Vistek Reviews

Dear vistek people.

Its very disappointing that you have not replied to my email or phone calls I made. Today, yesterday and the day of my order.

I have order my drone online and which was not showing me shipping method. I called you guys, emailed and requested express shipping which you guys Didn do. I needed my order by Friday which could be done IF YOU HAVE CREATED EXPRESS SHIPPING as I REQUESTED .. With no money issue as I was willing to pay more :@ this brings me to rent the drone here locally now. This was my 2nd and last experience with vistek you have done it again. Irresponsible team and absolutely no customer service ... I have to call canada post few times and waited 1:30 hour to speak to agent to generate special request if they can change to express as needed it on my shoot. Which they can't do.
Before this i have order canon 6d camera you took the money and replied after 4 days that camera is not available which i bought Online and paid fully again .....

Adorama or B&H way better then you guys. You guys gave me stress and too much tention

The employees are very helpful there I would go back anytime to get video equipment or rental.

Awesome service! Also aways nice when a store has what want!

Large selection of photography and video equipment and accessories!

Customer service was great, easily and quickly made a last minute lens rental over the phone and then even easily canceled it with no fees.

One stop shop for photography and video equipment, good choice of equipment, more oriented on professional than consumer

This was my first and last time as a vistek customer
I place my order more than 2 months ago, after reaching out vistek several times I was able to get the camera body with out the adapter with the promise of getting the adapter 2 weeks later.
A month later I have not received my adapter yet, I tried to talk to customer service which was useless since they couldn't give me an answer of whe the adapter will arrive or if I could ask for a refund, moreover, one of the customer service representatives ( Abby ) promise to email me the same day of the call, which was over a week ago and he hasn't contacted me Its been almost 3 month and I am still waiting for my order to ve completed.
I will never return to vistek and I will strongly suggest against it due the lack of professionalism

Sales team is helpfull. Rentals is a nightmare. As always the rentals department is known for their lack of support and knowledge of products. I only use this place when I'm in a punch. And I'm sure I will have to use again, and I'm sure it will be an awful experience as always. This is not a professional rental house.

Just gave them a call to inquire about equipment rental. I'm not a professional so I had some questions such as:

Does this package come with lighting?
Is this relatively easy to set up?

Answer to first question:

Yeah, I just told you, it's either you get tota or you get DP... one or the other.

Answer to second:

Yeah, for some people it's easy for other's it isn't.

Will not be working with this company.

Vistek became my go to place for film gear purchases and rentals.

I wish there was an option for ZERO star, that s exactly what they deserve. STAY AWAY from Vistek, go to HENRY S if you want quality service.
I contacted Vistek before I placed my order to make sure that I could pick up from the store since it was urgent, I was told by Rino that it was ok. I placed my order and they decided to ship the items, Canada Post has a delay of 3 weeks. I contacted Vistek and requested to cancel my order and they Websales refused, I asked them to request Canada Post to send the item back to the sender, they we team again refused, I got different emails from all of them Rino, websales, Meghan, Amanda etc. I was told that I will have to wait for the Camera to arrive, send it back to them and only after they receive the camera they will initiate the refund process.

I ended up buying another one from Henry s and 30min later they emailed and called me to let me know that my order was ready to pick up. Until today I m still waiting for Vistek s order that I placed two weeks ago.

Just received a notice that we were not charged PST two years ago and now Vistek would like us to pay the invoice because they are being audited. Great customer service?

I don't think I've ever had a positive experience with Vistek. Prices are the highest on the continent, staff are uneducated and reluctant to help, they never have the things you want in stock, the shipping costs with online orders are insane, and they don't price match.

The website is also useless. The search function doesn't provide accurate search results, the posted stock levels do not reflect actual stock levels, and just like the in-store staff, the web-sales phone support personnel can't be bothered.

Buying anything in-store (specifically the Mississauga location) takes at least 45 minutes. Per item. Even if you already know exactly what you want. If you need to visit the store, pack a lunch. I always find it humourous (and frustrating) that the staff check the stock for their own store by visiting the publicly available website and struggling to use the search function for the item you've requested (which invariably is something they've never seen or heard of in the store).

