Fotocare & Jeff Hirsch

ruttrutt Registered Users Posts: 6,511 Major grins
edited September 26, 2004 in Flea Market
This is the second time I've posted a recommendation of Jeff Hirsch's store, "Fotocare". My experiences with Jeff just keeps getting better.

Fotocare is a NY pro shop. Here is their web site. Here is my previous post. Nothing has changed since then except that I've gotten to know Jeff better and I have some recent stories.

I spent most of the last two weeks in NYC, first helping my mother nurse my father through his last days, then for the memorial service and sitting shiva for three nights. Jeff was one of the heros of my fathers last days. I bought a new printer from him (Epson 4k) and it arrived at the same time as my father's final health crisis. It's still in its box in my garage. My father had moments of cogency until as recently as a week ago. He wasn't strong and he didn't stay awake for long. One of his last pleasures was thinking about his grandchildren and looking at pictures of them. Small pictures didn't really work. Jeff had his staff print 6 24x36 images on his epson 7600 that I put up on the wall in my dad's hospital room. No charge.

Looking back on my experiences with Fotocare and other stores, I've often made costly mistakes when I bought stuff without talking to Jeff. Often Jeff's prices are higher than other's. But I think it's often worth it, especially on high ticket items where the potential savings from buying elsewhere really aren't high. Here's what you get for your money when you buy at Fotocare: great service and great advice. When I bought my 1Dmkii I was also lusting for a long fast lens for the little league and surfing shots. But those lenses are huge and expensive and you can't really hand hold them. Jeff said that I wouldn't really need one because the 1Dmkii had such good performance at high ISO settings. Why didn't I just buy a 100-400 f5.6L. This lens was about 1/4 the price of the big glass I was considering and it's plenty sharp. I was worried that it wouldn't have the bokah I was looing for. Jeff told me not to worry. And in fact I've taken some of my best pictures over the last 6 months with this lens and it is perfect for little league and surfing and the bokah is great.

The first time I ever had dust on my sensor, I didn't really know what was wrong. I thought my expensive D60 might be broken. I bought this camera from Jeff and I called him up. He spent about 15 minutes on the phone with me, looked at my shots online, explained how to look for dust on the sensor, explained how to clean it, and the right tool (the blower that looks like a bomb) arrived the next day. Keep in mind that Jeff is the owner of a busy NY store and he did this personally.

If you are looking for a bargain in any particular camera, sanner, printer, lens, computer, flash, pro lighting system, tripod, &etc., Fotocare probably isn't the place. But if you buy your high ticket items from Jeff I think you will have made a wise decision. The right advice can be worth much more than a good discount. Great service can save you big time. And ultimately, Jeff delivered for me in a way that was worth more than any discount.
If not now, when?

Comments

  • dkappdkapp Registered Users Posts: 985 Major grins
    edited September 26, 2004
    I appreciate the time you took to recognize a great photo store. I've moved to San Francisco and have not found a place that I actually like yet. The prices are higher than online, which I expect and accept. The thing that bugs me most is the service. I just bought a new Epson 2200 today from a store that I don't care for at all. I went there this morning and waited for 30-45 minutes for a little help with printers and had zero luck. I asked a few people if they could answer a few questions, and they either blew me off, or said they were busy with something else and would be right back. Neither was true. I watched people come in after me, and were helped first. Maybe it was the way I was dressed? It's the weekend and I put on my most comfortable clothes, I don't need to impress anyone. Or maybe I do?

    When my girlfriend came home, she convinced me to go back. I have some photos I need to deliver to my first customer next week, and my current printer won't do. She is much more patient than I, and today I saw her frustrated. The store wasn't busy at all, and we still had a VERY hard time to get any help. I won't name the store *cough* (calumet) *cough* but they won't get anymore of my money.

    I took a look at your guys website and noticed they don't have any online ordering. Not a problem if the service is what you say. After Photokina, I will give them a call and place an order for camera & printer accessories along with a few nice lenses. I want to see what new lenses are introduced before I buy any more glass. Nikon is expensive & limited in the long zoom range right now.

    Again, thanks for taking the time to recognize excellent service. With todays market, its hard to come buy.

    I'm willing to pay extra for a friendly conversation and a smile. Hell, with what they did for you and your family, I'm willing to send them money with nothing in return.

    Dave
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