National Camera Exchange

Very good selection and they have a price match guarantee, but when it comes to knowledge and service, there is no competition. I am not much of a photographer. I am getting married later this fall, and we are on a tight budget. We decided to purchase a simple but decent camera and have some friends take pictures for us. We shopped at Best Buy, target, Walmart, and even online, but no matter where we went we could not get straight answers or honest opinions about the quality or value of any of the cameras we looked at. That is until we went to national camera exchange. We went to the Edina location and Matt was the associate that helped us. He was very knowledgeable, and clearly an experienced photographer. He took the time to understand what we were looking for in a camera and understood that we needed it to be both good quality and yet very affordable, but most of all simple and easy to use. They have cameras that are far superior to what we needed, and very affordable entry-​level cameras. He suggested a gently used exchanged Sony that I would have thought was far beyond our budget. It’s easy to use and takes better photos than any camera I’ve ever used. Matt also spent quite a bit of time giving us some basic pointers on how to get the most out of our photos. It was like a beginner’s class for photography. Whether you are a beginner like me, or an experienced photographer there is no place in the Twin Cities like national camera exchange. They blew us away with excellent service and knowledge and personal attention. Thank you Matt, and thank you national camera change.

This is a great camera store so why only one star? I went to have some old photos turned into some high quality, framed photos — so I thought I was going to the best place for that — OH SO VERY WRONG. This is no better than a one hour photo mat — actually not even that good. They forgot to do 2 of the photos altogether, 1 they got the wrong size even though I specifically put a post it note on the back with desired size, and several others they blurred or didn’t even bother to photo shop even though I explained very clearly the importance of what I was trying to do. I am so frustrated with National’s complete lack of effort — how can you actually just forget to do 2 of the photos when there were only 13 to begin with? I didn’t even get my money back — I just left the store I was so disappointed and sad — these were really special photos to me and it just felt almost like a personal insult with how little effort or care taken. I am now going to Photo King in Wayzata — I have heard they are the ones to go to as they actually take the time to give you good quality photos.

I am someone who doesn’t know a lot about cameras and the staff is very knowledgeable and helpful. I have purchased two cameras here — one water proof and most recently a Sony RX10. In each instance the staff listened to what I needed and found something that would work for me without being intimidating or overly complicated. The only issue can be the long line while you wait to be helped, but in the end its worth it.

I just wanted to leave a comment on Unilocal about National Camera Exchange employee Scott Schlueter. I have purchased many cameras from national camera exchange and always received top-​notch service from well-​informed sales people. I recently bought a camera for a trip to Europe and prior to my trip, I went to a Timberwolves fundraiser and took many outstanding photos of my children with the Timberwolves players. When we sat down for dinner I thought I had accidentally erased all of the wonderful pictures, called national camera exchange and received outstanding support from Scott. He help me retrieve the pictures and his advice was priceless.

I was looking for an out of stock and no longer made model. National camera found 2 models they had in stores. One for $ 800 and the other $ 500.
I was about to buy the one for $ 800 as they said the one for $ 500 was some wear.
I decided to go look at the $ 500 with wear model before i decided. To my pleasure i found the $ 500 model in excellent and more than satisfactory condition.
So my point being when they list a used camera or lens at a level of E or E+ you will more than likely be more than delighted with its condition. Their ratings are very honest and will more than likely exceed your expectations.
You may pay a little more than Ebay etc but they really know their gear.
And there is nothing better than looking and holding something that you know is backed by satisfaction above saving a few dollars and having to try to get your money back after the fact.
Item was a used Fuji X-​Pro 1
Fantastic little camera buy the other before i decide to as a backup :) A+++ service and honesty

I drove over to National Camera right after having had a very frustrating experience at Best Buy (and in a very crabby mood no less). I’m now leaning National Camera with a smile on my face. Thank you for the extraordinary customer service, selection of cameras, and allowing me to use the camera (sans clunky anti-​theft attachments and cords) before purchase. Not to mention the camera I got was on sale. Bonus.
Thank you thank you

Wow. Wow. Wow. I was totally blown away by the place. I went there to look at a few lens options for my camera and was totally surprised by how awesome the associates that work there are. They truly know their stuff, but more importantly they don’t make you feel dumb just because you are new to photography.
I rarely experience a place where the associates actually seem like they enjoy working at their place of employment AND actually take pride in their work. The customer service I received was like none other I have witnessed before.
I will certainly be back to purchase the item I was looking at.

