiring soon and asking if I'd like to extend the redemption date which was nice. I finally dropped in the day of that really bad snowstorm back in November and my first impression of the shop was positive. I liked the laidback and clean feel of the place. There is just about every type of contemporary film as well as some cameras and accessories available to buy and they had a good number of people at the counter for taking film development orders. There was also a tintype photographer doing a pop up event which is always cool to witness. I realized while I was there that my already amateurish photography knowledge was pretty rusty so I appreciated the staff going over things with me while I was filling out my development order form without being condescending. I also liked that they said that if the rolls came out blank or with no usable photos they would contact me about price adjusting. I went with the take your time option for development and scans for 3 rolls and the scans were ready for me in 3 days. The development came out about as well as they could with such expired film but nothing some color correction can't fix. They actually turned out a lot better than I expected they would and I am happy that I now have had some of the mysteries revealed. Bellows staff contacted me about picking up my negatives as I was traveling but a quick message and they assured me that they would hold onto the negatives for a little while longer. Although it's very much a shop for serious film photographers I think Bellows is a great local option for film development and I'll probably be returning with some more film to develop soon.

I recently have been into film and disposable cameras and was happy to have a film lab so close! I…read morebrought in film from 2024, 2010, and 2006 and surprisingly most of the pictures turned out pretty well! The location is super cute and they have a lot of film for sale. I brought in three rolls and it was around 50 dollars which did seem a little pricey to me but I'm also new to this so not sure what prices really go for. Everyone was super nice and were able to answer any questions I had.