Stay away! Go anywhere else! You will be tricked and disappointed. The guys will rip you off.

AKA Web Camera Inc which is a couple stores over @ 61 Jefferson Street. World Camera is no longer there but Web Camera is two doors down and uses World Camera's receipts (with the name and address scratched out). I walked in for a camera strap (left mine at home) and walked out with a ridiculously overpriced wide-angle conversion lens. I should have known better since the sales guy kept saying "but wait, there's more" but what can I say? He got me at a weak moment. Anyway, they have a no refund policy which in itself is pretty sketchy since it doesn't appear to conform with California consumer laws. If you do a search of the conversion lens itself, it takes you to a similar product on Amazon but many of the reviews are for this store and its counterparts in other tourist destinations. I managed to swap the conversion lens for an overpriced zoom lens but at least *that* got decent reviews when it first came out *and* I know I'll get more use out of it than I would a wide angle conversion lens. Don't believe me? Take a look at all the reviews that Yelp has flagged as inappropriate. Everyone says the same thing. read more

Do not buy from this place. OVERPRICED, a complete exploitation. I bought the most expensive 35mm film ever on accident. I figured it couldn't be more than $6-7... $10 for one roll of fuji superia! Which is a low quality film stock... a 4 pack goes for that price. The cashier was more than pretentious. He said in a condemning tone: "everybody's shooting film these days..." as if I should feel bad for even buying the film. If you want to feel belittled and ripped off then shop here! Instax polaroids are more than $1 a sheet. read more

Ripoff! 0 star but not Yelp possible. This pertains to the world camera store at Jefferson and Jones in Fisherman's Wharf. These guys should be locked up for robbery. They spot you in the crowd if you have a camera hanging on your shoulder when you walk by. I walked by the first time, store thief spots camera, attempts to get me to come in. I declined. Against my better judgement I go in on the return walk by the store thinking it can't be that bad. Shyster foreigner store owner goes with his regular routine on the con. He first looks at your camera and quotes a price that was in the ballpark for your setup. That was reasonable to what I gave for mine last summer. There's the "hook". Then the real con begins. He pulls out a wide angle lens that is on sale for "$995 from$1400". Takes your photo with it, and then asks to use your camera. Takes photo with and without. Shows you the cost on some fake website. Wow what a deal if you were gullible and think there is good in most people. What should absolutely be against the law is the hard sale they attempt to make on you and the fact he was trying to sell a $30 attachment for $995 (which was reduced to$350 before I walked out).I give them 5 stars for being so good at their routine. I knew it was a con but not sure of the magnitude, I should have looked up the price on Amazon ($30) right then.This con is no different than pickpocketing you, stealing your credit card, or swiping your wallet when you thought you laid it on the merchant's counter. read more

World Camera - Beware - Photography Stores & Services Near Me - San Francisco, California

I just bought a Sakar 2.2x zoom lens and adapter for a Canon G-12 for $200. The price started at $399.00 and came down to $225.00. I finally paid $200.00 for the lens and an adapter. When I got home I saw the same lens on Amazon for $46.99. In fact they had an entire lens kit for $50.00 with a wide angle lens and 3 filters. These guys are bandits so be careful and do your homework before making any purchases. I would stay away from this store. They do not give refunds. read more

I wouldn't get anything from them. They lie and say that a certain product has a great feature that doesn't exist, which is misrepresentation of the product. If the salesman from this store should happen to show you a lens that brightens up the shot without a flash and without having to change the exposure setting, don't buy it, in fact, get out of the store. There's no such lens around as far as I know of. He'll also show you the same lens on a video camera with a before view and after view attaching the lens. Anytime a shot is too dark while shooting on a video camera, doesn't the camera compensates for that? Wouldn't the video camera adjust itself, especially in daylight depending on the camera? I'm not a videographer, but that didn't seem right, so beware of purchasing from this company. Oh, I almost forgot about their store policy. There's nothing posted in the store stating that there are no refunds, no exchanges after 7 days, no credits issued on credit cards, all exchanges must be in original box, all returns subject to 25% restocking charge, and they do not match internet prices. Therefore, after they charge your card and bring you the written receipt of your items where the store policy is stated, it's too late. All of the above applies to you and that's how they get you. read more

The most poor service I have ever experienced. Felt tricked and fooled by the employers. The store uses false marketing and does not do refunds. I would recommend everyone to stay as far away from this store as possible. If I could I would give them 0 stars. read more

