London Camera Exchange vs. MW Classic

[freecom2]

My experiences with these two. It's a long one, but the tl;dr version is this: LCE
MW Classic :thumbsdown:

I've been on the look out for a later model Rolleicord (IV/V) for a while, and spotted a Rolleicord Va Type 2 on MW Classic's website for £129. I'm reasonably close by, so had a look in person and they were pleasant enough - however, the pop-up magnifier was very loose, but they said they would have it fixed for no cost and they would get back to me within a week. I left ample contact details and that was that.

And I heard nothing. I sent them an email asking, and no reply. Left it at that, decided they didn't want the business (it was still on their website up until very recently, I assume someone has bought it only to be disappointed, seeing as the fault was not described at all on their website).

Then a Rolleicord IV popped up for £69 - the only fault they described was that 'AVERY' was etched into one of the lens panels. Checked their website, it was still there. Rang them, they told me it had been sold! Dammit, missed that one. Googled Rolleicord IV only to find out that they had put it on eBay :shake: to top it off, their eBay description revealed it was actually 'AMERY RTVA' etched, and that the iris blades had a slight brown tint - not mentioned in their website at all.

Luckily, a Rolleicord Vb turned up on LCE's website, and they replied to my emails extremely quickly - from seeing it on the website to having it in my hands, less than 24 hours by courier. Even came with a yellow filter which wasn't mentioned, and their salesperson answered all of my questions (which can get quite thorough!). Efficient, courteous, all round excellent service. To put the cherry on the cake, MW Classic's worse Rolleicord IV went for more money than I paid for my Rolleicord Vb (which also has a Rolleinar 2 in original case, and hood).

MW Classic seems to have a reasonable reputation, so maybe I just caught them at a bad time - but I'm staying with LCE for now.

 

[puggie]

I have bought mint pentax SMC lenses from my LCE for reliably under ebay prices. there postage of items from other branches is pretty damn efficient too.

 

[Chris L]

My experiences with these two. It's a long one, but the tl;dr version is this: LCE
MW Classic :thumbsdown:

I've been on the look out for a later model Rolleicord (IV/V) for a while, and spotted a Rolleicord Va Type 2 on MW Classic's website for £129. I'm reasonably close by, so had a look in person and they were pleasant enough - however, the pop-up magnifier was very loose, but they said they would have it fixed for no cost and they would get back to me within a week. I left ample contact details and that was that.

And I heard nothing. I sent them an email asking, and no reply. Left it at that, decided they didn't want the business (it was still on their website up until very recently, I assume someone has bought it only to be disappointed, seeing as the fault was not described at all on their website).

Then a Rolleicord IV popped up for £69 - the only fault they described was that 'AVERY' was etched into one of the lens panels. Checked their website, it was still there. Rang them, they told me it had been sold! Dammit, missed that one. Googled Rolleicord IV only to find out that they had put it on eBay :shake: to top it off, their eBay description revealed it was actually 'AMERY RTVA' etched, and that the iris blades had a slight brown tint - not mentioned in their website at all.

Luckily, a Rolleicord Vb turned up on LCE's website, and they replied to my emails extremely quickly - from seeing it on the website to having it in my hands, less than 24 hours by courier. Even came with a yellow filter which wasn't mentioned, and their salesperson answered all of my questions (which can get quite thorough!). Efficient, courteous, all round excellent service. To put the cherry on the cake, MW Classic's worse Rolleicord IV went for more money than I paid for my Rolleicord Vb (which also has a Rolleinar 2 in original case, and hood).

MW Classic seems to have a reasonable reputation, so maybe I just caught them at a bad time - but I'm staying with LCE for now.

Nice , LCE certainly seem to be better on price than several other places I've looked at that sell secondhand kit.

Once I've got my first roll of fill back and confirmed my Rolleicord IV is fully functioning then I'll be going for a Rolleinar 1 for headshots

 

[freecom2]

Nice , LCE certainly seem to be better on price than several other places I've looked at that sell secondhand kit.

Once I've got my first roll of fill back and confirmed my Rolleicord IV is fully functioning then I'll be going for a Rolleinar 1 for headshots

Yup, their prices were very reasonable and although this has some wear, the price I paid was much lower than most of these cameras go for.

The Rolleinar's are a superb little piece of kit, they are adjusted for the parallax correction bars - so smart. As they were designed for the professional Rolleiflex, image quality apparently suffers no degeneration as a result of use.

 

[Woodsy]

I have never used MW personally, but I have to agree - Every time I have dealt with LCE they have been nothing short of the benchmark for good service.