Dodd Camera

Every e-​mail Olympus has sent lately, has a banner for Dodd Camera but until 2012, I’d never heard of them. My impression is that they were originally from Cleveland, and they migrated to Chicago, Dayton, and even Cincinnati. I’ve seen their advertising on local Dayton tv channels.
Prior to my visit, I expected a take-​it-​or-​leave-​it attitude from the workers. Ritz Camera was that way and they sold a lot of their Quantaray rubbish to make a profit.
I was quite surprised to find the first salesperson very interested in what I wanted. She admitted to being in the learning stage, but she was willing to try whatever she could to help me find what I wanted. I had asked about tripods and I was a bit uncomfortable with the brand they had in the store, which was Promaster. I was really expecting Manfrotto/​Bogen, Gitzo, or even Slik, but not Promaster. Once again, I was thinking Ritz and Quantaray. Seeing their web site, they stock other, high-​end brands. They just didn’t have them in this store.
I got my equipment bag because I wanted to see about the load bearing capacity. My photographic equipment is somewhat heavy, and all I need is for the tripod or monopod to collapse and a $ 2000 lens would need to be replaced, right? She told me that the tripod set would support 26 pounds, which seems sufficient for most equipment.
As I went to look at a potential camera body, another customer arrived and bought the tripod set. Strangely, the store only had the one; however, it is a small store.
In any case, all three staff members were pleasant and helpful to me and other customers, and I had a secure feeling that they wouldn’t push you into buying something that wouldn’t serve your purpose and they only wanted you to buy what was comfortable. That’s rare.