That being said, sometimes I'm caught with short notice and forced to buy from Vistek. I imagine this describes most of the clientele that keep the business afloat.

Bottom line: plan ahead and buy from anywhere else. Most of the time, it's cheaper to shop online at B&H, pay the exchange rate and the premium for international shipping and duty.

Very knowledgeable staff who are genreally available and happy to help.

If you're not a known professional or they can tell you don't have a lot of money you'll be treated terribly. Snobby staff and condescending.

Super disappointed by how the customer service line on phone is. The representative hung up mid conversation even before I was finished. It took me 10 minutes just to reach someone on the phone to begin with.

Fat liars on return policy.

I purchased a camera and I have never opened the box out of the store, I only opened the box once in front of the Vistek guy. When I returned, he claimed there is a small piece of plastic (worth 1$ on ebay) missed, which I have never seen that. And they charged 250 for that.

Absolute liars, never trust.

Try buy from somewhere else.

Very helpful staff--and very knowledgeable. Huge selection and good advice.

I'm serious. From the moment we walked in ....the service and reception was top notch. Friendly, knowledgeable ....understanding and helpful! We walked in with a broken lens, walked out completely satisfied, with a new plan ...spending much less than expected and with a better quality lens. Thank you to all the staff!

Love the Vistek staff and their rental services. Very courteous, knowledgeable and have genuine recommendations.

Told me to "drive to Alberta" to avoid shipping costs!!!!!

Lots of free parking. One of my fav Toronto camera stores. Anthony from camera department 3rd floor is also super helpful with my camera needs. They also used to have mini event seminars here that I often come to. Hopefully they bring them back this year.

Johnathan at the repairs department was a gem to work with. Professional, friendly and communicated to me my repair status quickly and honestly. Thank you

We purchased 40K worth of gear through Vistek when we were first setting up our studios just over a year ago, and have purchased plenty from them since. They have always been great to deal with for purchasing, and have helped us with after sales service on an item that technically we were supposed to go direct to the manufacturer. They carry just about everything, and can special order items they don't normally stock. Pricing is competitive. Highly recommend them for all your photo and video needs!

Even though I came last minute to exchange a rental they were very helpful and patient. Thanks!

If over paying is your thing make the trip to this "sketchy" part of town...or shop where all the camera stores are @ Queen and Church.

Three floors for all photography and video needs. Staff is so helpful and friendly. Above and beyond service!

Great selection of equipment, and staff are knowledgeable and friendly. Their website seems to have some problems tracking stock as the out-of-stock item that I wanted allegedly went back to in-stock but they were still waiting for their resupply which took an additional week to actually come in. To ease my frustration, they took down my name and phone number and called me when the item arrived, which was very helpful.

The place to shop serious photography and film in Toronto.

Great and helpful staff. Awesome selection and good prices for rentals.

Nice multi level camera store with lots of selection and lots on display to try out. Friendly staff that isn't too pushy. Free parking is nice too

I've had a love-hate relationship with this store for a while and my recent order was the last straw. 4 out 10 items that I went in the store to buy were listed as 'in stock' on the website but I was told that unfortunately they couldn't find it, that the must have just sold it, or someone misplaced the item, or whatever. Would you like us to order one for you? Sure, let's order it. We should have it next Friday, or next Monday. We will call you. No one ever called me. Every time I called myself only to hear that the shipment was delayed or whatever. One item I had to wait for for 5 weeks. The last order I made online. It took Vistek 3 days to ship it, and only after I emailed them. Then another 2 days to receive. I order from B+H from NY and get most of my stuff within 3 days. The service at Vistek is very poor and their deceptive sales tactics are very annoying. I do not recommend dealing with them unless you have no other choice.

The only professional photography retail store left in Toronto

Pretty average camera store, I ve been coming to this location for 5+ years. None of the products on the floor have prices, so it s a bit hard to browse and compare. Staff isn t overly friendly. Vistek will do in a pinch, but the city has tons of better options for rentals and sales.

