raydm6
Yay! Cameras! 🙈🙉🙊┌( ಠ_ಠ)┘ [◉"]
The Boston area had many, many stores to visit. And, some department stores even sold Leica equipment. Miss those places.
If you are in the New England area, visit Hunt's Photo & Video:
https://www.huntsphotoandvideo.com/c...utus/index.cfm
Hunt's Photo & Video Flagship Store - 100 Main Street -- Melrose, Massachusetts
History
Three generations of Farber family ownership have established Hunt's as a trendsetter in the imaging equipment industry. Begun as a pharmacy in 1889 and acquired by pharmacist Solomon Farber in 1952, Hunt's began building its camera business during the 1950s under the visionary leadership of Solomon's son, Jack. As interest in photography grew, Hunt's began shifting its emphasis from the pharmacy business to the business of cameras and accessories. By 1993, imaging equipment became Hunt's primary focus.
Led today by Jack's sons, Scott and Gary, Hunt's proudly serves a diverse audience of individual, corporate, educational, law enforcement and government clients as one of the country's largest retailers of photo, video and digital imaging products. Visit Hunt's 30,000 square foot flagship store at 100 Main Street, Melrose, or one of its satellite locations in Boston, MA - Cambridge, MA - Hanover, MA - Holyoke, MA - Providence, RI - So. Portland, ME - or Manchester, NH to discover how Hunt's Photo and Video can help you create your own picture-perfect experience. Click here for directions, store locations and hours of operation.
Hunt & Co.,Boston, MA Circa 1904Hunt Drug Co., Malden, Mass, Circa 1970
If you are in the New England area, visit Hunt's Photo & Video:
https://www.huntsphotoandvideo.com/c...utus/index.cfm
Hunt's Photo & Video Flagship Store - 100 Main Street -- Melrose, Massachusetts
History
Three generations of Farber family ownership have established Hunt's as a trendsetter in the imaging equipment industry. Begun as a pharmacy in 1889 and acquired by pharmacist Solomon Farber in 1952, Hunt's began building its camera business during the 1950s under the visionary leadership of Solomon's son, Jack. As interest in photography grew, Hunt's began shifting its emphasis from the pharmacy business to the business of cameras and accessories. By 1993, imaging equipment became Hunt's primary focus.
Led today by Jack's sons, Scott and Gary, Hunt's proudly serves a diverse audience of individual, corporate, educational, law enforcement and government clients as one of the country's largest retailers of photo, video and digital imaging products. Visit Hunt's 30,000 square foot flagship store at 100 Main Street, Melrose, or one of its satellite locations in Boston, MA - Cambridge, MA - Hanover, MA - Holyoke, MA - Providence, RI - So. Portland, ME - or Manchester, NH to discover how Hunt's Photo and Video can help you create your own picture-perfect experience. Click here for directions, store locations and hours of operation.
Hunt & Co.,Boston, MA Circa 1904Hunt Drug Co., Malden, Mass, Circa 1970
DownUnder
Nikon Nomad
I miss the not-so-long-ago Good Old Days when film was affordable. Nowadays I'm lucky if I find any to buy, let alone in 100-foot/30.5 meter rolls to bulk load myself. In Australia film is now as rare as lost diamonds in the sand at Bondi Beach...
Other posters asked and wrote about Michael's camera. Apparently the collection will be passed on to an auction house to be flogged off. Sad that it may not be kept in Australia but will maybe go to overseas buyers who are cashed up and want old gear. Michael's still have an online presence and it seems the dross left over when the store closed is now being dumped on Bay (not at cheap prices). Most of it apparently is damaged or not functioning up to par. The good stuff may all go to the Big A. An era has passed.
Camera shops, yes. Mine date to the 1960s, Reid's Photo and the Wilcox Studio in Moncton, New Brunswick, Chase's in Saint John, the hole-in-the-wall photo shops in Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Adolf Gasser in San Francisco. One or two in Honolulu. Foto Riesel in Sydney (which may still be there). In Melbourne, Michael's, Camera Exchange (still around but now way out in the 'burbs), Camera Lane (formerly in the CBD, now in Yarraville, happily still thriving and I visit now and then). So many others have come and gone. A very few remain, who knows for how long.
