McBain Camera

The staff were super helpful and patient. They spent the time to ensure that my photos were being printed at the best quality by making suggestions on size and finishes.

I'm so impressed with the quality photos I received here, unlike those I got from Staples.

Zero stars. I went here for a Canadian passport photo on Saturday December 2,2023 around 3: 30pm (?). Thinking that they are the professionals, so there shouldn't be any problems with the photos, right? Southgate Mall was busy AF.
I went to a SlowService Canada location, in the west end, to drop off my passport renewal. That was today, Monday December 4,2023 around noon. I was told it would be a 2.5 hour wait. It was packed in there. I didn't know that I could make an appointment. So I wasn't going to wait, and went and asked that my name be removed, from the wait list. The lady helping me, had a look at all my paperwork, and photos. Told me that the photos were NO GOOD. There wasn't enough space at the top of the picture. FFS. Good thing that I didn't wait the full 2.5 hours only to learn that the photos were NFG. I would have been livid! I drove to the nearest McBain, which was the 107th Avenue location. It was closed. So I had to drive all the way back to Southgate Mall. I asked for a refund, as they obviously do not know how to make proper passport photos. I remember now that back in 2018, the very same thing happened, at this location. With a different country's passport as I have dual citizenship. Got overseas in order to drop off the application in person. Only to find out that they were.you guessed it. NFG. I can understand it with a different country's photo. But there's no excuse for messing up a Canadian passport photo. Sheer carelessness bordering on negligence.
Go to the Photo Stop in Canada Place for your passport photos. They ARE the experts. AND they even charge less for their passport photos!

Knowledge and decent staff, very helpful and glad to share their knowledge. Very good local store show respect and care to their customers.

I brought my baby girl for a passport photo. They helped me the get the correct pixels and dimensions for her Chinese visa. They are so friendly and helpful.

Been getting my film developed here for the last year and I've always had a good experience. Photo scans tend to come back quickly through email in high quality files.

I went to get my passport photo. The staff were very pleasant, informative and accommodating.

I saw some accessories for SLR cameras and actual film for sale. This older style photography is coming back so now you know where to get your supplies.

Very friendly staff. Was patient to answer the questions of a photography enthusiast who is in the process of learning. Will definitely buy again.

Gave me the wrong battery when I explicitly told them my camera model, such a waste of time

Knowledgeable and very patient staff. I have a million questions, and they took their time with me.

Amazing service and Danny our helper was extremely knowledgeable. If you need help getting camera equipment check out this location and get Danny’s help. Highly recommend!

I went to Southgate McBain looking for a replacement lense. Tyler helped me out and said, no problem i have one in our downtown store and have it here tomorrow. Since that visit and numerous phone calls from me to Tyler, nothing, no reply no call back. Finely a co worker informed me that this lens is no longer available. It took 4 weeks to find this out… very bad customer service. I will be looking for a different camera supplier in the future.

They were extremely helpful with my purchase and very knowledgeable! I came in with a product in mind and came out with a even better product catering to my needs!

Very helpful and knowledgeable staff. I wasn't buying anything (I said so upfront) and I still got all my questions answered with the same enthusiasm as if I was.

Went here for a sensor cleaning on a DSLR. I got my camera back sooner than estimated with a pristine clean sensor. The dust and micro hairs that showed up on all my photos and I could not for the life of me get rid of after 3 attempts of cleaning it myself were all gone.

Just went there to buy a lens. The service was amazing, and they gave us a recommendation that fitted our needs and saved us money. 100% recommended.

It’s really unfortunate that this store doesn’t prioritize consistency of customer service. Some staff members are extremely helpful and kind, while others are over-confident and condescending. When encountering the latter, it makes for an extremely frustrating and upsetting experience.

Brought in a gift card that wasn't working correctly. Not only were the staff super helpful and understanding but they made sure to help make it right for me and popped it in the mail as I live out of town. These guys are the best!

Went here to get my camera sensor cleaned. Very helpful staff, and my camera was cleaned within 3-5 business days.

I went into McBain and was waiting to talk to a rep and drop ~ $5k on a camera, but left in disgust after the younger of the two guys behind the counter bold faced lied to a customer ahead of me, not once, but twice. It clearly shows the sellers bias when he trashes other brands but his own favourite. People working in a store should be helping people find the products that they need, not what the sellers favourite is.

