LCE London Camera Exchange

Nifkin

Nifkin

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Has anybody used them, and what's their experience of them when buying used? They seem large and established in that area, but that doesn't necessarily mean good! ;) I tried doing a search on here using London Camera Exchange, but the search tool threw up every thread containing London, camera and/or exchange, which was pretty much everything!

I've seen a lens on their site which seems really good for the price; is rated four stars and condition says 'very good'. Have emailed them to ask for more details, but they simply replied with "lens in excellent condition," :shrug: so am interested to know if they can be trusted, and if their prices are reasonable.

Cheers
 
The honest answer re whether they're reasonable, is not particularly. However, they do offer a 6 month warranty on used lens, so I guess that's also what you're paying for.

In terms of part exchanging, they offer generous value but of course the margin is then put on for re-sale price...

You can certainly buy cheaper used lens, but doubt that it'd be backed up by any kind of warranty..

Have only ever bought two used lens from LCE in Norwich and their described condition was IMHO spot on. Can't vouch for other branches though
 
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i sent an email to two of their branches the other week asking if they could provide test shots of a sigma 10-20 which is renowned for having soft copies

i got no response from either of them , which tbh i was not impressed with. it doesn't take 30 secs to pen an email saying " no sorry, we are unable to do this" but to just plain ignore it is bad practice from anyone
 
Ive always found them a bit of a rip of on exchange prices to be honest, i appreciate they need to make a profit but i asked for a price for a brand new still within warranty 17-55 IS and was told they would give me £250 so they wanted to make £400 ish profit.

On a plus side the one in lincoln is very friendly and very helpful, there prices can be ok depending what you look for. I didnt know they gave a 6 months warranty on lenses i know they do 3 months on cameras.
 
I've used them, but mainly because they have a store local to me. The prices seem to be in line with Jessops, Jacobs, etc, and the staff that I have dealt with have been very knowledgeable.
 
Euan said:
i asked for a price for a brand new still within warranty 17-55 IS and was told they would give me £250 so they wanted to make £400 ish profit.
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Wow. With price quotes like that I'm surprised anybody would want to exchange their gear with them! If you stuck a 17-55 IS on here for twice as much it would be snapped up in a second. I guess the 6-month warranty is a selling point, it certainly makes paying over the odds for used equipment a bit more paletable if they provide back up like that.

Thing is, the lens I'm looking at usually can go for about 10% more than LCE are quoting with most other used sellers, which makes me wonder how good a condition the lens is in, seeing they give it four stars... :thinking:
 
The one in Lincoln gave a Mk3 4 stars and it was immaculate and had taken about 4-5000 shots, so providing they all rate roughly the same it should be good.
 
I've used the branch in Reading on few occasions and the one in London (Strand I think). I've always found the staff extremely knowledgable and very helpful, I've brought used and new and even returned a new item for a full refund as I didn't like it and they were fine. :thumbs:

I won't be part exchanging anything in the future though becuase they will definitely not give you anything near a competitive deal!
 
titch124 said:
i got no response from either of them , which tbh i was not impressed with. it doesn't take 30 secs to pen an email saying " no sorry, we are unable to do this" but to just plain ignore it is bad practice from anyone
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I fully agree with you. I sent two e-mails myself, one to LCE and the other to Jacobs - both shops in Manchester. Jacobs replied around an hour later, LCE to this day have not bothered.
 
Hmmm. Well I emailed LCE Manchester again at about midday to get a bit more detail than "excellent condition" about the lens, and as yet have not had a reply. Have tried calling them about 8-10 times, and the phone either rings out, or it's been engaged. They're obviously not too fussed about failing to respond to a genuine enquiry.
 
I have bought from them two or three times with no problems, inc Manchester - they seem to be more competitive than most other branches.
 
They seem to operate as a franchise rather than a chain, and all the ones i've experienced dont seem to care about the internet enquires. Most seem genuinely knowledgable and open to bargining, but obviously thats going to be on an individual basis.
 
Have used them once & was happy with the service on that occasion.
However, I've also had issues with e-mail when looking to upgrade body's. On one occasion I e-mailed 3 local branches in my area twice as I hadn't got an answer after 2 days :shake: I got an answer off 2 of them eventually, one of which appologised for the delay as my e-mail had gone to their spam folder!!! :suspect:
In the end Mifsuds came up with the best deal............ & always have so far :)
 
i use them when i need something urgently, just because i pass their cheltenham branch twice a day!

bought a cheapo tripod for wireless flash, offered cash and got it for £20 instead of £30, went in 5 weeks later (yesterday) and said there was no QR plate with it, but i didn't have reciept and no one in store served me when i bought the tripod, chap said 'we trust you, just take the one off the display tripod and forget it'

brilliant service, as i said, that's why i come to you!! friendly, informative and willing to help!

can't comment on s/h sales!
 
At the risk of starting off the old ' Jessops are crap' rant (which IS NOT my intention here), I have found the staff in LCE Portsmouth to be considerably more knowledgable than Jessops.
The staff I have ever spoken to in Jessops are a total waste of space.

Anyway........

I've used LCE, and do so for bits and pieces, like filters, stofens etc......
Anything more pricey such as lens, body, memory card, bags, tripods etc will be MUCH cheaper on line.
Same for second hand stuff. They charge WAY over the going rate for second hand. Yes you get a 6 months warranty, but it doesn't justify a price tag quite as high as what they put on it.
 
At about 4pm yesterday I called them again, this time they answered and said they'd email me some pics of the lens. 10 minutes later the pics arrived, which were so oof that they may as well have sent a pencil drawing of the lens! I emailed them back with a couple of questions, but they have yet to reply.
 
