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.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this store! Patience is a virtue. I've been to used and new…read morecamera stores coast to coast -- since 1978! I went to the original B&H on 17th street. I shopped Helix in Chicago in 1996! I've been to Camera World of Oregon and Samy's in LA. Camera stores have mostly gone the way of film upon the advent of digital in the 00´s. And now that Kodak's concept of The Brownie has reached fruition with the iPhone... well, it's a wonder anyone still appreciates the richness and deliberate slowness of analog. This place remains! This place understands and values the foundation of photography. That in itself is worth a lot! I first shopped here when I first moved to Chicago to attend that small university on the south side known for its Nobels in 1982. I shopped here again yesterday and returned today -- June 2026! Why? Their selection of used gear is unique and fairly priced. They don't sell their used gear online or on eBay. It's here on Wabash or nothing. They don't even want to get involved with shipping. The insurance and risk of loss just isn't worth the expense. So, this is just another reason to visit Chicago. And I'm glad I did! And for you locals, consider yourselves lucky that Central Camera remains in business in service to the analog photographic community here in Chicagoland. Cheers! I bought a 55mm for my Pentax 67 at a very fair price. The glass was in near mint condition. Zoe was an excellent salesperson. And that's what counts. I get the impression this store focuses on relationships -- not greed. Are they computerized and QR-coded for rapid transactions? No. But if you're shooting film, why care? Enjoy the spectacle -- the shelves and displays filled with retro cameras, camera boxes, selections of darkroom tools and spare parts. The large format and esoteric gear of all shapes and sizes. When's the last time I saw a 250 exposure film back for Nikon F cameras? Maybe 1980. Maybe never. I don't remember. That is a rare piece of equipment. If you need one -- they have it here -- at least until it's gone. There was only one. Anyhow, I go on and on in defiance of the angry elf reviews here on Yelp. Ignore those naysayers. If you need good used gear or some film... Central Camera will have the film and may just have what you've been looking for in gear without resorting to Bezos or eBay. Cheers!!

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.

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!

Not many reviews for this place, but they have been in business for a long time ... first down…read morenorth a bit on the east side of Harlem around 115th Street and now up here on the west side of Harlem at 122nd. Either way you get the same old fashioned service for your photography needs. What I use them for is their handling of old negatives (any size) and developing of old rolls of film. I brought in some old 4" by 5" negatives and wanted them scanned to a CD ... no problem, and only $3 per negative. Once digitized on to a CD you can do anything you want with them. I also brought in some old rolls of B&W film that I uncovered in a box - they developed them and gave me a few priceless prints. So if you have some special needs in photography - although they do the routine stuff too - give these peeps a chance. Nice to have them in the area.

We contacted Quality Plus Photo during the 2020 Covid Crisis and even during quarantine they were…read moreamazing! They came and picked up 21 of our old Hi8 tapes that we haven't been able to watch for years and convert them to DVD. They even repaired a few tapes we thought were for sure gone. The quality of the tapes are amazing and we're so excited to finally watch our old home memories! The price was also extremely fair! We will definitely use them again and are very happy to have discovered them.

I've been interested into checking out PROCAM but was tainted by negative experiences I've had at…read moreother camera stores where the staff just seem to look down on anyone who isn't already a professional but the social media posts for their PROCAM Days weekend caught my attention and I figured that getting in with a big crowd would be the best time. In addition to sales and trade in promos they were having some speakers put on classes one of which gave me an even more solid reason to stop by. It's a big store with an impressive amount of photography equipment and just about every big brand and even some smaller ones represented. The photo processing and studio in the back kind of make it an ideal all-in-one location for all things photography related. They had plenty of helpful staff on hand to help out the crowd of people in the store at the time but the majority of customers clearly knew what they were talking about and what they were looking for. I would be interested to see how the staff are on regular business days but they did seem very friendly throughout all of my interactions. The back studio area where the class/presentation was held is an impressive size. I could see how it could be useful for a number of situations. All in all this was a great introduction to the shop and hopefully I'll be able to visit more often in the future.

I'm new(er) to the whole photography and camera scene and ProCam is my first experience with a…read morecamera store that offers rent/buy/sell services, all in one place. It was fairly busy on a Sunday afternoon, which tells me that this place is likely always busy (which is not a terrible thing). What I noticed within the first few minutes, is that the staff in here are super knowledgeable. This is not ideal for someone looking for speedy fast service. What you'll find here is trustworthy, thorough, and detailed advice and expertise. Expect to be patient with wait times. They also have a studio space that can be rented by the hour for photo shoots. The only reason I have 4 stars is because I was hoping they'd offer more money for my camera. I will be back!

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.

ProMediaGear makes gimbal heads, flash brackets, camera plates, clamps, video rigs and more. I used…read moreto buy RRS Really Right Stuff and Kirk Photo camera plates for my DSLRs to attach them to my Arca Swiss compatible ball heads. I tried this brand since they were less expensive and the machining and finish looked first rate. I have 5 plates and everything fits perfectly and works flawlessly at a price point lower than all the competition. Note: The Canon 60D Body Plate $39.95 will fit the Canon 70D and Canon 6D which all have a pin in the same place. The PX1R $19.95 is a perfect fit for the Canon M3. See the pix.

From the owner: Professional Camera Supports and Accessories. Flash…read moreBracket, Custom Camera Arca-Swiss Plates, Gimbal Heads, Video Camera Sliders, Curved Sliders,