About Durham Camera Co.
Durham Camera Co. is the camera-install side of Phone Studio — a Courtice-based device repair shop fixing phones, tablets, and laptops. We're locally owned, family-run, and we live in the same neighbourhoods we work in.
How Durham Camera Co. started
Camera installs started through word of mouth. A customer needed a few cameras. Then a neighbour asked. Then another referral came in. Over time, it became clear the install side deserved its own brand, its own website, and its own quote process.
That's why Durham Camera Co. exists: to give the camera-install side of the business a proper home, while keeping all the things that worked about the word-of-mouth version — local, fair-priced, no monthly-fee gimmicks, and an installer you can actually call.
Where we come from
Running a repair shop teaches you a few things you'd never learn in the alarm industry:
Customers want straight answers. Phones break in predictable ways. Cameras fail in predictable ways. We tell you what's likely going to happen, what the warranty covers, and what your options are — instead of pitching you a contract.
Quality parts matter. A phone repair done with a knock-off screen looks fine for a month and then ghosts. A camera install done with no-name gear looks fine for a year and then drops out at 2 a.m. We choose equipment carefully for the same reason.
People remember the install, not the marketing. Good local work travels. Durham Camera Co. is going to grow the same way.
Why we expanded to cameras
A few reasons:
- We were already doing camera installs through referrals. Demand was clearly there.
- Most camera installers in Durham are either Toronto-based companies that drive an hour each way, or alarm companies trying to lock customers into monitoring contracts. There was room for a Durham-local installer who just installs cameras and stops.
- The gear has gotten genuinely good. Modern 4K camera systems are sharper and more reliable than the high-end commercial systems from years ago. It's a better moment than ever to install cameras at residential prices.
What we believe
You should own your equipment.
Not lease it, not rent it, not pay forever. When we leave, the cameras and the recorder are yours.
No required monthly fees.
We don't sell monitoring contracts. The system records locally to your NVR, and the mobile app is included. There's nothing you have to subscribe to in order to use the cameras.
Pricing belongs on the page.
You should know what an install costs before you call. That's why we publish package prices instead of forcing you into a sales call to find out.
Clean cable paths matter.
Plastic conduit running down the side of a brick house looks bad, dates the install, and signals a rushed job. We look for clean cable paths first — soffits, attics, basements, crawlspaces, and wall cavities. If a visible run is the only realistic option, we explain it before work starts.
Local means we show up.
If something goes wrong inside the warranty period, we're close enough to come look at it. That's not a slogan. It's just what happens when you stay small and stay close to home.
Who you'll deal with
Hey, I'm Matt — owner of Durham Camera Co. After 9+ years running device repair and security work in Durham, the camera-install side of the business grew enough to deserve its own brand. That's where Durham Camera Co. came from.
I don't try to be on every install personally — the work is too physical and too detail-heavy to spread one person across every job. I run the business and stand behind our install team. I vet them, train them on our standards (clean cable runs, no shortcuts, full walkthrough before we leave), and I'm the person you call if anything ever needs to be made right.
If you book an in-home assessment, you'll meet someone from our team who knows the gear, knows the area, and isn't going to pitch you a contract. Straight quote, fair price, clean install. That's how we work.
— Matt