I brought in a lens for repair because zoom is jammed. I knew from the beginning, its going to take 2 weeks for estimate and 4-6 weeks for the repair (which I think is WAY too long for the fix). After 2 months, hearing nothing from them, I decided to call them. They responded back saying we haven't gotten any estimate yet. So i asked, did you guys send in any email for follow up? They said they sent one and heard nothing back and left it at that. Not only after 6 weeks I DID NOT get my lens fix, i did not get ANY estimate or call from them. I waited 2 months to get an answer to see how much they can charge me and they can't even do that. Very very slow pace and poor service. If you are someone who needs to get their lens fixed and needs to get it fixed asap because you need your lens for jobs, DON'T GO HERE. GO TO SOMEWHERE ELSE.

Knowledgable staff, and they have everything for pro photo and video.

Knowledgeable staff, lots of gear in stock that you can demo and try. Huge location with 3 levels, and associates there are specialized in either photography or videography.

At Vistek you will meet knowledgeable personnel in all fields of photography. Professional printing services, rentals and a wide array of photographic and video equipment are available.

Henry-who's a sale representative here is very helpful and patience. I forgot that my debit has a 1000$ limit and he patiently wait for me to call the bank to up my limit. He's also went out his way to help my get my student discount. I would definitely come here again if i ever need any camera equipment

Rented a Nikon 80-400mm lens from them. Their service is efficient and the lens was in good shape and performed as expected.

Some people give bad ratings as they didn't do their homework regarding a certain lens. I did mine and knew this lens was slightly slow for airshows, but went with it and was satisfied with its performance.

I have been a camera assistant and have been so for the past twenty years on commercial, music videos and feature films. My experience with Vistek has never been good when I visit the store - as of late. I have been working on my own personal projects recently for several years, and have purchased equipment from Vistek for well over a decade. They were always my go to and recently purchased another camera. But the service has been so bad trying to get someone on the phone, or even a call back - never happens. Let alone a visit to the store, that has never been a very comfortable experience. I felt I was more an inconvenience, even when buying gear. Today was one of those days, I decided to call and after having placed on hold for ten minutes, a staffed picked up, but did not answer, so I am left listening to the staff taking amongst one another. This happened yesterday as well. I shrugged it off, maybe they were too busy and accidentally picked up the phone by accident - didn't pay attention to the conversation. For this to happen twice! Hmmmm, that's very suspect.
There are other shops in t.o that will be more then happy to take my business. Sad this company is going down this path.

Had a HORRIBLE experience with the print lab. Sent the print and money online via their website, got the paypal receipt. Called after a few hours to check in and got told nothing was received. There is clearly a problem in their system, and the only solution they gave me was to contact paypal.
Employee also hung up on me multiple times because "there's nothing they can do" and would not answer me with another way of payment or any kind of solution.
This was quite a traumatizing experience, will not print here again.

Went to rent some camera equipment for a wedding I was taking a video for. Super helpful staff in the rentals department who helped me decide what equipment to get and gave recommendations. Damage deposit was a bit steep but understandable given the equipment value, would go again for any of my camera equipment and rental needs!

Horrible customer service. I was very disappointed.

Walked in to the Mississauga store and was totally ignored by all staff. So, I decided to walk right up to the front counter to see if one of the three staff would lift their heads up to acknowledge me... Nope, didn't happen! I came in to purchase a ring flash and had to order it from the US instead. Very disappointing service.

Professional service, Excellent prices. Buying Canadian can be expensive but Vistek is always very competitive and helps me to keep buyin in Canada

One of the greatest photography & Video equipment store in GTA.

Best video and photos shop in town. They huge variety of articles. And the only one that offer leasing services to professionals. They have exclusive products from diverse brands. Always check it out.

Awespme people, knowledgeable, friendly and very patient which is crucial. Have been going there for the past few years and never had a problem with anyone's service. A little busy and you have to wait at times, but you're always helped in the end.
I go here specifically for everyone's patience as I have lots of questions - definitely recommend it!

