Only knocked a star off cuz they weren't the friendliest over the phone & lowkey felt dumb asking if they had a particular camera. I'm glad I gave them a chance & i'm sure they get calls all day checking inventory so it could get annoying. In person, staff was helpful & gave pretty good recommendations without feeling like a constant sales pitch. I was between two cameras. When I told them what I currently have in my collection, the worker was kind enough to weigh the pros and cons of my choices. I love that it wasn't priced double, like how it is online with other stores. They're authorized sellers of canon cameras without the crazy up-charge. I've gone to both locations, and definitely prefer this one bc of their thoroughness & attention to detail. Thank you! read more

The service at George's Camera is exceptional. Everyone there is kind and helpful. And, since they have been around so long they have all of the products, or at least access to, what one might need. Likewise their products are reasonably priced. Lastly, they all know what they are talking about. I really recommend this business. read more

I went in looking for a battery for a vintage Pentax and some lomography film. Julie was super helpful explaining the different films and helping me figure out the battery I needed. Thanks Julie for your advice and great customer service. read more

This review is for George's "Cash for Cameras" event. My Dad left behind a lifetime of cameras that had been stored haphazardly. I certainly didn't want the responsibility of selling them online since I know next-to-nothing about analog cameras and I wouldn't be able to answer any questions without a large investment of time that I don't have. Luckily, George's Camera has an event once or twice a year where they buy cameras. The location was very accessible with lots of parking. The staff were super nice and offered clear explanations of what they were buying and what they weren't. I was able to sell about a 1/3rd of the collection (mostly lenses) and was fortunate to be able to donate the remainder of the collection to a local community college instructor (thanks Ben!) who happened to be there at the same time. read more

This is my go to for film and development. I have a minolta that they helped me with. Patrick is the best. He communicated with me and kept me updated on my camera. Thankfully I just needed some help with loading film. They have a great selection of camera accessories. They also sell disposable cameras. The fee to get my camera checked out was only $15 and film will only set you back $10 or so dollars. I think this is the best place to get any camera supplies. read more

Julie at George's was incredibly helpful in answering my questions and giving me recommendations.

Just called in about getting my camera fixed. Idk who this Julie lady that answered the phone is, but she's the bee's knees. Unfortunately I couldn't go into the store due to distance, but Julie still accommodated to me over the phone and was so kind and seemed to genuinely care about my camera's malfunctions. If everyone that works at this place is as sweet as Julie, I'd 12 out of 10 recommend. (I'm not even a "yelper" person, she was just so kind) read more

Awesome staff!!! All are very helpful and passionate about photography. The store has a big selection on all various types of gear.

Felix helped me with my tripod and gimble. He was kind and extremely helpful. Then I went to Santee Lakes and took 360 pictures. Thank you Felix. read more

I had no issues with my experience and had such a nice time here! I usually go to the North Park one but couldn't make it all the way down since I live in North county. I came yesterday to drop off some film to get developed and to buy more. Julie assisted me in learning some tips about my camera in a very easy-to-follow manner, gave me lots of insight on new films to try based on what I wanted for my photos (I'm still very much a newbie!!). She didn't try to upsell me on anything, even noted when some types of film would cost a bit more. She was very patient, knowledgeable, and gave me great service! I came with a friend who ended up buying a new camera from another salesperson (young lady with dyed pink/purple wavy hair!) who was also lovely! We were asking lots of questions about this new camera that had just come out and while the girl herself hadn't used the camera yet, she gave a lot of good insight (i.e. how it fares compared to other cameras) and even on tips we didn't ask/realize we needed (my friend is travelling soon and the saleslady noted that this type of film was not likely to have issues going through TSA checks, but that we should still ask for a hand check just in case. Which neither of us needed or had thought about, so major thank you for her for going above and beyond when assisting us!) Parking is alright, there's a small row in the front but there's more parking in the back, though a bit tight. Will definitely be back and definitely recommend checking out George's Camera! They know their stuff and are happy to share it! read more

I typically visit George's about two to three times a month, and I'm familiar with the rental process: you reserve your equipment online and upload your passport. I've checked out lenses multiple times and have never been asked to physically show my passport. When I was asked this time, I responded that it was a first. Patrick mentioned it was a new policy, so I asked when it had changed, and he said about a week and a half ago. I had just rented a lens a few days earlier and wasn't asked then, so the inconsistency was confusing. I understand that this may not seem like a big deal to some, but it felt unnecessarily difficult in the moment. If this is a new policy, I recommend putting up signs in-store or updating the online checkout process to reflect the change so customers are aware ahead of time. Fortunately, I had my passport with me because I had just returned from traveling, but if I hadn't, I could have been late to a scheduled session due to this lack of communication. I still recommend this store but be aware of this! read more

