Brooklyn Film Camera — Attraction in New York

I purchased one of the limited Polaroid 600SE Kits released 8/14/22 - it was a large purchase for me, they sold out quickly and I couldn't believe I snagged one. The camera arrived yesterday in good working order. The low rating of this review is due to Brooklyn Film Camera's poor management of customer expectations, lack of communication, and unprofessionalism.

The listing for the 600SE Kit (both on Instagram and on their website) said that due to moving locations, the camera kits would ship on the 18th or 19th. Understandable. Moving is a pain.

By the 22nd, I hadn't heard any updates on when my order would ship. I assumed that moving became more of an endeavor than anticipated (doesn't it always?) but some communication would've been nice. I paid extra for tracked/signed delivery due to ongoing issues I have with my local post office, and needed to ensure I'd be home to sign. I checked their IG and website for any sort of update before sending an email to inquire. Never received an email back. I understand that things come up, but someone was actively updating their website with information about their new location, and sharing IG stories--- and couldn't be bothered to put a one-sentence notice up anywhere about delayed shipping? Or send an email to the 9 people who'd invested into the camera kits?

Over the following couple of days, I started to become nervous as I noticed comments from other customers on IG referencing cameras sent in for repairs and returned broken, lack of communication via email, etc. Someone at BFC was actively deleting the comments for a while - a few of them stayed up for a day or so with multiple people weighing in having similar experiences. Those comments are gone now. (I hope that the people having issues had their concerns addressed.)

By the 25th, I was starting to become anxious. My partner tried to call the number on their website, and left a voicemail asking for an update on our purchase, making it clear that we'd need to escalate to our credit card company if we didn't have some sort update.

Conveniently, within about an hour of my partner's voicemail, I had a shipping confirmation email in my inbox. I don't know what's going on behind the scenes at BFC. I wouldn't have minded delayed shipping at all, but the lack of communication (especially when they had explicit ship dates listed on their website and never communicated an adjustment to the expectation they set) was very off-putting. I am glad to have my working camera, but I will not be doing business with BFC in the future, and would not trust them to do repairs on my film cameras as they've demonstrated they are unable to communicate with their customers or take responsibility for how their unprofessionalism impacts other humans.

I'm a pretty flexible and understanding person. If at any point they'd thrown up one sentence or sent a brief email taking accountability for the delay, my anxiety would've been quelled. 2 weeks is not an unreasonable amount of time to wait for a purchase and I would've been content to do so if that was the expectation that had been set. Although I do have to wonder if we hadn't threatened to escalate to our credit card company, how much longer they would've gone with zero communication.

Their deleting comments and ignoring customer concerns was really what made the situation frustrating. Even the bare minimum of a "sorry for the delay" after the fact would've gone a long way. Being skilled at what you do does not entitle you to be unprofessional when someone is paying you...

I’d be weary of getting your camera repaired here, should’ve listened to reviews about them being shady:(. I Had a terrible experience with them and never received my camera back. I sent my sx-70 sonar in february to be fully restored and converted to use 600 film and didn’t get it back until end of march (which was fine). It stopped spitting out film but luckily came with a warranty. I emailed and they told me to just “reboot” it, so I did. Eventually I got tired of having to do that and continually wasting film so I emailed them that I wanted to use my warranty. Weeks went by without a response so i dmed on instagram and again, no response. Why send a warranty if you’re going to ignore people when they want to use them? Kyle ONLY answered and profusely apologized after i disputed the over $300 charge with my bank. I sent the camera to them on August 4th to be repaired again (they promised to get it to me before my trip on august 23rd). Even called Natasha right after it was sent out like Kyle told me to and she promised the same thing and then they stopped responding again as soon as my bank reversed the charge. I understand they get mail on mondays only but i emailed Natasha on tuesday the 16th. Sent them a dm on instagram on the 17th and tried to call multiple times since then. My friend left comments on their page and then they responded to me. I’m now being ghosted again and never got my camera nor do I even have an update on what’s going on with it. It is now the 23rd and I’ve yet to hear back from them. They let me know they were moving, but why promise to get my camera to me in such a short amount of time if you knew you were moving? Their voicemail states “We check our email daily”, either that isn’t true or im just being ignored which sucks. Incredibly shady and im now afraid i’m never going even going to get my camera back because of a lack of response. I would not send an item here because on the chance they don’t correctly repair it(high chance after reading other reviews on here) good luck trying to get them to use your warranty or even just a...

My husband and I live out of state and made a weekend trip to Brooklyn for a concert getaway. He’s a professional editorial photog and loves film in particular, so he starred Brooklyn Film Camera as a must-visit on our trip. As fate would have it, our dear friend Lara (a photography WIZARD who exclusively photographs in film and has for decades) happened to be in NY from LA and we knew we all had to journey here together.

We spent easily 3 hours exploring all the cameras, using the amazing Photo Booth, and peppering Griffin with questions and stories. Griffin was so deeply knowledgeable, kind, and patient, and was willing to help us with every little question we had or item we needed.

We walked in thinking we’d maybe pick up one point and shoot, but thanks to Griffin’s advice and their patience to even pre-charge cameras for us and help fix one we brought in, we walked out loaded up with several cameras, film, and new camera straps, happier than we could have imagined!

This store is snug but it really has a little of everything for any creative film lover, and the staff are A+. There was even a film snowman in the backyard! We are looking forward to visiting in the future, though this first trip is probably going to be the...