District Camera & Imaging - Arlington - Arlington, Virginia

German C.

Excelente lugar para las personas que gustan de la fotografia.

oscar E.

encuentras muchas cosas

RJ

I went to District camera on Saturday during a vendor event. I bought a Sigma lens. There was no sales tax but the stipulation was I could not take the lens with me that day. I had to ship it to my house. I was told it would ship on Monday and be to me by Tuesday .

I called the store on Tuesday late afternoon after not hearing anything. Whoever helped me on the phone said that they needed to confirm that I paid for the lens with the manager before shipping the lens. I told him that I paid on Saturday, but he said he still needed to confirm. He said he would ship out that day and get to me by Wednesday. I got a notification from FedEx that the label was created later that day.

On Wednesday afternoon I called again because it still just said label created on the FedEx website. I explained to the person that I spoke to that I would have liked to have the lens by now because I needed it for a trip, he said that it would get to me by Thursday the latest.

Here I am Thursday night without the lens going on a trip that I wanted to take this specific lens.

It’s frustrating because I could’ve bought the same lens for cheaper on Amazon even with these discounts and saved $40 and would have had the lens much faster. I recently move to Maryland and want to support the local business but this experience is frustrating.

That being said, the store is nice. The event was filled with big brand vendors. I probably won’t be back to this location unless I really need to.

Update

The owner of the company reached out to me and apologized. Although it did not replace having this lens for my trip. I do understand the busy nature of the event and the strain on the business. My confusion was when an employee stated they needed to confirm that I paid days after I actually paid. Nonetheless, I do not like leaving negative reviews on small businesses.

I did eventually receive my lens. It was packed very well. It works very well. The price was great. Again the store, the employees and the vendors were nice and helpful . I still probably won’t come back to the location because it is a pretty far drive/metro from me. I will probably visit their DC location .

Tiffany N.

I would caution professional film photographers from getting your film developed and scanned here. I really wanted to enjoy my experience, especially since film labs are becoming increasingly rare and I always try to support family-run local businesses.

I’m normally based in another state, but was visiting family in Virginia and dropped off several rolls at District Camera after reading great reviews. Unfortunately, the scans I received back were extremely dark, with crushed shadows, muddy color, and low resolution. I shoot film professionally and could immediately tell something was off. I sent the negatives to my usual lab to be rescanned and the difference was night and day. I’ve included side-by-side comparisons in this review to show how much shadow detail, tone, and clarity were lost in the District Camera scans.

To District’s credit, the staff was responsive when I reached out. They explained that they had automatically applied a high contrast filter to the scans and had forgotten to turn it off. In my experience, professional labs usually have a quality assurance step in place to catch things like this, and I’ve shared that feedback with their management in hopes they might consider adding that to their process.

I’m grateful that their team was responsive and offered remediation, so I’m leaving a 3-star review instead of something lower. For professional work, I personally wouldn’t return, but I hope my experience encourages District Camera to make improvements and keep film photography a thriving art form.

Jay H.

Not much to say, they had what I needed and I bought it.

There was someone there trying to rent a point-and-shoot. He said they didn’t rent point -and-shoot cameras. She said she would buy one. He showed her some (too expensive). He showed her a used Sony RX100 Mark 3 (excellent little camera) and it was still too expensive (I think her budget was disposable camera). To the sales person’s credit, he never lost patience, was helpful, and didn’t ask why she wasn’t using her phone. That was the excellent customer service.

Laura R.

First place I went to look for a camera as a newbie. The man that was helping me here was great. Patient and explained things to me. They didn’t have the camera in stock but I went over to the Burke location and got what I needed. The guy helping me in Burke was not very helpful and didn’t know how to relay info to a newbie.
I came back here yesterday looking for a new lens now with more experience and knowledge. The guy helping me (wish I knew his name!) was really helpful and solidified that I’ll be coming to this location for future needs!

Dhru B.

As one of the few camera stores left in the DC area, no one would bat an eye if they lacked customer service. Nothing could be further from the truth.

These guys love cameras, and they love what they do. It definitely shows.

The customer service is impeccable. I came in to trade my camera for a new one, and having been to B and H in NYC and had a less than stellar experience there with their trade in process, I can say that this is where you want to trade in old equipment if you want to upgrade. Not only were the trade in values much better than I had gotten from thy big guys in NYC, but the concern and consideration for me as a customer was so much better here.

Highly recommend these guys if you are considering getting any camera gear. Highly knowledgeable and passionate about photography and customer experience.

Heaven O. S.

Beware: Their online store is untrustworthy!
We ordered a used camera lens in Summer 2025. Nothing happend for several days after order confirmation. When we then contacted them about the shipping and tracking number they cancelled our order without comment. On request about it, they finally came forward and admitted that they have sold that lens 4 years ago.
What an unreliable bunch of sharks. Recommend to stay away and buy somewhere else.