Freestyle is an excellent company.

[jtk]

In my experience.

 

[bdial]

Indeed they are.

 

[Stephen Prunier]

I try to make several purchases from them each year. It takes longer being on the other coast, and I have to pay for shipping. But, I gladly do it because I feel Freestyle will still be there for me when the others won't be. Plus they have excellent customer service.

 

[BrianShaw]

They are even better in person!

 

[bdial]

They are even better in person!

They are, but I miss the Freestyle of the 1970's when the store was full of surplus aerial cameras and all sorts of interesting photographic "stuff". As a poor student, I couldn't consider buying any of it, but it was fun to browse, while trying to decide whether to buy some rolls of Arista (Ilford at the time), or splurge on some Kodak.
Good times.

 

[BrianShaw]

Good times, indeed. I always went to Frank’s, also, for such fun!

 

[BobD]

I live in LA and I used to enjoy their annual parking lot sales. I got some great bargains there.

Inside they had shelves of darkroom stuff that were so high you needed a ladder to reach the top.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

I try to buy from Freestyle when I can. I had one occasion to visit the shop in LA last year, and I’ll definitely make it a regular stop when I’m in LA.

 

[dkonigs]

If Freestyle would stop filling their boxes with packing peanuts, and instead use inflated air bags like everyone else nowadays, I would use them much more often than I currently do. This is really my only complaint. But when you order as much random stuff as I do, harder-to-dispose packing materials can kinda become a dealbreaker.

 

[NortheastPhotographic]

I try to order from them as much as I can. I got my Epson P6000 from them actually!

 

[Louis Nargi]

In my experience.

Agree

 

[eddie]

I never had a disappointing transaction with them. I also try to make a few buys each year.

 

[markbau]

Only ordered from them once, shipping costs and times were quite a bit more than B&H. B&H are the only US store I buy from now.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I buy from them when it is appropriate, but sometimes I can get it cheaper from Adorama and save almost 10% sales tax.

 

[Grim Tuesday]

If Freestyle would stop filling their boxes with packing peanuts, and instead use inflated air bags like everyone else nowadays, I would use them much more often than I currently do. This is really my only complaint. But when you order as much random stuff as I do, harder-to-dispose packing materials can kinda become a dealbreaker.

Just start selling camera stuff on eBay! I always get excited when I get something with packing peanuts because it means I can ship my next thing with packing peanuts (which are vastly superior to air bags for actually protecting stuff)

 

[Sirius Glass]

If Freestyle would stop filling their boxes with packing peanuts, and instead use inflated air bags like everyone else nowadays, I would use them much more often than I currently do. This is really my only complaint. But when you order as much random stuff as I do, harder-to-dispose packing materials can kinda become a dealbreaker.

I do not like shipping peanuts either. I cannot get the shell off them and I find that they lack the crunchiness of roasted peanuts. I tried roasting them in my oven, but they just turned into a sticky mess! If I pour them the trash can, a lot of them end up on the floor.

 

[Renato Tonelli]

I order almost all of my paper and chemistry from them; service has always been great.
I reuse the packing materials for when I sell stuff.

 

[mshchem]

If Freestyle would stop filling their boxes with packing peanuts, and instead use inflated air bags like everyone else nowadays, I would use them much more often than I currently do. This is really my only complaint. But when you order as much random stuff as I do, harder-to-dispose packing materials can kinda become a dealbreaker.

I agree 100%. On a positive point these things are puffed corn starch and dissolve in water. I ate one once, not real tasty, maybe Freestyle should include a pack of cheese flavoring .

 

[Vaughn]

I dump the 'peanuts' in the kitchen sink and fill it with cold water -- then smoose them together in my hands -- quite fun. Then down the drain. Better than plastics.

Freestyle -- cool folks!

 

[StepheKoontz]

You can always tell how good a company is where there is a problem. I ordered a lightbox from them and the website said it was in stock. Well turns out it wasn't and was on backorder. I called them and I know this is a low bar, they answered the phone. Someone looked up what was going on and asked me if I wanted to leave it as a backorder or did I want a refund. They also contacted me via email when they found out when I could expect the item I ordered.

On the packing peanuts, I save them up in large plastic garbage bags to reuse for my own shipping (sending camera in for a CLA etc). When I find I have just too many, I gave them to my Art friends to use for shipping things. I guess I repurpose instead of trying to recycle them?

 

[DWThomas]

I buy from them and have no complaints other than a couple of orders back I thought the shipping was a bit $$$. They are on the opposite coast for me, so I buy more from B&H because here in the Philadelphia 'burbs I get one or two day delivery from the standard shipping. Freestyle is good for me in that they ship some chemistry that B&H has pickup only, so I try to share my business with them.

 

[Sal Santamaura]

I buy from them when it is appropriate, but sometimes I can get it cheaper from Adorama and save almost 10% sales tax.

That might be evidence of just how much lower Adorama's sales volume is than B&H's. B&H has been charging sales tax since last year. Either Adorama hasn't yet shipped $500k in merchandise to California or it's ignoring the law. Either way, if you receive an order from Adorama that didn't include sales tax, you're obligated to submit the equivalent amount in use tax to California. Your signature on your annual state income tax return means failure to submit any use tax owed makes you subject to prosecution for tax fraud. Good luck!

 

[eli griggs]

I like Freestyle myself, however as good as their selection of film and papers are, I still shop around for the best deals on Kodak and Ilford, films in bulk roll.

I hope Freestyle can continue to exist for a long time, as they are one of the few "camera stores" analog photographers can go to, on-line and no be overwhelmed by digital offerings.

IMO.

 

[BobD]

I don't trust those inflated airbags for shipping. If they pop you've got no protection at all. I worry that a sharp edge or the low pressure of an aircraft baggage area will pop them. Mostly I simply use crumpled newspaper because I can get it free but I love using foam peanuts when I happen to have some on hand.

 

[guangong]

I don’t buy much from Freestyle because shipping costs not according to size or weight, but by sale price of order. Two rolls of Super8 hardly takes more space than one, but shipping makes price unreasonable...could buy at full list price at cinema stock house.