Kurt's Camera History

Established Legacy in Camera Repair

Kurt's Camera Repair, a cornerstone in San Diego since 1975, has carved a niche as a highly reliable camera repair shop, known for its unquestionable quality and exceptional customer service within the photographic community. Our journey began with a commitment to excellence, rapidly earning the trust of leading manufacturers like Nikon, Canon, Kandao, and Sony. This recognition propelled us to become the authorized service center for these industry giants in Southern California.

Expansion and Expertise

Our expertise and reputation for quality service didn't go unnoticed, leading to a significant partnership with Kodak to become their authorized service center for audiovisual products. This expansion was followed by similar agreements with Olympus and 3M, reinforcing our position as a top-tier service provider. At Kurt's, our technicians are meticulously trained at these and several other factories, ensuring every repair meets the highest standards of quality and craftsmanship.

Community Engagement and Trust

Beyond our technical expertise, we pride ourselves on our active role in the local community. As Gold level sponsors of the North County Photographic Society, the Sierra Photo Club, and the Fallbrook Photo Club, and as Neighborhood Sponsors for the Mission Trails Regional Park, we are deeply invested in nurturing and supporting the local photography scene. Our community engagement extends to supporting various schools and colleges, signifying our commitment to fostering the growth of photographic art and education.

Professional Recognition and Reliability

Kurt's Camera Repair is more than just a repair shop; it's a beacon of reliability and excellence. As a sustaining member of the Society of Photo Technologists (SPT), the Photo Marketing Association (PMA), and the National Association of Photo Equipment Technologists (NAPET), and with a standing membership in the San Diego Better Business Bureau, we have cemented our place as a trusted name in camera repair. Our established accounts with numerous organizations, including city and county departments and military branches, speak to our unwavering dedication to quality service.

MEET OUR TEAM

Mike

Mike is a retired Navy photographer, with more than 40 years of training and experience working with both still and motion picture photography. Mike's career in camera repair began at the Navy school of camera repair, and continued into civilian life. Working at Kurt's, Mike acquired extensive factory repair training on various cameras and lenses from industry leaders such as Nikon, Olympus, Minolta, Pentax, and Bronica. He purchased the shop in 1999 from Kurt himself. Mike sold Kurt's Camera to the new owners in 2023. You can read more about Mike here.

Bill

Bill is a highly experienced repair technician who also started learning repair at the age of 13 while working at his families' camera repair shop. With 45 years in the business, Bill can fix just about anything we ask him to. DSLRs, lenses, flashes, film cameras and even the occasional slide projector.

Kim

Kim has been at Kurt's since 2004. He is our factory trained Sigma lens technician, repairs all the latest Sony models, services many film cameras as well as compact digital cameras. 

Brennan

I am a San Diego born native who grew up primarily in East County.

My roots are in fine arts, but I first got into photography as a 16 year old when
I rented a Nikon D5600. I was taking reference photos I was taking at the time. It was this moment where I learned the preference for photography as a medium.

I have owned 14 different cameras and 17 lenses (non concurrently) which makes it difficult to settle on my favorite. If I had to choose, it would likely be the Nikon F3. I love the wide assortment of usable F-mount lenses, plus its metering is reliable.

Madison

Coming soon

Sisi

I was born and raised in San Diego, but I spent a lot of my childhood going between the U.S. and Mexico to see my family. 

I got into photography because of my disappointment at the lackluster qualities of the digital cameras that were accessible to me throughout my life. It never felt like I could capture the emotion or weight of a moment until I was made aware of the vast amount of variables I could tune to fit how I wanted to record blips of my life and others that felt important.

Picking a favorite camera is quite honestly the most difficult question to answer.. if it’s based off what I own then it’d have to be the Mamiya RB67. However I’ve been eyeing Hassies for years and I think just by the amount of times I’ve brought up potentially buying one and how much I like them that most might think that’s my favorite haha. Too hard to choose, can’t say. Don’t make me!

Brian

Owner