All of the above is true, I went in looking for wide angle lens and was sold an overpriced adaptor that did not live up to the salesman's speal. And when you go back they are quick to point out the small print on the sales receipt (No credit card refunds). Do not go into this store. read more

Do not buy in this shop. The person in charge (a Honduran man) refuses to show prices, charges more than three times the true prices. He refuses to change products, totally out of rule. I can really say my worst experience in San Francisco and in all places I have stayed. Never made me feel so cheated as here. I talked to him, let him know my displeasure and he kept trying to increase the scheme. The worst of the worst. read more

DON'T GO THERE !!! RIP-OFF! We went there, because there was dust on the sensor of our camera, we wanted to get advice how to remove it. So the guy in the store cleaned it (very roughly, used a pre-used blanket to clean the sensor, there was even more dust on it afterwards). After that he wanted us to buy a new lens for 300$, otherwise he would take 100$ for the clean-up. After we just said "Oh come on", he did some racist comments about Germans, then we left immediately. read more

If you have any chance to shop this store you'd find out the price is totally beyond of your imagination. How the price is exaggeratedly expensive? I can't believe why the vendor can tag that price much more 10 times than the marketplace. It's really ridiculous and it's such a bandit. Also, I would like to return the item and take my money back. Be honest, I don't like their terrible customer service. They only care about money and ignore the most important part of customer relationship. It's the terrible buying experience that I've ever had. Don't recommend that store and never shop that store again!!!!!!!!!!!!!! read more

There are two similar stores on the block. This one is on corner. The typical techno stuff that tourists need.

I walked in yesterday due to someone seeing I had a camera back and wanted to know what kind I had, they showed me a lense, an Acer 58mm lense that they told me sold for $695, I did not even try to negotiate and before I left they were telling me they would sell it to me for $300, so I on an impulse bought it thinking I was getting a deal, without even trying the lense. Once I got home, the lense quality was so bad I will never use it. I also found out the the same lense online on amazon selling for $12.00-$40.00, also if you search online "Axer 58mm" Scam" "Ripoff" or "World Camera" and you will see they have been doing this for years, and getting away with it, I'm really not sure how they are still in business. Needless to say I will never go back here. I am stuck with a $300 paper weight and lesson learned, as they do not take exchanges or refunds. Stay away from this place, and do some research on what you are buying. I did notice this place had no feedback on Yelp, and maybe that should have been my first warning. read more

An absolutely horrible shop. The staff either doesn't understand basic camera technology or perhaps they deliberately misrepresent products to make sales. They are insulting and rude if you question their misstatements. They were actually yelling insults after me as I left the store. Unbelievable. read more

This store is possibly the biggest scam I have ever seen in my life. Forgot my camera charger at home and went inside to buy a replacement. These scam artists wanted to charge me $69 for the charger (ordering off of amazon these things are $11). Everything else in the store was at least twice as expensive as in any other store and to top it off you can't leave the store without these low life crooks trying to sell you countless overpriced and low quality accessories. DO NOT EVER PURCHASE ANYTHING FROM THIS STORE!!! MAJOR SCAM!!!!!! read more

I bought a "genuine" Canon EFS 28-135 lens from this shop only to subsequently find it is not genuine at all. When I checked it later I realized it has no serial number on the lens and there is no warranty card with it. I am surprised that the San Francisco authorities allow a company such as this to operate. It sounds like a sure fire way to discourage tourists to shop there if they are going to be ripped off by dishonest companies. read more

These guys are kings of the hard sell. Don't buy ANYTHING from them, or you'll get taken like I did. Their list prices are WAY overpriced, then they give you big "discounts", because "business is slow". Their inventory, especially on long lenses, is subpar. A Sigma 70-300 F4-5.6 lists with them for close to $900, when I can buy online for around $150. With their huge discount, you can have it for $290. Just one example, but this is typical for them. PLEASE, don't continue to keep these dishonest ripoff artists in business. read more

STAY AWAY. Place has no ethics. Scammers. They will try to sell you a macro lense for $700 , and will do a very intense sales pressure making you think it's the best lense in the world and what a deal. They will slowly go down in price and bring over a manager that will even discount it lower. read more

Fraud! They sell you lenses, which are either highly overprices or simply fake and you cannot exchange the purchase for they refer to a store policy, which is an insult to every customer. The staff is rude and all they want is to sell you overpriced camera equipment. You will notice that none of the item in the store has a price label and they make the price up on a daily base. You are either well informed about market prices or you will be ripped-off from these guys. Stay away from this store! read more