McBain used to hire people who were confident in all brands of equipment. It's fine to have a preference, but that should not affect a CSRs ability to help the end user find the right product for them.

Was sent here by a friend to pick up a lens for them. I went in and asked if they had it, and they did! Awesome. However, when I asked if it had image stabilization, the sales clerk looked for a long while and said yes it does. The sales clerk seemed confident in her answer

Okay, cool. So I text my friend to let her know, who says that it shouldn’t have it.
So I question the sales clerk again, and she asks her coworker who confirms that it doesn’t.

Here’s the thing, I don’t care if it does or doesn’t but lying to make a sale is super shady. I put my wallet away and went to go find the same lens elsewhwre.

Really disappointed as I’d heard McBain was a good place to go due to their knowledgeable experts. Maybe that is still true but that level of deceit makes me really uncomfortable.

I went to get a passport taken for my baby and toddler for their Canadian passport but the staff weren't friendly or courteous. I felt like a pest. Staff were literally staring me down. No way helpful. My question was met with a curt reply. It's been 6 hours since leaving the store and I still feel bad. I left the store wondering if we were treated that way because we're a black family. And no, I'm not the kind to attribute things to racial profiling but for real, my experience here made me feel this way.

Those 2 idiots behind the counter wasted 2 hours of my time on Sunday the 26th, they agreed on the phone to price match an item available on amazon as long as it was from amazon.ca. I went out in -28c weather all the way from west end to be told they would not honor the price match. Yet they had the item out on the counter with my name and phone number on a sticky note attached to the box. When on the phone I told them I would be there with in 3 hours from the time I called, there was plenty of time to call me back and say sorry they would not price match the item. What a customer service lol Hey guess what I will never be buying anything again from McBain ever again, you do not want a local business, ok - there is plenty of on-line stores with x10 the customer service those 2 had to offer. What a time McBain lol

On Saturday, I came into this location and was immediately helped by a gentleman that took my USB and went and developed my photos. Within a very short time I was walking out of the store with my photos in hand. Upon getting home I realized that photos were very orange, so I called the store to inquire what I could do in my editing program to change this, again another gentleman there walked me through what I needed to do to change the exposure and tones to help take the orange away in the photos. Today, I was back and forth to the store several times trying my settings and getting sample photos printed so I could see if I was getting close to the coloring I needed. At one point a lovely lady took me to the back and showed me on the editing program what I would need to do to bring the photos up to the color I was looking to achieve. I am fairly new to editing and the staff were so patient and helpful with my questions and advice they gave to help me as well as to get my photos pushed through as quickly as they could so I could be on my way. I am just so thankful for the sound advice they gave me as I learn so much and it is showing in my work. Thank you to the staff at the Southgate Mall location for your knowledge and professionalism you all had. Amelia Carruthers

Have the item, pick up experience was quick and easy.
The online customer service responses to email fairly quickly.

McBain was able to developed my 35mm film. They also had a cable I was missing for a digital camera. Very good service.

I wanted passport photos for European passport and they had a setting for it which made it quick and painless. Good and pleasant service. Recommend highly

Great, helpful staff. My go to place for my camera needs. Good selection of cameras & accessories.

Was going to review the west end location but I guess it is closed. Mcbain always has the best prices on my instamax film! Love them! And they really helped me out with the warrenty on my Nikon camera a few years ago

Great friendly service without pressure provided by Alnoor. Took all necessary time to explain, demonstrate and they know the products they sell. Highly recommended.
Very good after sale service.
Definitely worth 5 stars!
Purchase made in June and July 2021
Thank you

Went in to get two passport photos taken for kids. Gentleman at the counter was super friendly and very helpful. He joked around with the kids and made them feel comfortable having their picture taken by a stranger.

McBain Camera the only place that I will go for passport photos, as I have done multiple applications for a few different countries and have never had a picture sent back.

Mcbain has been around for decades, because they know how look after customers and have a great selection of camera equipment. Through the years I have made many purchases at McBains and will continue to do so.

Easy to navigate the store, super helpful staff willing to provide examples for each film type and very detailed in general!