I rent and purchase photography related items on regular bases and I really like their service. The store is very big and clean. Stuff always look busy but very friendly and knowledgeable

Great service and consultation from Henry. He sold me a Sony 16-55mm lens. I feel very confident that Vistek will always be there for my photographic needs. Location is convenient and has ample parking.

The friendly staff answered all my questions ans helped me find everything I needed

This place has everything for anyone for all audio, video, and picture needs. While the selection and diversity of products is great, service is always a challenge. It seems like there are either not enough staff to help all patrons or they are pre-occupied with other tasks.

Beyond horrible staff. No free shipping for a $4000 purchase!

This is a place to find exotic Ethiopian spices and well baked enjera bread.

In general I've had better success at Vistek finding rare or special items than at Henry's. And I prefer the no-nonsense service here and cool building as well!

Tried to buy an item online and have it shipped to Ottawa. Terrible experience overall, I wouldn't recommend buying online from them. Turns out they didn't have the Westcott Eyelighter as advertised, and it took them 3 days to let me know, even though I paid for overnight shipping, and left a message on day 2 when I didn't get any updates.

I can understand an item not being available, that happens but the way everything was handled was very slow and was done with poor customer service. When they eventually got back to me, they mentioned that they "might" have a floor model left. They neglected to give me the price or confirm they actually had one, so I needed to ask by email and wait another day for an answer.

Turns out they did, and they offered $10 off, which was rather a low amount given the reflector was selling for $330. I asked for a lower price, and after another day of waiting they offered $299. I agreed to purchase the floor model, which they had already charged on my credit card, to only get a message the next day saying that they didn't have the carry bag that should come with the product.

After 5 days, no calls by Vistek and communication only by email, I was frustrated as I had paid for overnight shipping and was hoping to test it before using it with customers. Needless to say, I'm not buying it from Vistek and will prefer going to Henry's and buying the new model even though it's more expensive.

Was in there last week, looking a cameras for my daughter and Brian could not be more helpful. I don't know much about cameras and he was patient and courteous with all my questions and helped steer me to the right camera at a great price.

Poor attitudes and bad customer service. Will save my time and money and order from Amazon next time. Thanks

I buy and rent gear here. Pro setup and informative employees. Today I was in the rental centre. They were very helpful and had just what I need and it s packed well. Looking forward to using the gear!

At Vistek, they made us feel like family. Thank you to Brian and his son Leo(1) for helping us pick out our blackmagic pocket 6k.

Nonetheless, very professional, knowledgeable and talented. I recommend this place.

#Vistek #Blackmagic

(1)Footnote. They are not related.
Photo credit: WeSweat Media

Good Location for Photo Gear.
Vistek tends to focus on the higher end photo gear so don't go here looking for deals.
The staff are always helpful and friendly and not sales oriented.
The facility is a bit awkwardly laid out, but it is in the core of Toronto and space is limited.

Very knowledgeable staff on every piece of equipment in the store.

Good show room with wide variety. You may find out at list one knowledgeable person in each department. Not always the best price. For sure, do window shopping.

I called the store to see if I could acquire a Wacom tablet. Over the phone, they told me the wrong pricing and specs of the device. That was the first warning. I asked if I could pick up the 16" model because it was on promotion with a free keyboard. They said they have quite a few in stock. Drove an hour to Toronto (and an hour back), they didn't even have it in stock, misidentifying it for something else. "When you get more in stock, can I still get the promotion since I came down all this way?" Nope.
Thank you for wasting my time.

I was searching for various products at Vistek's online e-commerce site and noticed a used battery grip in "excellent condition". I waited a few days before making a decision and when I went back to their website on December 29th I was happy to see the battery grip was still available. I placed my order, was immediately charged $225.99, and requested it for a store pick-up at the Ottawa location.
I received no confirmation email from Vistek, however, within 1 minute of my purchase, I received a text message from my financial institution stating that my credit card had been charged $225.99. After 2 days and no word from Vistek I followed up with an email inquiry and received an email response stating: "Unfortunately the item you ordered (429475) is no longer available and has been discontinued by the manufacturer".
"Your order has been cancelled and a full refund in the amount of $225.99 has been placed back onto your method of payment. "
Here, more than two days after receiving this message, my credit card charges have not been reversed. I inquired with Vistek regarding the delay and was told it takes 2 to 5 days to receive the refund.
To sum up: immediately charged on my credit card for a product they did not have, yet had advertised online for days. Now waiting several days for a refund. Poor e-commerce, poor service and I will not deal with Vistek again, either on-line or in-store.