DO NOT PURCHASE ANYTHING FROM THIS PLACE!!! They are scammers and prey on unsuspecting tourists. Luckily, I only live about an hour from San Francisco, but most of their customers are tourists, and they usually don't have a chance to do anything once they realize they've been ripped off. I went into this store not looking to buy anything, just browsing their selection of Nikkor lenses. A salesman asked me if there was anything in particular I was looking for and I told him I was in the market for a macro lens but wasn't really looking to buy anything right then. He showed me a 67mm wide angle lens with macro (one of those lenses you screw onto your normal lens). He said it was normally around $600, but he would sell it to me with a UV filter (which he said normally costs $80) for $430 total. That should've been my first clue that something wasn't right, but it sounded like a good deal, until I got home and did some research. I couldn't find the exact model to save my life, and the closest lenses I could find cost in the neighborhood of $50-60 all over the internet. They have a "no refund" policy, but I'm sure they just use that to bank on the fact that most of their customers are tourists and will not be able to do anything once they make the purchase. I decided to test my luck and go back the next day. Sure enough, the guy argued that they don't give refunds, but tried to say he could take it back and sell me another lens (a 60mm Nikkor, avg. retail price ($600) for $1,000 minus the $434 I spent on the other other lens. I told him he must be out of his damned mind and even Googled the 60mm lens to show him that it was nowhere even NEAR worth $1,000. After several more minutes of arguing back and forth, I finally told him he could either refund my money or I would go stand outside the store and tell everyone who came in not to buy from them, and furthermore I would hire an attorney, find as many people as I could who have been ripped off by this company, and file a class action lawsuit. He again said there was nothing he could do, so I went and stood right outside the door. I noticed that he got on the phone immediately after I walked out, and I hadn't even been standing for 5 minutes before he called me back in and asked me for my credit card. He said that he had to talk to someone first, but he would refund my money. Seems to me he knew he'd be better off giving back $434 rather than losing potentially thousands of dollars from other customers. Bottom line- DON'T BUY ANYTHING HERE! If you do decide to go here, do your research first so you know exactly what the fair market value is of whatever you're looking for. And if you still end up getting scammed but still have the opportunity to go back, DON'T TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER!!! You CAN get your money back, it just takes a few threats on your part. read more

We just stopped to get a few post cards.. We felt pressured into buying a part for our camera. The sales clerk quoted us 485 and when it was rang up it was 306. the clerk immediately noted the cash register person had made a mistake. What a rip off. I am sure that we overpaid for the part. No refunds and a restocking fee to boot. What a rip off place. I would recommend you do your homework and get what you need off the Internet of a replicable store.. Bad business for San Francisco.. One bad apple gives the rest a bad name.. I gave it one star just because I couldn't not give one.. if it was up to me it would have been -5 stars! read more

Staying in the area in April and needed to purchase a memory card for my camera. Went into this store and salesperson was very helpful, turns out they only have one type to fit my camera (yeah, right) but nonetheless I didn;t have time to argue as we were about to board the double decker bus. My purchase came in at $60, which I questioned and was told that they were high speed, high definition and that was all they had in stock. Again, didn;t have time to argue so I paid and left. Have went online since getting home and found that the cards are standard and retail for as little as $10 each, I paid $30 each. I have learnt my lesson and will be filing a claim with the credit card company. BUYER PLEASE BEWARE. read more

This store is full of ripoff artist praying on the uninformed, especially tourists. Do not buy anything from these guys ever!!!! They are in cahoots with an eBay seller who is listing the Axer 58mm wide angle lens for them so that if you do an eBay search of the product you will see it sells for $999. When you walk out of the store with this lens less that the listing price, you think you got a good deal. You should not pay more than probably $25 for this. Don't make a mistake and pay $250 or more like I did and others have. I also bought a Sigma 70 - 300mm lens that I was told was way better than the lens (a Sony 75 - 300mm) I wanted. I also paid $250 for it. The lens is not good at all. It will not auto focus with my camera at all. Each time I tried to use it, I had to set the camera to a manual setting and focus the lens myself. The quality of the photos it takes is not all that good either. Please, please, please, if you know anyone else who has been ripped off by scam artist, tell them to write a review everywhere they possibly can. Hopefully if enough people make enough complaints, we can shut them down. Just so you also know, they have an "F" rating with the BBB. read more