The Shutterbug — Local services in Portland

I am so glad I bought my Sony a7r iii camera at Shutterbug (714 SW Washington in Portland). When I first went to Shutterbug, I had gone to several camera shops in the Portland area so had narrowed down my search to several models. I wasn’t sure I would find what I needed at Shutterbug since it was a small store, but I discovered the store had a good range of options given its size. At Shutterbug, Kyle, the manager, took a large chunk of time to find out what I was looking for, to answer my questions, and to guide me through the features of each camera. I really appreciated his vast knowledge about the cameras and his open, personable approach. During two more trips to the store before making my final purchase, other employees were also considerate and helpful. After I bought an a7r iii and a zoom lens, I returned a couple of weeks later to seek additional information that I couldn’t find on the internet, and again Kyle took the time to answer all questions. After months of using the camera, I had mixed feelings about the camera. The capabilities of the camera, including a pixel count of over 40, allowed me to do things I couldn’t do with my previous camera (a Nikon D750, which was a great camera for me for nearly eight years) . My best shots on the new Sony were brilliant, but I kept missing shots due to focus or exposure issues. Things got a little better as I explored the many settings but I had persistent problems with focusing and exposure, resulting in a growing number of ruined shots. When I went into the store to buy some camera accessories, I mentioned this to Sean. Like Kyle, he took the time to answer my questions and gave me some good advice. He realized, however, that the answers to some of my questions would take quite some time to explain in detail and mentioned that I could book him for a reasonably priced one-hour tutorial if I wanted to know more. Sean turned out to be the perfect person to provide the tutorial. He encouraged me to send some questions in advance and he was able to thoroughly answer those as well as the impromptu ones that emerged during the tutorial. Although I had done research on many of the settings on the camera, I learned lots of relevant new information. Throughout the session I realized that I had not understood the unintended consequences of some of my setting choices, accounting for some of the focusing and exposure issues with which I had been struggling. As a result of the session, I feel like I have a brand-new camera with all sorts of new features and possibilities, and most of my focus and exposure problems have...

I never write comments or complaints but my experience at this store has haunted me for weeks and I finally have to say something about it. I have been wanting to buy a nice camera for a while now and I came to this store so excited about looking at different ones and possibly learning a bit about them too. My good mood was completely squashed when I was helped by a man named Shawn. He made me feel like an incompetent fool and was very condescending the entire time I spoke to him. Every question I asked I felt like I was walking on eggshells and he came with a smart aleck remark for every one. We were the only ones in the store and it was about 5pm on a Sunday. One question I asked him he completely interrupted me, mid question- and asked his coworker who had left the mess on the counter right next to him. It was unbelievably disrespectful! I was shocked! I was being nothing but nice because I am not a confrontational person at all and after that horrible conversation I had with him I asked for his card to come back later. (although my excitement and interest was totally gone by now) He came back with this remark "Well if you come back later I probably won't be here" I said okay and asked for his name. He replied with "Uh, well it's on the back of the card" with a rude laugh. I could not believe what horrible service I had with him. I came in with my boyfriend and he was just as shocked as me as to how incredibly disrespectful to me he was. Needless to say, I did not come back and buy a camera there and left feeling ashamed. It was the worst customer service I had ever experienced in my life. I have worked in retail for years and I could never imagine treating any of my customers in that way. I went to a different camera store to buy my Nikon3200 and I will never be coming back to ShutterBug on Broadway again....

Back in January I was going on a trip to Portland, I was planning on buying the Canon 70d deluxe video package off of B&H but out of fear that it wouldn't be delivered in time for my trip I decided I'd buy it in Portland instead. I called about a week before my trip and talked to Jon and he said that when I got to Portland he'd have the whole B&H setup ready for me. I felt very comfortable about the whole thing because he was very friendly and upon arrival everything worked out. Everyone in the store was very friendly and I got nearly everything that I expected to be in the package. My only complaint is that instead of getting the B&H version of a couple of items I got their cheaper, not as nice versions. Instead of getting the SanDisc class 10 32gb sd card that records at 90mb/s I got some off brand that records at 30 mb/s and freezes when shooting video, so I don't even use it. The other item I'm a little unhappy about is the flimsy, plastic shoulder rig I received priced at $40 instead of the Revo shoulder rig priced at $80, I haven't used this rig because I don't trust my camera on it and it is very uncomfortable. Overall though I'm thankful for Shutterbug, it looked like they had a huge selection, friendly staff, and if I was living in Portland this would be my go to...