I'm on the fence with Vistek. I have one guy there named Rob Cole who consistently goes through walls to take care of us and our business. We appreciate Rob very much.
Not sure if he's a diamond in the rough or not, but the other staff are less than desirable.

Their rental department is decent - but the shape of the gear isn't. You'll wait a decent amount of time before being helped, but don't dare be even a minute late returning the gear (which will take 30 minutes for them to check over to make sure you don't get dinged extra).

Their hours are also a little difficult for the modern day consumer. Nice parking lot for customers and good selection of gear. It is always a good thing to shop local - but it can be tough when their pricing is generally quite a bit higher than the competition. I'm on the fence.

Decent but can be very slow - make sure to book ahead. They also may require large holds on your credit card (depending on what you're renting), so make sure to have a few thousand free.

Knowledgeable staff and excellent customer service. I walked into Vistek this morning and was basically greeted by every emoloyee that I passed. I was looking to purchase a tripod and some camera filters. John was more than helpful. He knew about all the products, was very patient and made great suggestions. I am very happy with my experience today.

Great service, great people big thanks to Henry Z who helped us out recently...over and above service!

This was my first time renting a camera and I had a number of issues with this place. They didn't tell me over the phone that I had to pick up the camera at 3:30pm so I was waiting around for 3 hours to start the rental when I could have been doing other planning for my wedding that weekend.

Then during part of the ceremony the battery which was at 60% just went to 0% and stopped filming.

I was a few hours late to dropping it off and they charged me a late fee of $75 which was my fault because it was written on the contract. In short, just pay attention to the contract and ask for all of these details over the phone. My wedding was that day and I missed this, but having faulty equipment and charging me extra was not a good experience. I will just buy my own equipment from now on. Thanks Vistek.

One of my favourite and regular stops to keep the studio running.
3 floors of "stuff" you never knew you needed!

I'm only giving one star because I have to, otherwise I'd give none.

I ordered two items that were special order, I was advised on the website that it could be up to 2 weeks for them to come in - no problem. I called the next day to verify that payment had been received, and they said it was. They also informed me that one item was a couple days away from being in store, and the other would be up to 10 days. Again, no problem... It's all within the 14 day wait.

I called today (one day short of being two weeks) just to see where everything is at and if it has shipped yet and get the run-around. Apparently sales people at Vistek can't "share" a customer and that if "Joe" sold the order, it's Joe that has to do any following up, which I think is complete crap and bad customer service. After four phone calls and being told that it was in fact that the original item that was going to take 10 days was now in store, and the item that was 2 days away from the store was now nowhere to be seen. The sales rep said that he's been in contact with purchasing but nobody could tell him any details about how long it would be. Did I mention that this is garbage customer service?

An $1800 order and nobody seems to have any control or desire to resolve the issue.

I only had them ship the other item because I need it asap I cancelled the part of the order that wasn't in-store yet and ordered it from B&H. Even with the U.S. / Canadian exchange rate sucking right now I decided to bite it and order from a company that knows how to treat its customers.

Special thanks to the receptionists who were the only somewhat helpful ones throughout this whole ordeal. To the sales staff, get trained or re-trained in customer care.

I will never shop at Vistek ever again or refer them to any one.

Line up was a little long under covid. I went in recently to pick up a full size paper backdrop. I asked for bright white and the employee steered me to an Arctic white. The Arctic white was a better price and the best for my needs.
Employees here are very knowledgeable
Thanks Again

At work we urgently needed coloured paper backdrops shipped to our office in Winnipeg. We paid for express shipping and received our order on time, with a few days to spare before our photoshoot. One of the coloured rolls that arrived was wrong, however, I emailed Vistek about the error and they shipped the proper roll to us immediately and let us keep the extra wrong-coloured roll. Everything worked out in the end.

