Best store in LA?

J

johnnyspack

Active member
Hi fellow users,

Will be in LA from Monday for a few days and need to get some HDSLR supplies. Is there a B & H equivalent in LA? From Oz so don't know the lay of the land.

Thx
J.Spack
 
Yes, there is one called Samy's Camera. http://samys.com. They have stores all around Southern California. The main store in Los Angeles is 3 stories tall. Worth checking things out.
 
Samy's is good... if you don't mind taking a number like you're waiting to buy a pound of roast beef in a deli... versus $9,000 worth of photo equipment. :)

The one in Culver City is staffed by very questionably intelligent people (my way of saying ignorant). I was looking to buy a camera and played dumb to see what kind of sales pitch they would give me. I asked which DSLR's could be retrofitted for PL mount (like the 1D, 7D, GH1, since I have my own set of nice cinema lenses I was thinking about taking portraits with) and the woman looked at me and said, "I've never heard of a PL mount." I tried to explain it to her and it was like talking to my mom about cinematography... useless.

I started asking basic questions like dynamic range, sensitivity and etc. She looked at me and said, "I'm not really sure about those things, you can look them up online."

I'm looking to spend thousands on a camera, and I WANT them to sell me a camera, and they can't... apparently the Culver City location is only good for picking a purchase up. I'd rather order from B&H and not pay california sales tax!

However, if you want to buy locally, and if you want to hold a reasonable conversation with someone, go to the Samy's Fairfax location. They actually have a Leica representative there (I was looking at the M9 rangefinder :) ), and he was most helpful. Everyone there seems to know what they are doing to a very high degree... I now only go there for all my photography needs! I recommend Fairfax location.
 
Yeah, the LA Samy's is a pretty cool shop, and the Santa Ana or Santa Barbara versions both have friendly people.

I believe there are a couple of shops in Burbank that are very serious, but I've never been.
 
I've never been to sammy's, but I spoke with the owner and have purchased things at FILMTOOLS. I really like doing business with them!
 
What do you guys think about Abel Cine in Burbank ? I found them on the web, drove past but the place didn't look that user friendly and inviting. Have to try again, but has anyone shopped there before ?

 
The little camera shops really are the best places. There's one right up the street from campus called Arlington Camera here in Texas. It's the best place within 50 miles.

I walked in today and basically said "Hmm, lemme see that one, that one, and that one." And then I just went test driving their lenses. :D
 
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