Back in the day when I had time to take interest in the stars, I bought a really good pair of…read morebinoculars with the help of the friendly staff at Jacobs on Whiteladies Road. I've been in a few branches of this shop, but I've yet to find one where the staff are both friendly, helpful and accommodating. Obviously, they've got the usual range of Jacobs equipment, from cameras through to torches, but the staff really do make this branch stand out above the rest. They'll take the time to let you try out each model they've got in stock so that you know you've got the one that's right for you. There seems to be a particular focus on tripods in here too, as a large part of the floor space is taken up with tripods - you know where to go if you're in need of one of them.

As far as camera shops go this place is ok. Where it loses ground on so many of the other stores in…read moreBristol is it's variety of lenses. With places such as the camera exchange offering a vast amount of new and pre-owned lenses from Sigma's to Sony's, from fish eyes to massive zoom lenses. Thats not to say there is anything wrong with jacobs, it's just that the stock on offer isn't as wide as some people would hope. There's not just camera's in here, you can find mini-dv and digital camcorders as well as a variety of camera excesories and films, very helpful if you want to resist the digital revolution as much as possible and keep faith with the good old fashioned cameras.

Mmm...so many beautiful cameras. The window display alone is enough to get me dribbling on the…read morewindow, but today I actually went into double check the price of a camera I am looking to buy (if you are a Yelp Fan and reading this Father Christmas I want the Olympus Pen E-P2, Pleeeaassee! I'll be really good). They actually have one of the best ranges of cameras in Bristol, with an excellent selection of the more affordable and older second hand cameras & lenses to the brand spanking new, stunningly beautiful and expensive cameras that you see in ads on the TV during the commercial breaks for big expensive movies. I believe the best way to sum up their range is using prices, £200 - £2,000 +. But they have all the Canons, Panasonics, Nikons etc and the staff are very knowledgeable about the different cameras, which is a hell of a lot more than you can say for some larger electrical goods store chains. They also buy & sell cameras so you can trade yours in for an upgrade.

London Camera Exchange doesn't look too much from the outside but don't let appearances put you…read moreoff. They have managed to cram a lot in here considering the size of the place so it will probably take a good half hour to browse all they have to offer. I love anything to do with taking photos. My Facebook has over 150 albums (they must hate me!) therefore I like to think I know what I am talking about! Having said that the staff were able to teach me a thing or to about which cameras are good indoors/outdoors/underwater/skiiing. In fact if you have any camera needs, check this place out as they know what they are on about and the prices are really competitive.

They are cheaper than their competitors BUT this comes at the cost of the worse kind of customer…read moreservice when things go wrong. DO NOT RISK YOUR MONEY WITH THEM. I bought a camera from them & took it on holiday whereupon it kept freezing. You cannot contact them by email or online form, which is against the Consumer Rights Act. Eventually I found I could contact them through Facebook Messenger but often they just ignored my messages. As the camera was faulty & less than 30 days old, I requested a refund or brand-new replacement. When I sent it back to them, they tried to state that there was no fault & would have to send it to Olympus for further testing, even though I had sent them photos & video evidence of the fault. Eventually I got my money back via my credit card & Olympus apologised on their behalf though the whole process took several months to finalise.

Bristol Cameras is very conveniently located in the heart of Bristol near to St Nicholas Market. I…read morehave been here many a times when my 'indestructible' camera from Olympus has broken. The staff were so helpful and were able to tell me things that customer services at Olympus failed to do. They have a huge selection of cameras and I find that the staff have much more time for you than those in Curry's Digital. Prices are very competitive too. Check out their website for a full selection and you can also order online if you don't feel like making a visit.

Nobody prints their photos anymore! Apparently Facebook tagging them is enough. But this shop…read moreoffers such a hassle free, friendly service I really should get more than the odd one printed. It's not like it used to be, taking that roll of film out the back of your old camera, literally wearing surgical gloves to avoid finger prints and blocking the sunlight at all costs. Well here at my local printing shop they have those nifty do-it-yourself machines with mini SD slots, or USB ports and even Bluetooth etc. so you don't have to get the whole roll of thirty rubbish photos printed just for that one that came out quite well. The staff are so friendly and helpful and it really is such a cheap, quick and easy process to get your photos printed, in fact there's a cheap Christmas present for Gran sorted. They also offer a canvas wrapping service, where they'll stretch your image over a canvas so you can hang it on your wall.