I’d like to wail for a second about how there’s only one effing place in the Twin Cities to develop black and white film, and it’s this place. It’s in Edina. WHO GOES TO EDINA. Not only do I have to drive 30 minutes to get to this place, but I have to dodge shrieking Lexii full of cocky teenagers in Abercrombie. It is not a cakewalk. It is a test of will.
That being said, it’s worth the paincave and the store itself is an oasis in a strip mall of cray. The folks in here are calm, and patient, and seem blissfully removed from their surroundings. The staff is excellent– developing film is expensive now, and they walked me through all of the different options I had to keep my developing costs low without sacrificing quality.
And they (and their developing cohort) are damn good at what they do. My black and whites turned out absolutely stunning, thanks to some obvious care in the developing process. Plus, they got them done earlier than they estimated. Bonus points, my friends.
So it’s worth the pilgrimage. And they told me last time I was there that they’re considering opening a new location in downtown Minneapolis… UM, YES. PLEASE. TOMORROW.

National Camera is a great place to go if you’re at all interested in photography. The people working there are quite knowledgable and the store carries an extensive selection of new and used camera equipment. I was particularly interested in the used equipment, as I was looking to consolidate and replace two camera lenses that I’d had for a number of years into just one. Using their rather comprehensive online catalog which is fairly regularly updated (but can lag just a bit, understandably) I found that one of the lenses I was looking for was over in the Maple Grove location. They can ship equipment from one store to another in a day or two if what you’re looking for isn’t at the most convenient location.
I took advantage of this handy feature when I discovered that the lens I wanted was already on hold for another customer. I ended up talking with one of the sales managers, Renee, who helped me and showed me another lens that, while much better, was about twice the price. They didn’t try to railroad me into a more expensive lens, though. Instead, they calledaround to other stores and found that another one of the less expensive lenses was in the Edina location. They didn’t have the more expensive lens there, so I couldn’t compare them directly, but Renee offered to ship it over to that store, so I could review them side-​by-​side.
Two days later, I stopped by after work and sure enough, my two lens were waiting for me to try out. It was a difficult decision to make, but the sales associate, Matt, was open to a little bargaining and we were able to make a deal I was quite happy with. When I asked Matt to check around for any used UV haze lens filters to help protect my new lens (they vary widely in quality and price and low quality ones will affect the color of light and cause some glare), he called around to several stores to find a high quality one that was the right size and in good condition. We ended up ordering one from the Golden Valley store and it was supposed to arrive the next day.
When I got to the store, Matt went to the back and checked for what seemed like 10 minutes, but was probably closer to 5. Turns out the lens didn’t make it. Rather than just go home empty handed or Matt grabbed one of the best quality filters on the rack and rang it up for the price that the used filter was going to cost me (saving me about 40%). That was the most impressive part of the whole thing. He didn’t even blink, he just wanted to make me happy and not feel like I wasted my time.
I was so glad that I chose to take my business here rather than anywhere on the Internet. I’ve gotten good deals online, but nothing there offers the friendly, knowledgeable people and willingness to guarantee customer satisfaction. They will definitely get more of my business in the future.

Always the best place for camera research and purchase. So much depth in the sales and tech team. I’ve never had a bad experience. Sales follow-​up services are always top notch. Met and worked with Julie Murphy (DM) this visit. She was fantastic… hope to work with her again.

The employees at NC&V certainly know their stuff, though the attitudes of the individual employees can vary greatly. Some of them are normal, knowledgeable, and willing to help. Others are complete weirdos, know very little, and treat customers as if they had diseases.
BUT, I did buy a camera there and have had an overall positive experience. They will price match the big box retailers’ prices AND ***the 4 classes which were included with the camera were excellent***. I can’t stress this enough.
They also have a pretty good return policy.

National Camera is my go-​to for all of my photography needs.
Unlike Best Buy or Target, the employees at National are all photography lovers and shoot with cameras ranging from simple point and shoot to professional dSLR’s.
They have a wide range of lenses and accessories — new and used and you are able to easily play around with merchandise prior to purchase.
I’ve always had very helpful and thorough experiences at National Camera and will continue to rely on them for my photography hobby.

I’ve come to find photography as a serious hobby and after doing some online research on prices on a certain lens I was looking for via Best Buy… because we all know Best Buy has everything. I thought I’d stop in National Camera to see what they were offering for this lens. I will have to say it was a little surprising that they had that lens on hand since Best Buy you can only order it online, which was the down side to BB. The guy that helped was prompt to greet us and asked us if we needed any help. I asked if we could trade in/​sell one of my lenses that I barely use to them. Again, I did research to see how much it sells for new, and I had a price in mind that I would sell to them. Seriously… what a rip off! The lens I had that was practically brand new sells for $ 300.00 and he would only offer $ 60! I was a bit flabbergasted when he told me that. So, obviously, I kept my lens and will sell it on my own.
And as for the lens that I wanted… they sold it for $ 10 more than BB, but since they had it on hand, and I got to play around with it, and no shipping fees included, I decided to go with it. What I appreciate about National Camera is that they have so many different lenses on hand. And you can test it out to see if you wanted it. However, their prices a little more than your local BB. I think they know that they have it in stock whereas other places don’t. Would I go again? Sure, since I can play around with their new stuff!