... Fortunately, I was pointed by a more photography-literate friend in the direction of Jessops to make my purchase.
Jessops is a chain of stores that sell both new and secondhand photography equipment. The store I went to was on New Oxford Street, a big branch that has a huge second-hand ... Read review
Advantages: Fabulous staff Disadvantages: Smaller stores have limited secondhand ranges
...friend in the direction of Jessops to make my purchase.
Jessops is a chain of stores that sell both new and secondhand photography equipment. The store I went to was on New Oxford Street, a big branch that has a huge second-hand section: exactly what I was looking for. I was a bit worried about coming across like a completely clueless girlie, but decided to go for it anyway. And boy was I in for a pleasant surprise.
... ...knowledge and service elsewhere. If Jessops ran shops for computers and mobiles, I'd be there like a shot. No gimmicks, no spotty sales boys who don't know the first thing about anything, just unpretentious and friendly staff who know exactly what they are talking about and are extremely generous with their time. Hardly rocket science. Now, we just have to wait for the rest of the retail world to catch on. ... more
Now, those of you who have read my ops before will know I have a marked tendency to get quite opinionated. I do not ever like being in a position where I don't know what I'm talking about and will always bluff if I think I can get away with it. But there are some areas where even I have to throw up my hands and - horror of horrors - actually trust an expert.
Such an area is the world of photography.
I have wanted to get into photography for a while. Partly for professional reasons, and partly because an ex of mine once pissed me off by buying me a camera with just one button on the basis it was all I could cope with. And last week, I decided, was the week to invest in a basic, beginners, all-manual, oldfashioned click-clunk affair with which I could teach myself the rudiments of this art.
Beyond that, I knew nothing. I thought maybe secondhand so if I did something terrible to it, it wouldn't be the end of the world. But that was it. Fortunately, I was pointed by a more photography-literate friend in the direction of Jessops to make my purchase.
Jessops is a chain of stores that sell both new and secondhand photography equipment. The store I went to was on New Oxford Street, a big branch that has a huge second-hand section: exactly what I was looking for. I was a bit worried about coming across like a completely clueless girlie, but decided to go for it anyway. And boy was I in for a pleasant surprise.
Jessops is one of those stores which makes you wonder why all shops aren't run the same way. The stores are clean, helpfully laid out with no blaring music or confusing signs advertising this deal or that to confuse you. But their secret really lies with their staff. They have stumbled upon the brilliant idea of employing people who are extremely knowledgeable, utterly unpatronising and happy to spend hours with you without ever pressurising you into making a purchase. So simple when you write it, yet how few shops have you ever been in where you could be served by such people? I can't tell you how nice it is. The guy I spoke to wasn't at all phased by my ignorance. He simply expained to me, using english rather than photography language, that I would be best off with a basic model with lenses you could change, so that as I got better I could experiment with different lenses without buying a new camera. He also suggested that one with an automatic option, just for snapping, would also be useful. He admitted that the model he thought would be ideal for me was not one they had in stock at that moment (a standard problem with shopping secondhand) but that they did have a basic Canon which was cheaper anyway and would probably do me as well.
I eventually bought the camera he suggested, a Canon T60, a model which he said was discontinued in the early '90s. The camera plus lens cost me £70, which seemed from my research to be a very reasonable price. He also threw in a free shoulder strap when I asked if one was included. He was very apologetic about the fact that they had no manual in stock (the one for this model is out of print) but gave me the number of a store which could sell me a photocopied version - which I called, and the manual arrived the next day for the princely sum of about £10.
In short, I could not be happier. I know that if I run into problems, all I need to do is go back - I got a free one-year guarantee included. And not only will they sort me out, they'll spend as much time as I want talking about any problems I'm having and how to sort them out. What more could you ask?
It is, as I said, such a simple and obvious formula for a good shopping experience and I only wish you could find the same level of knowledge and service elsewhere. If Jessops ran shops for computers and mobiles, I'd be there like a shot. No gimmicks, no spotty sales boys who don't know the first thing about anything, just unpretentious and friendly staff who know exactly what they are talking about and are extremely generous with their time. Hardly rocket science. Now, we just have to wait for the rest of the retail world to catch on.
Advantages: good prices, photos come out well Disadvantages: poor customer service and staff who don't know their cameras in my local branch, not enough staff and rude
Jessops was founded in 1935 and is now the UK's largest photographic retailer. There are now more than 290 stores nationwide and the whole groups turns over in excess of £320 million. They have stores on the high street and they also have a website which you can browse and order from.
Jessops sell a wide range of cameras and video cameras -both digital and film and offer a huge selection of accessories and memory cards etc. They also offer develpoing ... ...other high street film developers Jessops wins hands down. Photo's are clear and the quality is good - they are printed onto Fuji photographic paper. They have a high gloss (unless you chose the matte option!) and are reasonably priced starting at £4.99 to have a 24 picture film developed and printed onto 6''x4'' paper. There are of course other print options such as having them printed larger or you can even chose to add a special effect to the ...
little_miss_sunshine1982 13.07.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Jessops (Shop)
Advantages: vast range of stock for all areas of photo and video, often knowledgeable staff, very keen prices Disadvantages: photo processing is often slow and unreliable 'off-site'
...say I always find the Jessops branches in my area and elsewhere, when I'm travelling, to be perfect for my needs. First of all the selection of goods available. All branches seem to nowadays carry both Still photographic equipment – film based as well as digital – plus a burgeoning range of video equipment. Most medium size branches will carry a broad range of hobbyist cameras, from top of the range 35mm SLRs (Canon Eos Iv - £1450, plus ... ...saying that all branches of Jessops will offer a huge array of Film, - both still camera and Video – batteries, photo albums and frames – in fact everything under the sun for picture takers of all kinds.
