Looking Glass Photographic Outfitters — Local services in Berkeley

EDIT 4/25/25: Sadly, I can no longer in good faith reco this place as they fail at the most basic responsibility of a going business, which is to stock and sell products people actually want. It is only a matter of months before they shutter due to bad business decisions.

NOTE: I understand they were recently robbed, which is sad, though not uncommon in the Bay right now. This update has nothing to do with that. Understand that many of the positive reviews of this place come from sentimental long-term customers whose bias for the place refers to a different era and absolutely does not reflect the actual current state of LGP.

The bottom line is they simply never have anything good in stock. Something is clearly up with their relationship with distributors/manufacturers.

Even a quick browse of the site will reveal that most good items, that are easily available anywhere else, are "special order." Their used inventory is poor. About the only thing still keep in stock are novelty film stocks and odd gear. For Bay Area analog film go to Underdog Film Lab in W Oakland—another small business and the very best service and selection. For online sales (including FANTASTIC used gear) you can't beat B&H in NYC. For used gear in person, Camera West in Walnut Creek has the best quality control. Save yourself the time and avoid LGP.

This store used to have a cool gigantic space on Ashby. Either their rent got raised or they weren't making enough money (likely both) and they moved to this weird space on Fifth, where you can't simply browse, a key virtue of the old space. (Looks like they laid off some staff and run lean now too.)

What happens now is that you walk in and ask for what you need and an employee runs to the back to get it.

So you need to know exactly what you need going in.

If you don't, plan on having an extended awkward conversation describing what it is you're looking for with your person running back and forth grabbing things.

Very odd and even time consuming. It actually seems completely counter to a good retail experience. The other thing is that they seem to be out of stock on things quite often, from lenses and cameras and film to developers. This is blamed on distributors, but still. B&H and freestylephoto dot com rarely seem to have this problem.

The party line is that this new "business model" allows them to offer bespoke 1:1 service, but the reality is it makes me, at least, not want to go in, and I spent over $10K there in 2022 alone. It used to be such a pleasure just to stroll and check out stuff and, dare I say, serve myself. It's kind of a pain now, and no, I don't want them to special order something for me.

Maybe the new biz plan is to focus on developing and printing, which they do in partnership with Photo Lab next door.

Anyway, I really hope they make it. Our community has precious few dedicated photography resources. Guys/gals, do better social media marketing, more photowalks (without charging for them!) and community building things, please!

If you know you need something, run in and grab it while you can! If you just need film, Underdog Film Lab in Oakland is also great.

Thank you. johnparkphotographs dot com

PS: I have not gotten much out of Rich Seiling's class. He's...

The short version is that the store staff is knowledgeable, the stock represents high value for the money, the special events are amazing, and you can grow new horizons without wasting money because they can help you out through the hype.

COVID update 2/20/2022: the store is emerging nicely from the crisis. They are open inside with plenty of staff, the camera bar is fully available, and it looks like there is a ton of stock on hand. The used cabinet is again active, and you can check out the availability (and buy) online as well. The selection and depth of their film has grown considerably, and I'm pretty sure there is almost always someone on hand who can help you with your film camera of most any generation. For film processing, though, you must go to the Ashby entrance; for gear and supplies use the parking lot entrance. Masking and presumably respectful distancing are still in effect. Right now they are no longer open Sundays; all other days are 10-6. There are now frequent educational sessions again, mostly virtual.

I love this store, so here's the long version: In a world where Zeiss now makes cameras for major smartphone manufacturers, this shop is where I began to learn to make some sense of it all and to learn and develop in ways I didn't know existed. There is a depth and dedication of the entire team of folk behind this store that continues to amaze me. I buy here because they continue to save me huge amounts of money (huge is relative here) by making tremendous recommendations and concisely giving me the why of it, keeping me out of dead ends while letting me grow my interests in ways I had no idea were open to me. When I grab my gear, there are very few items that I've bought from Looking Glass that are not actively serving me well or that I would easily part with. If you don't have a wider range of interests than you will ever be able to satisfy or you haven't made a lot of mistakes or false starts in life it is hard to explain how valuable being focused on your kind of tools and developing depth in this way is, but over the long term it is true economy and it leverages your time, money, and effort and gets you way further. They don't and can't stock everything, but it is a sophisticated stock: they say "We don't have anything here we wouldn't use ourselves." I've gotten amazing value at times, especially from their used gear and special sales days, and benefitted hugely from their classes and by talking to manufacturer's experts at their special events. I ask a lot of questions, and we all have choices but if they stock it I always buy there so these invaluable resources and good people will be there for me tomorrow. Simply because I began to shop at LG, over time photography has become less about money and magic and luck and more about the choices I make. So the store where I buy my tools is helping me move beyond tools! I like that a lot, and I respect the heck out of them...

I recently had the pleasure of working with Jen to gear up before a trip of a lifetime photographic safari to Kenya.

I can't say enough positive things about Jen. I'm located in Colorado, and have never stepped foot in Looking Glass (although next time I'm in the Bay Area I will!). Jen was patient, knowledgeable, and happy to educate me to the level I was comfortable at on any day during our discussions! She initially set up a Zoom with me to get to know more about me and what I was looking for, both in what I wanted to get out of the safari photos and what my current skill level is (we spent time going into more depth on certain subjects, and on others, such as protective filters, Jen gave me a quick instruction in the basics - e.g., why UV filters aren't necessary for mirrorless cameras). We had numerous email exchanges as I continued to ask questions, and Jen patiently answered them (while also trying to make sure she guided me but didn't influence me into something that wouldn't be what I wanted). She made it possible for me to get a lens, in time for the trip, that I'm excited about using and that I hope will provide me with the opportunity to achieve the kind of photos I aspire to take. She provided advice about some decisions based on her own experiences (such as...accidents happen, and electronics fail. Have backups for everything possible.) She also appreciated my attempts to minimize my impact on the environment, both by trying to help me find a photography backpack that was designed and built with environmental concerns in mind (we were both bummed that we failed with this...while there are a couple of pack companies out there that at least mention how they are trying to be environmentally responsible, the packs they offered just didn't meet the specs I needed for my gear) and also working with me to minimize shipping to help reduce environmental footprint. Yes, I realize that traveling around the world to take photos has a high carbon footprint, but I would like to do my best to reduce this everywhere I can, particularly when I'm going to see animals that are so impacted by climate change.

To sum everything up, Jen set up multiple Zooms with me (I've seen parts of the inside of Looking Glass via Zoom as she showed me packs and even tried them on to show me how they would fit her), had multiple phone calls with me, and multiple email exchanges. She was always cheerful and wanted to make sure I was happy with what I wound up purchasing! She put in a lot of effort to help research what would work for me, as well as spending time with me educating me and helping me make my decisions. She is an expert in her field, having hands on experience with the gear and she was happy to teach me about the technical aspects while helping me decide.

I hope to have some amazing photos to share with her in...