Well, I went in there prepared to buy a GoPro Hero Black 7. The store was quiet, all clerks were just on their computers, nobody came to help me. I had to walk up to a gentleman. I asked about if they had a demo unit or some footage I could look at and they had no unit, they provided no information at all about the camera, and the GoPro kiosk had a display but it was turned off, and they couldn't figure out how to turn it on. So unfortunately I left without the camera and I never got my answers. A very disappointing experience today at Viskek for me. You know what's interesting? I see that they have GoPro units for rent, I am surprised they didn't offer me to try and check with them. Maybe they don't rent the 7, I don't know. I will likely buy this camera, I was prepared to today, and I likely will, but not from Vistek.

Firstly: I have never been to this physical store, my gripe is with their online sales and terrible online service.
I want to order 2x of a product they are showing 'in-stock'. I do so, and await my shipping confirmation. A few days go by and nothing... I ordered well in advance of a shoot I knew I would need the products for. So I reach out to the online sales team. The young woman says they have not been shipped because they only have one in stock, not two. I said ok, well one will do for now can you ship them separately since I need them for Wednesday of the following week? No problem, you can have them by Tuesday, she replies.
Tuesday rolls around, no product. So I call again and get oh, sorry, we didn't get your confirmation until today. So I had to correct the young woman by saying no, you got my confirmation 7 minutes after our phone call, you just didn't read it until today, even though I made it explicitly clear I needed the product today.
Oh... Sorry... (silence).

So now I look like an idiot in front of the client for not being adequately prepared. Vistek in general (I have frequented the Edmonton location many times) from my experience does not value customer service at all, their employees generally do not care. Time and time again I get the attitude that screams I'm just here to work my 8 hour shift, collect my paycheque, and go home. For some reason other companies (read: London Drugs) are able to actually instill a level of motivation in their employees to be knowledgeable about products and to help the customer. Vistek is not one of those companies.

I bought a Wacom Cintiq there few years ago. As it's an expensive device I called them to ask few questions about the product before buying it. The costumer service is very good. Very quick and cheap delivery to Montreal.

The store Toronto photographers love to hate. Best selection of photographic equipment, media and peripherals in the city, with service that I would describe, considering my experiences over the past five years, as "inconsistent".

There are notable exceptions, of course, and I would call out Alison in the print media department as unfailingly friendly and helpful. But in terms of service/customer-oriented attitude, there is simply no comparison with, for example, B&H or 42nd St Camera in NYC. And in terms of pricing, I'm always amused when I see what Vistek considers a "sale price" (though of course this may not be entirely under their control).

It all smacks of "there's no point complaining about the air when there's nothing else to breathe", but this city is ready for a pro-level camera store that actually puts customers first, goes the extra mile - and looks happy about it.

Great service. As the owner of ProPics Canada Media I had an issue with inventory in Western Canada stores. I reached out to Vistek and they had a Sony PWX-Z280 in stock and provided faster delivery than I expected. Staff were great and I will be dealing with them more in the future. Highly recommend them. Staff were great, sale was easy and delivery fast. Important in our business.

Longer wait times when picking up rentals but generally knowledgeable and friendly staff.

Not price competitive, but it does have a great rentals dept. and has some pro accessories I cannot find at other brick and mortars in Toronto.

There is no larger store and selection in the province.

Huge thank you to Bec, Em and Rebecca for being very helpful in getting me everything I needed for a large project. Due to the volume of people coming in and out it s easy to overthink how stressful their jobs can be. Thanks again to the awesome team at vistek. B

They have 3 floors of retail and they also have a rentals dept in a separate building.

Floor 1 is for Digital Output equipment. Floor 2 is for Video. Floor 3 is for Stills.

You can rent equipment by the day, weekend or week.

Customer service is good most of the time.

I visited for the first time in Dec 2017. I spoke with a number of employees, everyone was friendly, professional and very welcoming. Vistek is now my go to camera store. The location and free parking is a plus.