photostores california L.A./san francisco

HI folks

I am visiting L.A. and San Francisco this year and I would like to know if there are any nice stores for buying used gear or film for a good price besides freestylephoto.
I will buy online in advance to have some filmstock as I don't want to take so much film withme when I travel from Vienna to L.A.

any Ideas, stores to go to or any other photorelated info for L.A. or San Francisco

I do not search for anything specific as I shoot from 35mm till 4x5" any use all kinds of brands from little p+s made by pentax to my mamiya rz67 to a wonderfull sinar P2.
regarding the filmquestion: I will only bring 35m and a 6x6 rolleicord Vb

I appreciate your time to answer in advance

I haven't been there for years but I know they are still in business. Look up Adolph Gasser in San Francisco they used to have a very interesting used department something of a mini museum.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

In general many camera stores have given up selling used cameras because the market has been drying up and they do not want to carry inventory that does not move. Rather than compete with eBay and KEH.com, they would rather sell all their used inventory in regular sweeps by KEH so that they can free up their money. Besides, they cannot competitively compete, so they do not.

The reason I bring this up is to provide a reference frame for what follows.

I used to buy my used equipment from Bel Air camera in Westwood [West Los Angeles] and I would get very good Hasselblad prices. They have pretty much stopped selling used equipment with holding on to a small selection of cameras. Bel Air pointed me to KEH and Samys.

Samys Camera on Fairfax [431 S. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90036, Tel: 323-938-2420] maintains a good collection of used 35mm, MF and LF cameras. The MF and LF used cameras are on the fourth floor and the used 35mm cameras are on the third floor. Before they price a camera, they look at what they paid for that camera, the condition and the KEH price for the camera at the same condition. I have found their prices to be competitive with KEH and have the advantage that I can handle the camera or lenses. They also will back their equipment if a problem arises. They also have very competent repair people at that location.

When I have bought any Hasselblad equipment from them, they have Mike, the factory trained Hasselblad repairman, inspect the camera or lens. He will make any necessary adjustments then. One time he told the management and me that a particular lens had problems that were not worth dealing with and the lens was removed from selling. They then found a better quality lens of the same type that was more expensive. Since I had spend a fair amount of time there, after Mike had inspected and approved that lens, they sold me that lens at the price agreed to on the first lens.

The first two places that I look to buy used equipment are Samys and KEH.

Steve

In the San Francisco area, as previously mentioned, check out Adolph Gasser, although their prices are not terribly competitive. Another worthwhile visit is Keeble & Schuchat down in Palo Alto. I want to say there's a place over in Berkeley that also deals in used camera gear but I forget the name and I've never been there myself.

TheFlyingCamera said:

In the San Francisco area, as previously mentioned, check out Adolph Gasser, although their prices are not terribly competitive. Another worthwhile visit is Keeble & Schuchat down in Palo Alto. I want to say there's a place over in Berkeley that also deals in used camera gear but I forget the name and I've never been there myself.

Click to expand...

Do you mean Looking Glass Photo on Telegraph Avenue?

In SF check out Glass Key for film and darkroom stuff. Located in a used record store Matt carries a good selection of film, paper and chemistry.

Roger

There are also the camera swap meets every mouth or so ,one in Pasadena,Buena Park,and a few others around LA and Orange Co. You can Google Bargain Camera Shows or Pasadena Camera Show to find days,times and locations.

Mike

Hey there...barry from Bel Air Camera here. Not sure who Sirius Glass spoke to but we have Hundreds of used Film Cameras and lenses from Toyo, Hasselblad, Mamiya, Pentax, Nikon, Contax, Canon, Olympus, Minolta, Leica, Zeiss Icon, and more, 35mm, Medium and Large format. All are refurbished with warranties and are at or below prices found at KEH. Of course we have plenty of NEW stock as well. We are clearing out some Contax 645 and some Leica R stock at pretty good prices. Feel free to e-mail me or give me a call at 310-208-5150 and tell me what you are looking for.

Barry

Keeble & Shuchat in Palo Alto. --- Very Highly recommended for everything photographic!

Camera West in Walnut Creek - high end used gear with prices to match, nice folks.