Jessops stocks a wide range of items as ‘own brand’, some of which I have used myself. They are always cheaper than the ‘marque’ brands and often pretty much indistinguishable from the ‘real thing’.
...
flashpointz 23.03.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Jessops (Shop)
Advantages: huge range and there's bound to be a store near you Disadvantages: maybe not always the cheapest option
Over recent years the Jessops conglomerate has expanded to over 195 stores throughout the UK and aims to continue to completely monopolise the photography-inspired nation.
So far I would say they’ve not done a bad job. Having relied on some of their services while studying photography at a Glasgow college, I was previously aware of most of their products. Now they have moved closer to home by opening a fairly large store in my hometown of ... ...it seemed to me that Jessops no longer had to compete with printing prices and these duly increased in price a short time later.
Jessops boast in their mail order catalogue a product range of over 20,000 – while I’m not prepared to count this to prove them right or wrong, I would definitely say the range seems endless.
In this digital age, Jessops have focussed (excuse the pun!) a great deal of attention on cornering this market. With ...
hakkved 04.10.2001
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...waste.
I went to Jessops in Plymouth High Street to ask their advice on a camera because I had narrowed my choice down to two and was not sure of the advantages and disadvantages.
I entered the shop and they were very busy, as most large shops are, though I was dealt with very quickly and efficiently. The gentleman explained the difference between the two cameras and even let me try both of them to see which I was most comfortable with. Their range ... ...I found products easily.
Jessops is the kind of shop that you get the impression is run by a family, although I believe it to be a large chain. You feel comfortable, and their staff go out of their way to help and advise someone like me that knows very little about technology.
I went away and thought about the camera for a while, and it was beyond my price range being realistic. I then went home to my fathers house and looked up on the net how ...
thingywhatsit 15.11.2003 (11.12.2003)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Jessops (Shop)
Advantages: large range of new and second hand goods Disadvantages: none
...camera you think Jessops. Jessops is probably the only nationwide camera specialist left in the high street. This was the first place that I looked in when I wanted to by myself a new camera.
The first thing that you notice is the huge range of camera, video cameras and digital cameras that they stock. They also stock all the accessories that you would ever need from films, to carrying cases, to stands and for the specialist filters and lenses. ... ...bough two years before for £300, I was pleased as I had found a real bargain.
If anyone were thinking about purchasing a new camera I would recommend Jessops as they are, in my mind the best camera shop around with a large range of goods and knowledgeable staff. ...
ia_young 10.02.2001
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Advantages: Handy for obscure bits of hi-fi, and assorted electronics. Disadvantages: Now very thin on the ground
Where have all the Tandys gone?
If you live around where I do, i.e. west London, you may think that's a damned fine question.
The answer is a bit tortuous, but here goes.
Tandy Shops became a subsidiary of Carphone Warehouse. The latter had a cold hard look at the suitability of many of their sites. Some of those that were considered surplus to requirements, were changed to Tecno Camera shops, another subsidiary of Carphone Warehouse. Soon afterwards, the Tecno shops were sold to Jessops. Voilą - Tandy to Jessops via Tecno.
I must admit I mourn the passing of Tandy - I started having to drag over to Kingston, to my nearest surviving store. Still, it's my fault along with thousands of others who liked to know that they were there, but bought b*****-all from them.
* UPDATE - Just got back from Kingston, even that's gone ...
BNibbles 20.12.2000 (12.02.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Tandy (Shop)
Advantages: Specialised knowledge, not pushy, comfort. Disadvantages: Small shop.
they see. As a comparison, I walked to the nearest Jessops, just 15 minutes walk away. This is a much bigger shop, lots of fancy displays, computers, and so on. What turned me off, was that they were very pushy. I asked about a card reader for my PC. The guy only wanted to talk about one model. I felt a bit harassed, made my excuses, and left.
Overall, Camera Direct ARE very specialised, but I felt very comfortable, and would happily use them again. ...
Advantages: Great store, knowledgable staff, up to date range, competetive prices Disadvantages: None that I found
came with more accessories than the one I had originally wanted, so for the same price I got more for my money, and again no one tried to pressure me into buying any extras. My transaction was dealt with very quickly and I was very impressed.
Despite the busyness (Saturday afternoon in London - nightmare) the customer service was excellent, and despite my own dithering and making up my mind, we were in and out of the shop with the perfect camera and some good advice, within 40 mins - to me that's amazing, especially considering that I was able to try out the two cameras for quite a while before making my choice (no one tried to rush me), and then wandered around the store for another 10 or so making up my mind!
This is definately the most expensive purchase that I have ever made in Jessops, but I have used their photo service at other ...
daisydaisym 26.10.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Jessops
Great bargains to be had, layby payment system, buyback facillity when selling your goods.
As they are a Franchise stores do vary considerably,Don' t always expect new goods at second hand prices, Don't expect near the new price for your goo (*)
