Mike's Camera Inc Lone Tree — Attraction in Lone Tree

Update: Changing 1to 4 star after Mike's response & email. A few years ago, I purchased a D750 & the staff was knowledgeable & eager to help me find exactly what fit my needs. I also bought some other equipment at that time & they were great to work with. During that time I mostly worked with John. He made the buying experience personal & shopping there was like going to visit friends. The experience has changed. In the last year I have been looking to expand my studio equipment. I wanted to learn more about studio strobes. I asked George (the sales associate) the questions I knew to ask, but got short answers.  He made no effort to educate me in the different features. He basically showed me what was there, but didn’t tell me anything about studio strobes - just that he had one & had never had to change the bulb (thanks). I didn’t feel like I had learned enough to make an informed decision, so I left. I did research on my own & learned about HSS, I knew about TTL, & ended up buying anither light online. I was also looking for a larger 40"+ softbox, again I & had another similar experience.. I didn’t know anything about Bowens mounts or any other mounts. It didn’t matter, because, they didn’t have a softbox that size. They might carry one & maybe didn’t have it at the time, but I wouldn’t know, because George just flipped through what was on the floor & didn’t see any (I could have done that). I asked if I needed to know anything about how the lights mount & his answer was, “It should work” (Thanks again George). I ended up educating myself & ordering one online.  I also needed some stands, & had a little better experience with a different associate, so I purchases a backdrop stand on a separate trip.  I then wanted to add to my list an 85mm lens, so on a 3rd trip I went in hoping to look at the Nikon 85mm 1.4, the Sigma 85mm 1.4 & was curious about the Zeiss Milvus 85mm 1.4. I had a different sales associate on this trip (A younger guy). His response was they didn’t have the Sigma 85mm 1.4 for Nikon, & the Zeiss was for Video.  I asked when he thought they would have the Nikon 85mm 1.4 in stock & he wasn’t sure. He said that all the stores were out of it currently. Ultimately he wrote my name down to call me when the Nikon 1.4 came in. He did pitch me on the Tamron 85mm 1.8, with a little information on Tamron (More than George would have offered up). Discouraged I left without purchasing anything. In the time it took for the Nikon 85mm 1.4 to come in, I had ordered 3 lenses (Sigma 85 1.4, Nikon 85 1.4 & Zeiss Milvus 85mm 1.4) & returned two. I ended up with the Zeiss Milvus 85mm 1.4 that I was told was for video (Works great for portraits too). Two months later, I got the call from Mikes letting me know that the Nikon 85mm 1.4 was now in stock.  Recently, I was curious about the Tamron 35mm & 45mm 1.8. Dammed if I didn’t end up getting George as my sales associate again. He comes across annoyed to help or answer any questions. If I asked a question, I didn’t get really any explanation, just very short answers. I asked if he could tell me anything about the lenses. His answer was, “The difference is the focal lengths” (you don’t say). I ended up buying the 45mm because I had a specific need for it & plans to use it the next day. In the last year, I have worked with 1 sales associate that offered a personal experience and 2 that appear not to understand what is important about the experience people expect when they shop from a store front. I think in this business, people go to these stores looking for answers and solutions. Short answers & the smallest amount of knowledge sharing, is not a valuable customer experience. The information is out there if people are willing to do their research. Also, while I think most people would like to support local business (Myself included) if the product is higher priced & not available, people are likely to turn to online shopping. Camera equipment is an investment, so I still like to hold the equipment & have someone tell me educate me one what isn’t necessarly on...

I visited this location approximately one month ago - which is a testament in itself to how impressed I still am with the service I received, as I rarely write reviews and certainly don’t write them a month after a purchase. I arrived 20 minutes before closing, because as I packed for vacation I realized that my DSLR camera was lost. Joe Klocek greeted me and worked with me. I fully expected to be rushed out the door, without much discussion or education. (I am a very amateur/hobby photographer - family and horses are my subjects but I am early in my education regarding higher end cameras beyond “point and shoot.”) I told Joe what I was looking for, and he was SO patient and easy to work with. It was clear that he was interested in getting me the camera that I actually NEEDED, not just the quickest way to get me out of the door. I ended up purchasing a Sony a7iii body and two lenses most appropriate for both portrait and sports/action type photography. Joe also had a wonderful index card sized “cheat sheet/quick reference” booklet that gives very helpful guidelines for different types of settings that one would encounter, and provides a reference for ideal manual settings for each type of scenario - SUPER handy to throw in your camera bag if you’re a baby photographer like myself! In the end, Joe ended up staying almost 40 minutes after closing time to make sure that I had EVERYTHING I needed. Everything - lens filters, memory card, camera bag, etc. I needed all of these things but was truly surprised that he was willing to take the time to make sure that I got what I needed instead of pushing me quickly out the door at closing time. He then went above and beyond by taking the time to program two settings into my camera to use as an ideal “starting point” for the two main types of photography I would be doing. I can’t tell you how GRATEFUL I was for those settings; I didn’t have time to get to know my camera before our trip and this absolutely saved me. If I could give Joe and Mike’s camera TEN STARS I would. You just don’t get customer service like that these days, and I will be dedicated Mike’s camera customer from now on - absolutely a top notch experience. Thank you SO MUCH Joe - we were able to capture some amazing memories...

Walked in looking to ask some questions about a lens repair and some other questions. Apparently there was this Olympus and Sony Alpha display going on.

Walked up to the counter and wasn't greeted or anything even though there were people just standing around behind their displays talking to each other. After finally getting someone's attention some guy with a British accent helped me.

I'm only writing this review because of this snobby employee. Every question I was asked was greeted with a one word answer. I'm trying to learn about a 1.5k lens here and can't even seem to get a sentence out of this guy. I asked if this telephoto lens would be good for astrophotography, and all he could seem to tell me was, "it would be horrible for that" with no explanation as to why. His short responses made it really feel like he was talking down to me.

I also asked about a lens repair ( my tripod fell over and left several tiny nicks on the front element). His only answer as to whether or not I could get it repaired was, "get a more stable tripod". he didn't bother trying to explain to me why it could not be repaired. All he felt like saying was that I should invest in a better tripod. The equipment I brought in wasn't not top of the line, but I felt like he wasn't taking me seriously because my lens isn't a Canon l lens.

After dealing with this guy who came across as snobby and unwilling to answer valid questions on top of having to wait a while and fight for attention, I left feeling like they only care about people interested in large purchases. I may be young (in my early 20s) but with my engineering salary, I can afford most of the equipment in the store. If I will not be treated like a real customer because it does not look like I'm going to buy the most expensive equipment in the store, or the equipment I bring in is more entry level, then I can take my business elsewhere.

I've shopped here before and generally have had a good experience but my experience today really left me with a sour taste...