"Kamera Korner" in downtown San Jose -- I've not been there in a few years but used to be worth the trip. reasonable prices. Lots of stuff. They used to have "junk bins" that one could pick through. Some repairs done on site.

barryBelAir said:

Hey there...barry from Bel Air Camera here. Not sure who Sirius Glass spoke to but we have Hundreds of used Film Cameras and lenses from Toyo, Hasselblad, Mamiya, Pentax, Nikon, Contax, Canon, Olympus, Minolta, Leica, Zeiss Icon, and more, 35mm, Medium and Large format. All are refurbished with warranties and are at or below prices found at KEH. Of course we have plenty of NEW stock as well. We are clearing out some Contax 645 and some Leica R stock at pretty good prices. Feel free to e-mail me or give me a call at 310-208-5150 and tell me what you are looking for.

Barry

Click to expand...

I was buying Hasselblad lenses and A12 film backs from Rika. The last purchases were for a AF Nikon 28mm-200mm zoom, Hasselblad A12 backs and I cleaned out the Hasselblad filters several years ago. Then suddenly there was no longer any Hasselblad used equipment for sale! Several of the sales people told me that Bel Air Camera sold off most of it to KEH and the rest went to eBay.

Since you are carrying used cameras again, I will come by when I am back in Los Angeles looking for more 4"x5" lenses. Bel Air is much closer to me than Samys.

Steve

barryBelAir said:

Hey there...barry from Bel Air Camera here. Not sure who Sirius Glass spoke to but we have Hundreds of used Film Cameras and lenses from Toyo, Hasselblad, Mamiya, Pentax, Nikon, Contax, Canon, Olympus, Minolta, Leica, Zeiss Icon, and more, 35mm, Medium and Large format. All are refurbished with warranties and are at or below prices found at KEH. Of course we have plenty of NEW stock as well. We are clearing out some Contax 645 and some Leica R stock at pretty good prices. Feel free to e-mail me or give me a call at 310-208-5150 and tell me what you are looking for.

Barry

Click to expand...

Now that's good to hear!

BradS said:

Keeble & Shuchat in Palo Alto. --- Very Highly recommended for everything photographic!

Click to expand...

I haven't been there in several years. I remember them having a lot of stuff, but also for some reason being rather rude, or at least disinterested in answering questions about used equipment. I was interested in buying some stuff, but if they didn't much want to sell it, well...

lxdude said:

I haven't been there in several years. I remember them having a lot of stuff, but also for some reason being rather rude, or at least disinterested in answering questions about used equipment. I was interested in buying some stuff, but if they didn't much want to sell it, well...

Click to expand...

Yeah, I know what you mean. It actually goes both ways, I've had sales people who would not take no for an answer and I've had 'em that just didn't seem that interested in selling anything but Leicas.

Luckily, I've been there enough times, I know who to avoid and try to go directly to the good guys. There are some there who've been there a long time and they're usually better to deal with. That said, the last time I was there, it seemed as though they had gotten rid of the bad apples.

Not making excuses for any of them but I think they all get really tired of unkind customers...Dealing with the public is very difficult work at best. Dealing with the public in a very affluent neighborhood is even more so. I think they have their defenses up.

I always make a point to be extra polite. I try to show than that I'm a serious buyer and I not gonna be an asshole. If I get an irritating sales person I go find another. Just say, "Ok, thanks for your time", walk away and find another sales person. Even if they're in a different part of the store...

Don't know what to say about they guy upstairs in the Darkroom area...but I do buy almost all of my darkroom supplies there.

thx for your answers so far

Excellent reference for Northern California!

Who stocks >color< 4x5 sheet print film?

And who stocks Kodak chemistry? Most of the websites don't like full inventory.

Thanks in advance, visiting next week!

Green Apple books in san fran, had the best selection of new and used photo books in one place that I had ever seen.
Quite a challenge to decide what I could fit into my homeard bound weight allowance.

I found a few goodies at adolph gassers, and a nice converasation with a staff that understand why some still shoot film.

Dropped into Glass Key to buy some e-6 and say hi to Matt.

Stocked up in LA at at Freestyle and enjoyed their nice gallery of staff work at the same time.