Arcade Camera

Always great service, very friendly, and very helpful. I see a few bad reviews, but this has not been my experience.

First of all I NEVER write reviews. I am taking the time so I can hopefully help someone out! and I give it NEGATIVE STARS! My Nikon D700 was in working condition, ever so often the mirror would stick, I would fire another shot and it was fine. I took it into Arcade Camera in San Clemente to see if they can take a look at it but to NOT DO ANYTHING if they can’t fix it for me, because I had 3 shoots that weekend and it was still working for me. (this was a tuesday) The lady was very sweet. She tried my camera and it of course was working fine and was not sticking… we laughed about it and she assured me they do NOT touch or try to repair the camera before calling me first. wed went by no call, thursday no call. I called them and she told me she was ill and was not in. She then called her repair man and then called me back saying he can’t fix it. Fine. That is fine I said, I need my camera back by friday so I can shoot that weekend. Oh yes it will be in working condition. SO I get my camera, my 4 year old and 18month old in the store not happy to be there so I grabbed my camera and left. Later that night after dinner and kids etc I looked at my camera and the mirror was not there. Arcade was closed. No calls. No answering machine… nothing. I had shoots the following day so I had to spend 200 to rent a camera and I asked the guy at Samys camera if it looked like my sensor was removed. HE SAID YES. I finally got a hold of Arcade around 11am on saturday, they finally answered the phone. The man, super rude, super condescending said that the repair man never touched it that I was crazy and if I want them to fix it to bring it back. So they sent it back to repair. I asked if my camera will be in the same working condition as when I brought it in… I was told YES. another week goes by and I get the camera that friday. The camera was completely broken, cannot be used at all. After going in there and it got heated, he looked me in the eye and said my camera was broken and they did nothing to it. I told him to get his wife, because I had been dealing with her and she knows that it worked because we laughed about it together. She was sitting behind these double doors and wouldn’t come out and face me. I have never been so angry in my life. I am a super easy going person and I don’t scream at people but this man took full advantage and looked me in the eye and said it isn’t his fault. I then said I want him to pay for the rental since they totally inconvenienced me, he said there was no way. I then said I need my $ 25 dollar repair fee, I am not paying for you to break my camera. He said no. I raised my voice again and said he owes me 25. (it isn’t the 25 dollars mind you… its just the fact that he is getting away with murder). He said fine, you want your money? He grabbed his giant check book out and then threw the check at me. I forgot to mention when I talked to the wife before pick up the first time, she said I need to send it to Nikon, it will take a min of 8 weeks and a min of $ 400 to fix it. She then asked if I wanted them to send it for me… NO WAY! I will NEVER EVER do business with you! I thought I was supporting a local business, I love San Clemente and I LOVE my cameras. I ended up sending it to Nikon, they fixed it in one week and charged me $ 230 for the repair. Arcade camera is NO Place to support. The way he treated me in front of my kids was horrible and I will never make a mistake like that again. Do not go there do not trust them with your stuff. Take the trip, go up to Samys camera or Beach camera. Or directly deal with your manufacturer. I hope I helped someone out:)

I have been to this store several times. They provide service that is rarely available in the era of digital. \They have restored some old photos. they had a lens cover to fit my
big Canon SLR and a very good polarizer for it. I specialize in sunsets.

My wife and i just purchased our very first camera. We wanted something nice to take pictures of our daughter. Went to this store because I wanted to work with someone that could tell me the differences between cameras and know what they’re talking about unlike best buy or costco. They were so easy to work with and nice. I would definitely recommend arcade camera to anyone who wants great service and a great price

Ok, I’m definitely one to support local businesses and I wanted to do the same for Arcade Camera. I called and asked if they had an adapter cord for my Canon XTi. The woman told me, «yes» they have them. I walked in and yes, it was the right cord but they wanted $ 39.95 for it! When I saw the price, I thought it was a joke. She could see the hesitation on my face and told me that if I could pay cash, she could knock off 20% which if the product had a REASONABLE price, I would have been very happy… but alas, $ 40 for a cord… No thank you. I thanked her for her time and walked out. I found it on Amazon for $ 5. I will not be going back to Arcade Camera. Nice lady, nice location, RIDICULOUS prices.

Seriously. The nicest small business owners ever. They helped me get set up with my used and very broken canon dslr. They sent it out for repairs and set me up with a lens and filter package which will be great for starting out with my new hobby. The prices are higher than Amazon, but once you include things like shipping and the solid repair, it was only slightly more expensive. It’s worth it to me to support a small business in our little town… On a side note, they also let my curious 3 year old son wander around their store and explore and made him laugh and giggle quite a bit as well. If you’re nice to my kid, you get 5 stars in my book… So visit this business if you want personalized help from a nice family, but avoid if you want the wal-​mart experience of cheap prices and even cheaper quality goods.

I’ve purchased a number of point-​and-​shoot and DSLR bodies and lenses from this family owned business over the last ten years: my first Digital Rebel, all the way to my 5D mkII most recently. Staff took time to understand my needs and make recommendations. A decent amount of accessories are available too.

Im from San Clemente, and I prefer to do business with locally owned business when possible, so I figured I would give Arcade Camera a shot, although it has had some bad reviews. I called the shop looking to find out if they had a Canon 50 mm lens in stock since it is something that i needed right away. The man that was helping me said they they do have the lens in stock and the cost is $ 150. He must have herd it in my voice when I confirmed the price, since most shops carry the lens for $ 99. Without me asking he asked if I have seen is less expensive in a local add, in which i respond letting him know that best buy has it in stock and is selling it for $ 110. He then got upset at me and said he is NOT playing this game with me and since he has it in stock his price is $ 150. I was in shock after this comment since i was not even attempting to margin him down, i was simply responding to a question he asked. He then mentioned that if he had to order the lens it would be $ 99, but again, since he had it in stock it would cost $ 150. Now don’t get me wrong, I understand he has to run a business, but a 50% markup is just crazy. He then had to tell me one more time that he is not playing this game with me (the game that i did not initiate BTW) and to go somewhere else. Bottom line, horrible customer service, expensive prices. Avoid Arcade Camera like the plague.

I can’t believe this place is still in business. I mean seriously I saw the horrible reviews it had on citysearch but I thought how bad could it be I just need passport photos… get in get out… right? NO WRONG!!!
First of all they charge $ 15 for passport photos which usually costs only $ 10…
Secondly, the owner uses an old ancient camera… like hello welcome to 2011 who doesn’t use digital for things like this? So the first picture he took we wait 10 min for it to develop only to discover my side bangs fell and covered my eye. So he had to do it again at which time he was mad b/​c it costs him money… another reason to go digital! So we took another photo and he began to cut it up… he handed me these unevenly cut pics and the background was gray not white as specified for US passport! He than said it’s because I’m wearing dark clothing and he’s not going to take another picture and that I should go somewhere else. He’s been using the same camera for 25 years and there is no reason to change! OMG!!!
If this is my experience for just a simple passport photo I can only imagine what it would be like to deal with these people on something more serious like a 1K + camera purchase or something… ugh
So 20 minutes wasted of an already busy day! I ended up going to CVS by my house and getting 6 copies of a perfect digital pic for $ 10 taken by a very sweet young kid! And as much as I just love giving my business to family owned companies it felt o-​so-​good to give my money to CVS after this experience!
My Advice: Don’t ever go here!