As posted in a previous thread, I'm thinking of moving to a mirrorless system from a D7200, well, today, I decided I'd had enough of reading reviews on the internet and went to a well known photography shop in Birmingham City Centre with a name that starst with J...
Having a good idea of what I wanted to look at, I walked past the empty display cases and bare shelves in the Nikon and Canon sections and went straight to the Fuji and Olympus gear, what can I say, nearly every camera I picked up had a dead battery and the cameras with charged batteries were tethered to the shelf with a cable about 6 inches long attached around the zoom ring on the lenses so it was impossible to get an idea of what the camera would be like to use, I counted 5 members of staff milling around who all took turns to ask if I needed any help, being the only customer in the shop, I felt really awkward... It was like trying to test drive a car with an empty fuel talk.
I then headed to John Lewis, what a difference, only one camera had a dead battery and I was not once bothered by over-friendly sales people, I was free to test and play with the cameras as much as I liked, while still protected with security tethers, they were not as short, obtrusive or restricted as in the previous shop, the atmosphere was also much more pleasant.
I wouldn't like to take trade away from a dedicated photography shop, but when the prices are broadly the same, I know where my custom is going...
Having a good idea of what I wanted to look at, I walked past the empty display cases and bare shelves in the Nikon and Canon sections and went straight to the Fuji and Olympus gear, what can I say, nearly every camera I picked up had a dead battery and the cameras with charged batteries were tethered to the shelf with a cable about 6 inches long attached around the zoom ring on the lenses so it was impossible to get an idea of what the camera would be like to use, I counted 5 members of staff milling around who all took turns to ask if I needed any help, being the only customer in the shop, I felt really awkward... It was like trying to test drive a car with an empty fuel talk.
I then headed to John Lewis, what a difference, only one camera had a dead battery and I was not once bothered by over-friendly sales people, I was free to test and play with the cameras as much as I liked, while still protected with security tethers, they were not as short, obtrusive or restricted as in the previous shop, the atmosphere was also much more pleasant.
I wouldn't like to take trade away from a dedicated photography shop, but when the prices are broadly the same, I know where my custom is going...