Talk to someone on the phone. VERY VERY HONEST! he told me exactly what I needed and very honest with pricing and trade-ins. Couldnt ask for more read more

I brought an SLR camera to the store for maintenance/repair. I was having a hard time focusing. Felix checked it out and noted that the focusing was fine. He took the time to listen to the issues I was having, gave suggestions, and we tested the camera based on his suggestions. Beginning stuff, I know.. but he helped quite a bit!! THANKS!! read more

I stopped by to get some film developed and was helped by Billy. I mentioned that I was new to film so he very kindly took the time to explain my new camera to me in detail. He was so nice and helpful!! I can tell they know their stuff & give great service. read more

Make sure you get her early, came at 5:10 and they were closed. No signs on the door indicating they would close twenty minutes early or anything, wasted my time driving over here for nothing. read more

Well, I came in here because I like to get back into photography and need a true camera to capture the moment for my photos. I came in and want to get a feel of camera I wanted to buy. Canon EOS R5. Mirrorless. Cool! I felt it in my hand as I looked through it. It been ages that I held a camera in my hands. I mentioned to the counter that I use my phones to capture some beautiful images in the past. But when it comes to nights photo or distant moments the phone just not cuts it. I being wanting to buy a camera for a while and haven't had the time. Yesterday was the day, I want to buy one. Sure did! Now a beautiful camera sit in my home. I haven't unpacked it. But nice $5k camera! I tell them it's my own Christmas gift I got for myself to get me back into my passion into photography. The counter asked me where I am planning to go? I plan to travel and use this camera to capture all the beauty in this world. My first stop was in the southeast corner of the world. I haven't quite decided where yet, but it's a start. The counter was a bit puzzled and when he heard I'm going south east. He was like Florida? That place is flat? Nothing there. He then asked in the state or world? I meant outside the U.S. and then he agreed the camera will definitely served its purpose! So excited!!! And he also gifted me lots of cool stuff from this place! Which was pretty sweet!!! read more

This Clairemont Mesa version of George's Camera is North Park's version on steroids! I have been a customer of the North Park George's Camera shop for a good number of years but became familiar with Clairemont Mesa's George's Camera because I signed up for two photography classes over the last two months, BOTH of which I absolutely LOVED! Until April of this year, I never had a need to visit this shop. I always enjoyed the crew at North Park and have bought items from them for my camera and other accessories. But I can tell my readers that if you want to see more options than what the North Park shop offers, Then get out to the Clairemont Mesa store. Aside from the large offering of new cameras, lenses, multiple sizes and brands of camera bags (I've bought two from George's, as I love the Tenba brand), straps, a large rental display, among other many accessories too many to count! But today was Photography 202 class. I had attended the 2-hour Photography 101 in April and found it to be an outstanding course. This class mainly teaches you about your DSLR or mirrorless camera from the raw basics. It serves as a stellar foundational class to what you'll get in Photography 202, in which you'll spend a good deal of time shooting photos from your learning experience in this 3-hour course. These classes do come with a fee, but they are totally worth it if you wish to learn your camera or make photography a hobby. For me, I mainly use my Canon M-50 for YouTube videos that I create, but decided that it was time to learn the photo side of things since it takes such good photos. Well, I must thank our above-board excellent instructor, Larry McDaniel, for giving those of us who attended the 202 class today an amazing and totally worthwhile learning experience! I'll need other photography accessories and surely more classes in the days ahead. Be assured! I know exactly where I'll be going find my gear and to take my photography classes!! Recommend: VERY HIGH read more

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The website does NOT define that only one of the two Georges rents equipment. It is in small print on the rental price list. The annoying part was that the rental section closes 30 min prior to the store closing. That is NOT listed anywhere'. Just plan ahead and get there earlier than needed..... read more

Julie was a big help and she answered all of my questions regarding camera gear. She also provided me with different options and price points for the equipment I was looking for. I have returned to this location since! read more

Great service and great people! They are ways welcoming and interested in serving the customer's needs.