Consistently kind and friendly, the staff at Kodak Express in Clifton Down Shopping centre have…read morenever failed to disappoint me. They go out of their way to help customers, printing perfect pictures each time - and if they're not perfect, they'll spend that little bit extra time trying to make them perfect. It's quite a small shop, and they stock a large variety of albums and photo frames on the main part of the floor. In the centre of the shop there's two computer hubs, where you can plug in a memory device of some sort and print your photos fast from the machine. Their main focus, though, is the traditional print services of a photographic shop. As I said, I've never been disappointed with the service or quality of the finished product, and I've consistently been impressed with the shop. Definitely give them a go next time you need some holiday snaps developing.

Taken advantage of due to their own mistake today. I went in here on the recommendation from the…read morepost office to get 4sheets of A4 printed off. I was asked what I wanted and explained 4sheets black and white, cheapest option possible. I then explained I would send one over at a time to make sure it came across correctly. The lady printed off 4copies of the same email. I then explained this is not what I wanted and she said if I wanted the rest it would be £10!!!!! ridiculous amount for 4sheets of paper. I was then charged £4 for the mistakes she made and left with 4 of the same copy. not impressed and 100% felt taken advantage of as she was making prices up as she went along. Very unfair and bad business for any future customers.

I usually send off for my photographs online - I thought you got far better deals that way…read more Recently I just needed a few photos, but I didn't them for the next day so I went to Fujifilm on Gloucester Road. What was quite nice, was speaking to a person! I think you forget doing so much stuff online how nice it is to communicate with real people! They have a number of different choices depending on how quick you want your photos developed and actually, weren't much more than the price I usually pay on line.

The larger of the two London Camera Exchanges in Bristol, so is better for getting the peripherals…read moreas they are more likely to have the right fitting in stock. The staff are on hand and helpful - having more space might make it preferable to people wanting to spend time learning about the different models and options for big purchases. Personally I like smaller pokey shops that make you feel like a geek. Their second-hand section is pretty small - best to go to their other store to check that out. Quick note - the store is open until 5.45pm Monday - Saturday, just their isn't the choice on the drop down menu here!

I absolutely adore this small stall from the covered section of St Nicholas Market. Inside the…read moremodest wooden boxes on Memories stalls sit prints of black and white photographs dating back over 100 years. There are pictures of Bristol's city centre, Bath and everywhere in between to peruse through and mentally compare the difference between the ages. Ranging from £8 to £20 per print (more if you opt for a framed picture) I feel it's a reasonable price to pay to own a copy of local history. I love searching out photographs of places I've worked or lived and seeing what they looked like all those years ago. Nerdy? Or a bit of innocent fun? You decide! It's a great stall to visit whether you're a local or tourist to get a flavour of Bristol in a bygone era.

Want to hop in my time machine...no I'm not Dr Who, I'm just visiting Memories down in St Nick's…read moreMarket. Actually I am Dr Who now get in my box Amy Pond...anyway... I have actually been down to Memories on quite a few occasions to have a look at Bristol over the years; it almost seems so much more beautiful and wonderful. I suppose if you were going to photograph it now on an average weekday you'd probably catch a group of students staggering out of what used to a beautiful building and is now an Aussie theme pub. But all the beautiful old photography is arranged into locations alphabetically e.g. if you're from Clifton, Clutton or Clevedon you can get digging and try and find that photo of your house from the 1860s (as my friend did, he obviously bought that image immediately). The photos usually set you back around £8.00 each, at least they did when I wrote this, unless you want a much larger version of the photo then the costs rise. But I was only half joking about the time machine; looking at the images is like a taking a brilliant tour of Bristol though the ages gone by and as you whizz around Bristol in the the 19th century, you might just learn an awful lot about this beautiful city.