Honesty and good service from mpex

[Robert Musgjerd]

In a world of lousy service,lies from camera builders and broken promises from dealers its nice to find a place like Midwest Photo Exchange. They seem to still believe in honisty and good service. For all of you reading this please let us readers know where you have recieved good service and where you have not. Others may prosper from your experiences. Robert

[Alec Jones]

Perhaps you should spend time learning to use your speller. The word is "honesty".

[David R Munson]

Spelling aside, I have also received excellent service from Midwest Photo. A shop second to none, in my opinion.

[David Karp]

As often mentioned on this forum, Jim at Midwest Photo is a wonderful resource. Also, he is honest and straightforward, sells good merchandise, and does what he says he will do. MPEX prices are very competitive, and their grading of used items is very conservative.

[Ben Calwell]

What David and Dave said. I've always had good dealings with Jim at Midwest.

[Michael Jones]

My experiences mirror everyone's opinion of MPEX.

Mike

[Gem Singer]

To alec,

Before you post a critical remark about someone's typo or spelling error on this forum, smart Alec (if that is your first name), it's only good grammatical form to capitalize the first letter of a person's proper name, both first and last. I notice you don't.

All of you regulars to this forum,

You know how I feel about Jim, at Midwest Photo Exchange. I always recommend him very highly, both as a salesman and as an advisor regarding large format equipment. Jim and I have become great friends, although I have never actually met him face-to-face. Jim has been a trusted voice on the telephone during the last couple of years. When he's too busy to take my calls, he always calls back as soon as he is able and allows plenty of time for the call. He never rushes the decision making process. Jim has never let me down. I wish I could say the same for the other photo suppliers I deal with.

[Kevin M Bourque]

If you're a photo.net user, there’s a place where you can post your experiences with a seller. Look for the link at the bottom of the page to list the whole database.

It's a great resource if you're looking to buy from an unfamiliar seller. Even the best have the occasional bad review (and the other way around, of course), but the truth tends to win out in the long run.

http://www.photo.net/neighbor/by-about?category_id=0

[Deniz]

Being in Canada, instead of calling i sent at least 10 e-mails to MPEX and never heard back from them. If i had, i would buy my 8x10 Tachihara from them. Adorama, being a larger company, returned my first e-mail in a day and i took my business to them..

I do hear nothing but good things about MPEX on these forums.. i wish they could heve replied to my e-mails so i could do business with them..

[austin granger]

I recently bought a camera from Badger Graphics. Jeff and the rest of the folks there were very kind and professional and patient.

Also, I've found dealing with Ebony to be a pretty wonderful experience.

In truth, unlike a lot of people it seems, I haven't really had any negative experiences with retailers.

On the other hand, back when I was on the other side of the fence working at a camera store, I had plenty of negative experiences; it's shocking how some people feel entitled to treat clerks like punching bags. There were a couple of times when I came very close to saying; "Sir, I have to tell you, you are quite possibly the most unpleasant human being I have ever met." Luckily, I restrained myself. In any case, I'm glad to free of retail life (especially around Christmas, when things get REALLY nasty!).

[George Stewart]

I've had nothing but great service from all LF retailers I've purchased from.

MPEX is great: They sold me a new lens for just over the price of the same one used, when the used one had already been sold and not removed from their web site.

Badger Graphic is great: They sent me a custom ordered lens without a credit card - they just included the bill with the shipment.

Quality Camera is also great: I custom ordered a grey market lens from them and when it arrived at their shop they called to let me know that they were charging me $100 less than the already aggreed upon low price, due to an improved exchange rate.

I haven't met a nicer and more super honest bunch of people than those involved in LF photography.

[Dean Cookson]

Just want to add my vote to the Jim at MidWest is a great guy to deal with column. I met Jim at this year's LF Conference and bought a great Canham 8x10 off of him. I recommend MPEX to anyone who asks me where to buy camera gear on line.

[Andre Noble]

'honisty' - isn't that the medical term for the nostrils?

[Paul Schilliger]

Last year, they worked a wonderful deal for me on shipping a large printer overseas. But then I had a personal blow and although the order was already processed, they canceled and sent immediately the money back with some kind words of encouragement. I respect them immensely.

[Kerry L. Thalmann]

I agree 100% with everything George wrote. There are a lot of great folks out there supporting large format photography. They share our passion and genuinely enjoy helping us achieve our goals. They are happy to sell us what we need, but are also willing to just talk photography and share their knowledge. In addition to providing goods and services to support my personal photography, I have also sought the assistance of many of these folks when researching articles and reviewing new products. We are truly lucky to have these fine folks in our corner. I hesitate to even start a list, as I'm sure I'll leave out many who deserve my gratitude, but here goes - my partial list of the dealers, distributers and manufacturers who I owe a great big thanks (in no particular order):

Jim Andracki at Midwest Photo Exchange

Jeff Taugner at Badger Graphic Sales

Ted Bromwell at Bromwell Marketing

Jeff Wheeler at Quality Camera

Rod Klukas at Photomark

Fred Newman at The View Camera Store

Robert, Tre and Matt at Robert White

Richard Newman at Calumet

David Gremp at Calumet

Steve Inglima at Schneider Optics

Ron Leven at Schneider Optics

Hilde Ebbesmeier at Schneider-Kreuznach

Julian Goldstein of Navitar, Inc (formerly D.O. Industries)

Bob Saloman at HP Marketing

Jane Elliot at Nikon USA

Martin Vogt at ARCA-SWISS

Diane Henry at ARCA-SWISS

Bob Watkins at Precision Camera Works

Ian Wilson at Ebony

Eddie Hill at Gandolfi

Mitio Fujiwara at Toho

Burkhardt Kiegeland formerly of Lotus View Camera

Maja Stroebele at Lotus View Camera

Ron Wisner

Keith Canham

Mike Walker

Bruce Hyland formerly of Kodak Professional

Audrey Jonckheer at Kodak Professional

Gary Scott at Fujifilm USA

The late, truly great Steve Grimes

And that's just the dealers, manufacturers and distributors I can think of off the top of my head. For the list to be complete, I'd have to include the publishers, editors, gallery owners and other photographers who have given me their support. And, of course, the fellow members of this, and other forums who have shared their wisdom over the years. So, the next time someone tries to tell you large format is dying, remember all these great people (and more) who are doing their best to keep it going for all of us. We're all in this together, and it sure is nice to know we have so many wonderful folks on our side.

Kerry

P.S. One of the things I've enjoyed most about the LF Conferences the last two years is the chance to just hang out and talk photography with other photographers and talk equipment with the dealers and manufacturers. It was truly a joy to actually meet in person many of the people I've known online and on the phone for several years.

[Emrehan Zeybekoglu]

Recently I have had purchases from Ries and Lotus View Camera in Austria. They both provided good, reliable service.

[Jim Rice]

I also liked Del Hoagland (sp?) Anyone know what happened to him?

[Edward (Halifax,NS)]

I have had nothing but good experiences with Henry's in Toronto. I have bought film and a tripod head from them.

[Salty]

Another vote for Jim Andracki, a fine gentleman.

[Yong-ran Zhu]

I have never seen Jim. However, I can talk to him like my friend. I also trust him 100%. I feel confident to buy things from him, but through eBay. Thanks Jim.

[Bill_1856]

Don't forget Jeff at Lens and Repro. Their prices are high, but Jeff and his Dad kept the used LF market viable while others came and went. And Ken Hansen (if he's in business again).

[lensworthy]

JC Welch of Equinox Photographic; Paul Ebel