I prefer going to this location over the main store most of the time. Better hours, friendly staff and inventory can be shipped to this location

I have spent at least 15,000 dollars at Mcbain camera over the years and quite frankly the upcoming purchases have come to an end. I decided to put my name down for the upcoming release of the new Sony Alpha 1 camera which usually is not a problem with Mcbain based on priority and deposits. Due to unfortunate 2021 circumstances I was not able to put down a deposit for the Alpha 1 camera and a young man phoned me the following day to give me grief on why i did not come down to the southgate location to deposit money. I explained the situation on why i wasn't able to make the deposit and he rudly said "bye" and hung up the phone.

I am thankful for camera retail shops where you can walk in and talk to experienced people about your own equipment and future camera purchases. Thank you McBain.

We were standing outside to comply with the limited capacity but we were told to go OUTSIDE of the line. But we were actually standing by the line.

Then we wanted to take a passport picture of our baby. It was a horrible experience! The staff was quite unfriendly and did not cooperate as the baby was getting fuzzy and uncomfortable.

Then they asked us to leave because they have other customers in a row.

So, from my experience with this shop, please don't stop by if you want to take a picture for your baby as they are horrible staff and don't know the basics of treating customers + how to make sure they can provide a service for the toddlers/babies.

I will never visit this shop again!

Do not recommend going to get your pictures printed here. The workers were not friendly at all or welcoming.

I’m not one to write bad reviews and I almost never write one regardless of how bad my experience was. I was there with my sister to get pictures developed and the staff working at the time was NOT friendly at all and not accommodating. I went to McBain specifically because I heard nothing but good things, but unfortunately, this was what we experienced. It’s been nearly 2 weeks and we still havent recieved a call on when we’ll be receiving our film. If we had known/informed that it was going to take this long, we would’ve went to other retailers. All we got was “don’t come back until we call you”. And no, I’m not going to go fill up a survey about it for improvement. I’ve worked retail for a very long time, so I know that is not effective at all. Directly talk to your staff about how they should be treating every single customer.

I appreciate the staff taking time to answer questions and giving suggestions. I may not have made a purchase this time, but will definitely be back and will recommend this shop to all interested in photography.

Smaller store, but the staff are amazing and super helpful. Able to order things in and get them to you quickly

I thought I would drop in to tap into some camera knowledge to find a lens to fit a particular accessory and it turned out to be a complete waste of my time.

The salesperson actually complained that to find a lens to fit they might have to open many boxes? Isn't that what salesmanship is? He never even actually consulted with anyone else at the counter?

After all I was willing to buy whatever I needed to fit this on my Canon DSLR and I was turned away.

Highly recommend McBain Camera Southgate Shopping Centre, City of Edmonton, Alberta - Canada
knowledgeable, friendly approach, very satisfy, excellent service.
Outstanding.

Very very friend staff, I was very surprised that they are not cocky! (Usually many guys in camera shops are very cocky and it just turns me down.)
This staff was very polite, and tried to answer all the questions I asked. I enjoyed the small talk with this person, and the visit was very pleasant. If I’m in pinch, I’ll definitely go here and get some help.

McBain camera is good place to go for most of you camera needs. The staff can be very knowledgeable but then you also get your classic student staff. They are also fairly helpful. When it comes to cameras they pretty much have it all however they tend to lack in film and photography accessories.

Best shop, very friendly people. The photographer is very nice and helpful person. Prices are very reasonable.

The staff are knowledgable and they have a great selection but you are going to want to price match anything you buy as they are usually a couple hundred higher than everyone else

Service was great, item was waiting for me and good information. One of few places in the city where one can go for a good supply of camera, gears and accessories.

My goto camera store to buy anything related to photography.

Got my Fujifilm xt3, gfx-50s, bunch of lenses and tripod from here over a period of 5 months.

I like supporting local stores as opposed to online (a.k. A Amazon) and it's good to find a place where I can get some things without spending more than online.

Awesome staff

Easy to approach staff and even during Christmas rush the service was fast. Self serve kiosk to print pictures is well priced and easy to use.

The staff were very helpful. They greeted me as soon as I walked in the door. I had an old roll of film to be developed. They don't process on site, but they gave me a timeline for processing and called me well within the timeline to let me know my photos were ready. They put they on CD for me which is great so I could share them with my friend who lives in a different city