Charged $65 for their introductory camera class and showed a slide presentation that contained perhaps 7 slides and took up about 15 minutes of time. I guess what you are paying for is the one-on-one time with each instructor, but even that was only another 10 minutes or so per person. The reason I would not recommend this class though is primarily because the instructor was dishonest. She said that she would email the slide deck to class participants as a way to stop folks from trying to take photos of the slides, etc. to actually learn and retain the information we were paying for. This class was 6 months ago - not only did we never get the slides, but there wasn't even a "thanks for attending" email. Very unprofessional way for this business to make extra money and actually hurting their brand to operate like that. read more

I had the pleasure of taking a night sky astrophotography class in May at George's camera, it was hosted by Larry from George's Camera and Paul Van Allen from Nikon. The cost was $35 for just the class at George's, but if you signed up for the workshop out at Joshua tree in June, you could get the workshop and the class for $199 total, and save the $35. The class was very good with plenty of information about night sky photography, including long exposure, light painting, time lapse, and star trails. Paul also covered what apps to use to find the stars, what website to check for dark sky locations, stacking software, what gear to bring, changing your picture control settings, High ISO NR, white balance, and all the other settings for all the topics. There were hundreds of slides and hints which we were allowed to take pics of instead of trying to write it all down. Paul really knows his stuff and tried to be sensitive to the non Nikon owners. He gave us his social media information and a way to check the settings on all of his pictures. After the class, the 14 of us that signed up for the $199 workshop and class, got a special treat from Paul for Nikon gear to use at George's, this alone was worth the price of the class and workshop. The workshop meeting time was 5 pm and we got to our spot at Joshua tree a little after 6. We were treated to have not only Paul from Nikon there but 2 other Nikon reps and a Nikon ambassador, and 2 or 3 people from George's camera. I think there were 7 experts and 15 or 16 students, so it was almost like having your own private instructor all night. Larry from George's is extremely friendly, listens well, loves to answer questions and is very helpful. He helped out as much as he could in class but he was very helpful with all of the students out at the workshop at Joshua tree, answering questions about settings, not only for Nikon, but Sony, Canon, etc. If you have always wanted to film the milky way and were not sure how, do yourself a favor and take the class at least but if you want to go try it out, then sign up for the workshop. What a wonderful experience. read more

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The service was great and everyone was SUPER nice...however, I'm not sure if everyone developing knows what they're doing... I'm skeptical because I brought in 3 rolls of film here to develop and all 3 rolls were said to have "light leaks." I'm not sure if that is the case because 2/3 rolls were shot on a different camera than the 3rd one. ALL of my pictures were oversaturated or not able to be developed. One of my black and white rolls only came out with 9 photos out of 20. We asked why and they just told us that the film was shot with a light leak and they could not develop all the shots. I'm not sure how true that is because why didn't they show me all 20 shots undeveloped on my digital copies and only gave me 9??? My boyfriend took one of his rolls (he took the pictures on 2/3 rolls mentioned above on his camera) and those pictures were perfect. I just think all 3 of my rolls were developed improperly but they told me it was my camera... when we used 2 different cameras. I am skeptical about their knowledge about what happened here. read more

Jim took excellent care of me and got me the hard to find a6700 camera. Jim is a character, he's full of personality and got a great sense of humor. My buying experience is everything to me and when a camera store goes above and beyond I'm a happy customer! Been buying stuff from George's camera for years and will continue to do so. Thanks for taking care of me Jim I'll be back. I even forgot my wheelchair and he was still able to assist me! Now that's customer service read more

George's Camera - Electronics Near Me - San Diego, California

I come here all the time to get my film developed and I am never disappointed. When I first came in I didn't know anything about my camera and I was able to ask them every question under the sun and they never made me feel judged or stupid for not knowing more about cameras. They even showed me how to tell if my lens was dirty (mine had mold in it) and taught me all about the nitty gritty of my camera. When I was first starting they would even unload and load the film in my camera for me. I've come into this store just to drop off film and end up staying for an hour just talking and learning all I can from their staff, definitely my favorite camera store in San Diego. read more

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I've never been in a camera store but George's seems like THE spot. I came in with my gf to develop film on some disposable cameras from last year and I was pretty amazed by how big this place is for a camera store. Looks like they'd have anything you're looking for from specific film types, cameras old and new, lighting equipment, and tripods of many different sizes and purposes. Super cool place to browse. They even have their own George's camera shirts and some dope enamel pins that caught my attention. The lot is small in the front but they advise to park in the back for the time being. The lot is bigger. Check this place out if you're a photographer!! read more

Love this store! Love the people there! Love the fact that in San Diego we have a brick and mortar camera store. This is so much more than a place to buy gear. This staff is knowledgeable and they are there for all levels of photographers. Beginners to professionals and everyone in between this store is and all you will ever need! read more

