Go buy some stuff from your local shop now !

Davesw · Oct 23, 2007

This weekend I went to my local camera store for darkroom supplies. ( I had not been in for a long time ) The owner told me he was closing next week.
He no longer had enough customers to stay open and pay the rent. He was not bitter,he is a great guy,and he realised it just no longer made financial sense for him.
My point is this: we should not only support the online sellers that support APUG, but the local shops that have been there for us in the past. With out our bussniss they will not survive.

Ray Heath · Oct 23, 2007

your quite right Dave, though i suspect support of online sellers have lead to the demise of local shops

Ray

juan · Oct 23, 2007

My local camera shop no longer carries anything that I use except for a few rolls of 35mm film. The store looks more like a Best Buy than a camera shop.
juan

IloveTLRs · Oct 23, 2007

I just spent $100 on photo junk sunday night. The place I go to is a big chain but they still appreciate the business. I've always got the film & chem section to myself.

Just today one of the teachers at school gave me 12 packs of ID-44 for free. Apparently the photo club used to do dev & printing but they've all gone digital now. Ah well, their loss is my gain

Uncle Bill · Oct 23, 2007

A decent local shop is a relative term. I picked up a 25 sheet pack of Kentmere fibre paper at Downtown Camera in Toronto before my night class at Ryerson.

removed account4 · Oct 23, 2007

i do once in a while.
but if there is nothing for
me to buy, there is nothing for
me to support.

i kind of wish i lived in boston still,
ep levines was/is the best camera store ...

Akki14 · Oct 23, 2007

I don't have a local shop. The closest ones that are vaguely useful, in having what I need as far as chemicals etc, are online businesses anyway (RK Photographic and Silverprint).

doughowk · Oct 23, 2007

I'm "vacationing" in Kalamazoo next week, and plan to stop by Norman Camera store. By their website, it appears they still have some traditional stuff available. As Juan said above, our local store here in Jacksonville has gone digital, which is really a response to our local Pro's.

SuzanneR · Oct 23, 2007

Wish I could, but they closed awhile ago, now.

And they were hard to support, because they did not carry a lot of the materials I needed, and if they did it was often out of date. I bought some nicely fogged paper... lord only knows how long it sat of the shelf. And the prices!! Oy!

There are some good local retailers in Boston, but it takes me an hour to get there, and an hour back... and don't even talk to me about parking!! If I'm down that way, I will buy from them, but the online thing seems the most economical way for me at the moment. Both in terms of price, and time.

Jack Lusted · Oct 23, 2007

I mostly buy online, but tomorrow I'm off 'up North' for a few days. I usually take 120 but I thought I'd get some 35mm HP5. As my family were going into Tunbridge Wells this morning I thought I'd tag along too and get some HP5 from the photographic shop there.

No HP5 in 35 mm. No TriX either no Delta 400. Finally got some Neopan400 at the princly sum of £4.99 - ouch!

To be fair they did have plenty in 120 so I may have been unlucky.

As it takes at least 30mins to drive into Tunbridge Wells from my village, and with all the best will in the world it is just too expensive and too time consuming.

Sorry, but the 'local' shop simply is not worth the time and expense - so I'll carry on with mssrs Silverprint, Morco and Retro.

Jack

dmr · Oct 23, 2007

Not to come off as a total b*tch here, but this is a two-way street. I would give far more business to the indie shops if they would be just a wee bit competitive with film prices. Even if they were CLOSE to the prices charged by Target' and the other department and discount stores, but they are typically much higher for the most common film you can get anywhere, and I daresay that most of my photo purchases are film. If they were in the same ballpark, yes, I would take my business there to support them, but they tend to be steep. The one local indie shop (Rockbrook) just opened up a third location a while back, so they must be at least holding their own.

Same way with Central Camera in Chicago. I finally got there a few weeks ago after passing the place for years. Their over-the-counter film prices are somewhere between sky-high and obscene! They did seem to be doing a good business, so I guess they are holding their own too. I would surely give these places more of my business if they would be just a bit competitive.

Sorry for breaking up the party with the rant!

thebanana · Oct 23, 2007

It's all about volume buying. Target and Wal-Crap get a better wholesale deal from suppliers than the independents do. In the great scheme of things, the cost of film is just about the cheapest component of the hobby, and hardly worth losing sleep over.

dmr · Oct 23, 2007

thebanana said:
It's all about volume buying. Target and Wal-Crap get a better wholesale deal from suppliers than the independents do.

Actually, my take on the "why" side of this is that the indie shops just don't care very much for the high-volume film market and prefer to devote their resources to higher-margin items.

Target' probably makes several cents per roll, and the cost of selling it is very low. I serve myself, take it to the check-out with shampoo and whatever, and they scan it and take my $$$. At the indie shop, they need a live clerk to dispense it, write it up, etc., not really worth it for the same margin.

Now when they can make a couple dollars per roll, it gets to be worth it.

I would think they should carry the common film as a means to generate more traffic, but I'm not the one making those decisions.

In the great scheme of things, the cost of film is just about the cheapest component of the hobby, and hardly worth losing sleep over.

Well, when the cost of a roll of film exceeds the cost to process it, that's when I think the film is too expensive. I guess I'm spoiled by the great 21st. century film at only a couple $$$ per roll, huh?

MurrayMinchin · Oct 23, 2007

The closest shops that sell 4x5 film are in Calgary and Vancouver, both 1,000 miles away by road. The Internet has been great for me

Murray

jgcull · Oct 23, 2007

Doug, going "home" for me means going to Jacksonville. I used to look forward to visiting Orben's because they had a decent darkroom depart. Last time I went I was very disappointed. The store looked so bare because all the "stuff" of photography was gone.

