A1 Photo & Video Lab — Local services in Berkeley

DO NOT HAVE YOUR CAMERAS REPAIRED HERE. I can't speak to any of their other services, but if you value your camera gear, do not allow the "repair" person this shop uses to touch your property. I put my camera in this shop in late 2022 for a sticking shutter. 2 months (!!!) later they told me I needed a shutter replaced. I gave them the go ahead, and after another MONTH they told me it was ready to be picked up. When I received my camera, my camera-cap was gone, and the body was now filled with dust and debris. I told them this was unacceptable, and said they needed to give it a full cleaning and replace the camera cap they lost.

Another TWO MONTHS goes by with no word, until they called to offer me another camera. Uh, what??? I asked where mine was, and they said they were having trouble sourcing a part. Why would they need to source a part if they were simply cleaning the mirror, focusing screen, etc...? Turns out, this clown broke my mirror, and they were having trouble now finding a new shutter, because apparently it STILL wasn't working after the initial replacement.

Just wait, it gets better; when I finally exhausted my patience and asked for a refund and my camera back, I put it in another, more reputable shop in the bay. It took them 5 days to diagnose and repair the issue (which wasn't even the shutter, it was the glass dial under the ASA wheel), and informed me that every single screw in the camera A1 used during reassembly was the incorrect screw, they'd broken my battery check knob, and it STILL HAD THE ORIGINAL SHUTTER ASSEMBLY IN IT. There's a coating that NIKON uses on the original shutter assembly that can't be replicated with replacements. So not only did A1 return my camera in worse condition than when I gave it to them, they also lied about the supposed repairs they performed. Do not give these thieving clowns your business. I'd give 0/5...

Brought in my favorite childhood digital camera to be repaired after it was dropped and slightly damaged. I paid a deposit and they said it should be good to go in about a week or two. I never heard back from them so a few weeks later I called them to check in on the progress. They told me they were still waiting on the repair guy and that they'd let me know when there was an update. Again, never heard back from them so a few weeks later I called again and said they were looking for it or it wasnt there anymore or something... Again they said they'd get back to me on that and didn't. This was almost like 8 months ago and I'm still really upset about it. I wish I had my camera that documented my childhood but by now it's probably just gone... Plus I'm pretty sure the specific model has been discontinued... sigh. Even if it wasn't repaired I wish I still physically had it. I could have at least sold the parts or kept it for the sentimental value, but instead they took money from the deposit, my camera,...

I came for passport pictures and it was a very good service, they are very friendly and the price is ok, I would suggest only one step that I feel that is missing, let the customer see the picture before printing, I understand that this can take some extra minutes, but I miss that, other than that, the quality of the picture is really good when you compare with other places that offer this service, I...