Recommendations

Camera Recommendations

Many customers ask our opinion on which cameras and other equipment we recommend regarding durability, availability of
parts, and expense of servicing. Below are the cameras and manufacturers that we can recommend, based on the quality of
their cameras, the ease of getting parts and price of repair parts, and their cooperation in supplying service information.

Specs that Matter

Point-N-Shoot

Digital SLR

Optical zoom, not digital

8+ megapixels

6 megapixels is plenty

10X optical zoom

RAW file support

Wide angle/macro lens

Optical image stabilization

High ISO for low light shots

Fast shutter speed

Recommended

Cannot Recommend

Canon - wide range of features, designed for the
average consumer, reasonable parts prices, very
efficient response times.

JVC - good quality, parts are reasonable and
readily available.

Olympus - wide range of models, very reasonable
parts prices, efficient response times.

Pentax - very helpful service and parts
departments, efficient response times.

Sony - huge variety of models, wide range of
features, modular design for low repair costs,
parts readily available.

Casio - very nice features, small size, but service
is VERY expensive due to parts prices and overly
complex designs.

Fuji - repair parts almost impossible to obtain,
little communication, no response to inquiries

HP - no parts are available for any HP digital
camera. Has to go to HP for trade-up.

Infocus - no parts are sold by Infocus for their
LCD projectors - they charge $150 estimate fee.

Kodak - average quality, Kodak does not sell
most internal camera parts. Cameras must be
returned to factory service centers by the owner
for service. Factory service is expensive and they
charge for estimates. Kodak is on the verge of
Chapter 11 bankruptcy as of 2012.

Konica/Minolta - Sony has taken over all parts,
most are no longer available.

Samsung - parts almost impossible to obtain

Nikon - since 2010 their camera factories in
politically unstable countries like Thailand began
to affect parts availability. As of July 2012 a new
Nikon policy eliminates the availability of repair
parts to over 200 independent shops AND
NIKON OWNERS nationwide - following in
Kodak's footsteps (who declared bankruptcy in
January 2012) - resulting in long wait times and
high prices for factory repairs. Any camera
needing a battery cover or rubber handgrip cover
will have to go to a Nikon Authorized Center, wait
3 to 4 weeks, and pay a factory price to "install"
the part. Nikon's service reputation has already
begun to suffer - see their BBB record here. It's
not your father's Nikon anymore! Time for a jump
to Canon?

Tamron - recent changes in repair parts policies
make parts very hard to obtain. Most internal
parts are not available.

Panasonic - quality optics, up to 24x optical zoom.
Modular design makes for easy economical repairs.
Parts readily available.

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