Started going here because Nelson's in OB service was so bad..This place was great for a while, but now is right up there with Nelson's. Was told film would be ready by week and a half- called in to check on it because the amount of time had passed already and hadn't received anything. They said was ready and would receive by EOD. Never received still... Called again next morning and they said would check on it- on hold for 10 min and no one ever came back to phone. Hung up and called back AGAIN- to which they said again film was ready, but they just didn't send it for some reason?.... Literally had to keep calling and bugging just to get it sent read more

Trevor was so helpful. Found me exactly what i needed in a short amount of time. ALSO JUMPED MY CAR when I couldn't get out of the parking lot. Best service ever and saved me a AAA call. Give this man a raise! read more

Friendly and knowledgeable employees that always seem to go above and beyond when looking for photo gear or renting for an upcoming shoot. Great selection of lenses for rent as well! read more

Came in for equipment repair. Initially I was provided a price for reinstating my equipment to working order, only to later be inform that another issue had arisen during the repair, requiring additional payment for services. They acknowledged that they should have communicated better about the situation. My experience with George's camera repair service ended up costing me almost $300 for them to examine my equipment, which incidentally led to a new problem. I then spoke with the manager, Jim, who expressed uncertainty about whether the camera could be repaired now and admitted that they should never have attempted to fix it in the first place. Despite this, they were still willing to charge me for the additional service. The manager also seemed unaware of the existing problem with the camera, despite it being clearly outlined on my invoice. My advice for anyone considering doing business here is to be aware that you'll be paying for them to attempt a repair, so it may be worth looking elsewhere for equipment repair services. read more

Disappointed. I used to rent lens when I lived in Hawai'i from our local shop all the time, but this experience fell short. My husband came in to pick up a lens, and the associate kept trying to push another lens brand that we didn't want. I wanted a specific lens to shoot astrophotography, and am welcome to suggestions, but I knew what I wanted. My husband came home with a different lens... the associate rented him the wrong one (same brand, totally different lens) even after all that back and forth. My husband felt bad that he didn't double check, but also he had this long back and forth with the associate about which lens, everybody just probably got confused . We didn't figure it out until after the shop was closed and it was the weekend. We were also drove far away to shoot the skies. Came to return today and explained the situation, but it was basically "too bad". Also - the prices here are pretty high compared to other shops. I didn't get to shoot like I had intended because I had the wrong lens. Ugh. Going to try other shops after this. This was a total bust. Yelp 2021 Challenge: 04/40 read more

This place is very shady. They charged me $50 for a "missing part of a light stand." Why would I keep one piece of a telescopic light stand? You'll be better off renting from Nelson Photo. read more

I went here for the first time yesterday, in search of some LED lighting for an art project. In short: This is a great store with a friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful staff. I highly recommend George's!! read more

A large selection of camera, film, lenses, flashes and everything you can think of for your photographic needs. Everyone here is an expert and very willing to help answer all my questions read more

I'll admit, I do most of my shopping on amazon and B&H because for the most part it is cheaper, but I also want to support local businesses, and try to do some of my buying here.  Everyone that works there is very knowledgeable and friendly; I've been to both locations but usually go to the Clairemont location because it's closer to where I live.  Overall, I've had a great experience every time I've been here and I recommend checking this shop out. read more

I am a newbie in shooting a manual SLR And couldn't figure out why my minolta x370 aperture blades appeared stuck when my lens is secured on the camera body and when i manually moved between f-stops . Billy actually helped me understand that it works electronically and the aperture blades will slow down or speed up depending on the shutter speed and once i clicked the button for the shot. He was very informative and helped me out a bunch and gave me great tips! Thank you billy! read more

Customer service here is always great. I'm a reoccurring customer for film development and they always get mine done ahead of schedule which is awesome. Selection here depends on timing. I would recommend calling ahead for camera gear. It goes fast. read more

Very very helpful camera specialists here! Came in for some information before leaving for a week-long National Parks trip. Wanted to see what help they had for me to shoot some cool astrophotography shots out there. I left with some knowledge and a book and some extra memory cards for the trip. Can be an expensive hobby/profession but these pros are there to help you in the right direction so you aren't getting things you don't need! Parking is very ample in the back. Never full. read more

This place is hit or miss; you either get great service or a sales associate trying to up-one you for no reason and push a sale. In the past, I've bought a great Tamron lens that no other large business carries but when it comes to a common product, I'd rather purchase it cheaper with reward points at a name brand establishment. I mean, they do have great gear and accessories there but usually a tad bit higher in price. And these days, I'd rather not deal with drivers on the road, parking, and being pushed by sales personnel. So, it's more convenient just to order an item cheaper online and get it delivered the next day hassle free. read more