Nifkin said:
At about 4pm yesterday I called them again, this time they answered and said they'd email me some pics of the lens. 10 minutes later the pics arrived, which were so oof that they may as well have sent a pencil drawing of the lens! I emailed them back with a couple of questions, but they have yet to reply.
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Why are you on a personal crusade against LCE? They offer a great service to a lot of happy people and regarding second hand prices, they are there to sustain a business and not make the same mistakes as Jessops.

As for emails and replies - I expect this is a busy time of year for all retailers let alone camera retailers - this may explain it.
 
Diego Garcia said:
Why are you on a personal crusade against LCE? They offer a great service to a lot of happy people and regarding second hand prices, they are there to sustain a business and not make the same mistakes as Jessops.

As for emails and replies - I expect this is a busy time of year for all retailers let alone camera retailers - this may explain it.
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Ha ha, well pardon me all over the place, Diego. I don't think I'm on a "personal crusade" against LCE. That's a bit dramatic. My thread was merely to enquire as to what other people had experienced with them, as the lens I was after and they were selling secondhand seemed like it was at a really good price. And, as I said before, in response to an earlier comment that their prices are too high, the 6 month warranty definitely makes it worth paying over the odds for a used lens; hardly giving them a kicking, eh?

Only two out of my four posts here expressed dissatisfaction with their comms; I've spoken to lots of photographic retailers selling used and new, and LCE so far seem to be the tardiest in terms of customer service; perhaps, as fezzr says, they really don't care about internet enquiries. And I simply thought it was amusing that as a "knowledgeable" camera retailer they should send such fuzzy and badly focussed photos of their product, leaving me none the wiser as to the lens's condition; definitely more of a waste of their time than mine!

Anyway, found what I wanted elsewhere, cheers. :thumbs:
 
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titch124 said:
i sent an email to two of their branches the other week asking if they could provide test shots of a sigma 10-20 which is renowned for having soft copies

i got no response from either of them , which tbh i was not impressed with. it doesn't take 30 secs to pen an email saying " no sorry, we are unable to do this" but to just plain ignore it is bad practice from anyone
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Do you really think a shop will endeavour to get out a lens, stick it on a body then fire off a couple of frames just to satisfy your curiousity aroused by internet myths.

I am sure they are quite a busy bunch as with most shops.
 
Just purchased a D2X from Guildford, which had a "Err" message, but they exchanged without problems for a D2X they had at their Strand branch. At the moment I'm happy with the price I paid and for the service I've received.
 
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If you have a store near you then ask them to transfer the lens to that store as my local shop has offered that service meny times so you can have a look. I have had a few items from them and you can get some bargins but I have had to haggle!!
 
Never bought any used lenses from LCE but was quoted £714 for a 50D last weekend by Jacobs. Jacobs were very unhelpful and said I'd not better the price and if I did it'd only be by about £10. I went to Nottingham LCE and asked if they could match an internet price of £685 body only and they did. Very friendly and helpful, I'd always go to them as a first choice now.
 
i bought a sony dt 55-200mm lens at there plymouth branch for £79

i asked the manager if they clean there second hand lenses and he told me he will only buy equipment thats near new condition and wont settle for anything less, if it needs cleaning before selling, he wont buy it.

everyone was really helpful and the lens is practically brand new, top stuff
 
LCE are very good in my experience for used gear as regards to quality/item description/staff knowledge.
Prices are a bit of a wild ride though,crazy high prices in some branches.
Recently D70 body only@ £249, cond 4 star, aditional enquiry revealed 74,000 actuations..it will still be there till next year !, another branch £149, 6,700 actuations.Right price..sold, very happy...its just mad :cuckoo:
Take a look at the fluctuations between branches before you commit.
Sad though that jessops did move out of the secondhand market around 5 yrs ago.Jessops had free inter-branch transfer of items so you could view locally before you buy, and they had massive stock of s/h gear .
 
LCE are one of the few high-street shops left that have photographers working there. And they tend to know their stuff.
 
i bought my olympus e1 with 2 kit lens and a 2nd had bag... all i can say is i am a happy customer and go back to them for other gear (tri pod etc). no probs with the camera :)

camera from manchester store, gear from chester store, nice freindly staff :)
bob
 
I have bought lots of pre-loved cameras and lenses from LCE ! I have phoned Norwich and bought lenses over the phone and Strand, London, Winchester and other branches.

I have asked them to order me in "strange items" for kitting out my studio like specialist clamps (wall mounting lights on booms and sliders on walls!) I cannot stand all the tripods with "Clients" in the studio (Adults are bad enough but with children too a NIGHTMARE!" ) and Wall mounts will essentially double the size of my small studio !!! no builders required !

I have bought quite a few pre-loved cameras at LCE too ! A lot of people buy the latest model and hardly use it - so its as new - and they can tell by how the camera is "presented" if "loved" or "bashed/not well cared for" - most of their "EXCELLENT" comes in with all the boxes and manuals etc and is AS NEW! and is PX'ed for the next latest model ... I also buy Papers when on special offer - I buy lots !

I find their staff are enthusiastic about photography and I never cease to be amazed by their knowledge - they know who is the "Canon" or other brand staff person nearest their store".

I like to shop there, as I would like them to stay in business as I can depend on them !

HOWEVER, they are not a training ground - they are not overstaffed, they cannot afford to be, and most manufacturers websites have "sample prints" you can download - such a very personal service of emailing photos taken with a lens is asking a lot, when your not a regular customer ? Digital Photo is always testing lenses and these reports are on www.photoanswers.co.uk their website ! Hope this helps you !
 
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