Unfortunately, online is the only thing that works for me now. I'd love to be able to run to a camera store and pick up what I need *right now* rather than wait on shipment, but there is none-such where I live.

removed account4 · Oct 23, 2007

SNIP

thebanana said:
n the great scheme of things, the cost of film is just about the cheapest component of the hobby, and hardly worth losing sleep over.

actually, my cameras are paid for ...
and i have paid more $$ on film, and paper
than i paid for all my cameras and lenses combined .....
while it is the cheapest component of photography
if i pay 40¢ more for each piece of film, or 4$ more for each roll of
film, when you buy 500 sheets, or 150 rolls, it adds up ...

it is unfortunate ... but i guess that is just the way things are ...

Thomas Bertilsson · Oct 23, 2007

I guess I'm lucky. My local chain of stores, National Camera, still has a very decent darkroom section. They carry all of the big name films, Ilford papers, bar Galerie, most of their chemistry, some of Kodak's chemistry, Sprint and a few odds and ends like Diafine film developer. Edwal too. They also have darkroom supplies, and a 'used' section. There are quite a few stores in the area, and I'm very grateful for it. While it's great to have all of this down the road, their prices are sky high compared to the internet. And the staff is usually less than helpful.
I once went in there with the intent of purchasing a ball head. I wanted a 'one size fits all' tripod head until I could afford a geared head for my view camera. The guy helping me out was helpful and started looking in catalogs, while somebody else overlooking it exlaimed 'Why the hell would you want to put a view camera on a ball head?'. I walked up to him and said 'Because it's the only way I can afford it' and left.
That guy was fired eventually and I've since returned to purchase film, paper, Hypam, and Xtol.
- Thomas

jovo · Oct 23, 2007

jgcull said:
Doug, going "home" for me means going to Jacksonville. I used to look forward to visiting Orben's because they had a decent darkroom depart. Last time I went I was very disappointed. The store looked so bare because all the "stuff" of photography was gone.

Every time I'm in Jacksonville I drive over to Orben's expecting to see the store closed completely. I'm actually surprised they're still around since a lot of what they sell is also being sold in big box stores like Best Buy, Circuit City and such. I can't imagine how they pay the rent selling camera bags now and then, and the odd roll of film, but I'm glad they've survived nonetheless. Of course they do some rather sophisticated PS work on custom digiprints.....maybe that's what's keeping them afloat.

winger · Oct 23, 2007

Anyone in Mass, Newtonville Camera still has a decent darkroom section. They have parking, too. I try to support them when I get up there because they're family owned. They're on Walnut St.

Shawn Dougherty · Oct 23, 2007

I'm lucky to live near the coolest camera shop in the world, Pat's Camera Cottage. It's just down the river from the quaint little town of Volant, PA. It really is a cottage and it sits right on, though about 15 feet above, the Neshannock Creek. You enter through a nice screened in porch that serves as the Free Leave an Item Take and Item used department and is the sleeping grounds of a lovely dog and kitty.

Inside you'll find old Pat selling digital and analog products and he passes nothing up... 8x10, 4x5, MF, 35SLR and RF. I bought a light table that holds 10 8x10 negs for $75 bucks last year and it was like new! Enlargers, Ilford MGIV, Sprint chems, Kodak chems and Kodak BW films. He's going to start ordering in my Kentmere papers now that Ilford bought them.

He even had a 40.5mm lens cap for my light meter in stock last week!? Long live the local guys!!!

JBrunner · Oct 23, 2007

I always buy local if I can. The trouble is I can't get allot of what I want locally. Thank God for the internet, as it keeps options available. If I wanted to shoot Tmax and develop in D76 and print on Ilford all the time, I would have no problem, but my process is a little more eclectic than that. If it weren't for the internet, I would be stuck with whatever the market said works at the local retail level. That said, I'll say again, if I can get it local, I do.

Black Dog · Oct 23, 2007

The nearest place where I can buy sheet/120 film is in Edinburgh, a 2 hr bus ride away (and even if I drove, parking would be a nightmare). When I'm in Normandy, Robert White in Poole is the nearest, so I pretty much have to use online/mailorder (I did buy lots of stuff from my local jessops when I lived in the Salisbury area)-it's a godsend out in the sticks!

david b · Oct 23, 2007

I have tried to buy local but their prices are beyond ridiculous and the attitudes are pathetic.

I go to a shop about an hour away to buy my chemistry. They are keeping their prices inline with Freestyle and B&H.

Silverhead · Oct 23, 2007

winger said:
Anyone in Mass, Newtonville Camera still has a decent darkroom section. They have parking, too. I try to support them when I get up there because they're family owned. They're on Walnut St.

I grew up in Newton and paid many visits to Newtonville Camera during my high school years. They always had the best selection of gear and supplies for both photo and video in the Boston area...believe me, I checked! The fact that they've been able to keep providing basically the same great service and expertise through all of the turbulence in the photography industry over the years is something to be admired.

copake_ham · Oct 23, 2007

I just stopped in my local (to the office) shop today at lunchtime. They are printing up a few sample "holiday cards" so my better half can decide which ones she likes! So I do my best to patronize them for some things.

But, BTW, while there, I was looking at the display of UV lens filters. They were labeled as "digitial". What is digital about a UV lens filter? Is light "digital"? It's like the other display with the "digital" camera bags. If I put a film camera in a digital camera bag - does the bottom drop out? :rolleyes:

Go buy some stuff from your local shop now !

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