Asian stores are also vanishing. The few good ones in Indonesia are no more, the charming small repair/secondhand camera shop in Denpasar, Bali, went the way of the others a few years ago, I picked up many small items there and for this reason alone (I never had any repairs done there, only in Singapore), I greatly miss it. Singapore has a handful of film-related shops left, ditto Kuala Lumpur and, I'm told, Bangkok, altho I've not been to the latter city for at least a decade (I lived there in the 1970s). Small shops in out-of-the-way places like Brunei, Sarawak, Sri Lanka, are also vanishing. I've not been to India for many years, in the '70s and '80s every city had one or even several camera stores, wonderful dusty old warehouse-type rooms full of the most amazing gear, most of it not functioning, relics of bygone eras, even colonial era folding cameras and boxes of long-outdated strange format B&W films probably ordered for English memsahibs to take family snaps with at Darjeeling in the '10s and '20s. I wonder if any are still open. Likely not, the digital madness has obliterated so many good things.
Too many memories, but at least I still have those memories. As many of us do. Those camera shops were different worlds, now like distant planets.
Other posters asked and wrote about Michael's camera. Apparently the collection will be passed on to an auction house to be flogged off. Sad that it may not be kept in Australia but will maybe go to overseas buyers who are cashed up and want old gear. Michael's still have an online presence and it seems the dross left over when the store closed is now being dumped on Bay (not at cheap prices). Most of it apparently is damaged or not functioning up to par. The good stuff may all go to the Big A. An era has passed.
Camera shops, yes. Mine date to the 1960s, Reid's Photo and the Wilcox Studio in Moncton, New Brunswick, Chase's in Saint John, the hole-in-the-wall photo shops in Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Adolf Gasser in San Francisco. One or two in Honolulu. Foto Riesel in Sydney (which may still be there). In Melbourne, Michael's, Camera Exchange (still around but now way out in the 'burbs), Camera Lane (formerly in the CBD, now in Yarraville, happily still thriving and I visit now and then). So many others have come and gone. A very few remain, who knows for how long.
Asian stores are also vanishing. The few good ones in Indonesia are no more, the charming small repair/secondhand camera shop in Denpasar, Bali, went the way of the others a few years ago, I picked up many small items there and for this reason alone (I never had any repairs done there, only in Singapore), I greatly miss it. Singapore has a handful of film-related shops left, ditto Kuala Lumpur and, I'm told, Bangkok, altho I've not been to the latter city for at least a decade (I lived there in the 1970s). Small shops in out-of-the-way places like Brunei, Sarawak, Sri Lanka, are also vanishing. I've not been to India for many years, in the '70s and '80s every city had one or even several camera stores, wonderful dusty old warehouse-type rooms full of the most amazing gear, most of it not functioning, relics of bygone eras, even colonial era folding cameras and boxes of long-outdated strange format B&W films probably ordered for English memsahibs to take family snaps with at Darjeeling in the '10s and '20s. I wonder if any are still open. Likely not, the digital madness has obliterated so many good things.
Too many memories, but at least I still have those memories. As many of us do. Those camera shops were different worlds, now like distant planets.
Archiver
Veteran
Foto Riesel went into receivership and was bought by Digital Camera Warehouse in 2015, then rebranded as 'Foto Riesel by DCW'. It appears to have closed since then. There are anecdotal reports of very poor customer service in their last days, so I am not sure whether to lament that store's passing.
I regularly scour the Camera Exchange website and have ducked over a few times in the past few years, mainly for vintage SLR lenses that I can use to shoot video. I also picked up my Distagon 35 from them, mint condition and an absolute bargain after I traded in a couple of unused lenses. Ross has left Camera Exchange recently, and Paul left a while ago, leaving the owner John, a young fellow who's name escapes me (if you're reading this, I'm sorry!) and a young woman came onboard after Ross left. It's always a thrill to see their mountains of gear, sorted and unsorted.
Camera Lane is still delightful. I went there a week or two ago for the first time since their move from the CBD, it was so good to see them again. Will be back!
gavinlg
Veteran
ikigaifilmlab.com.au - lab in Williamstown and have a great online shop for film with super fast shipping.
walkens.com.au - have store on Brunswick St, Fitzroy. They specialise in film
Hillvale - are a lab in Brunswick and also sell film. They just opened up a new premises in Brunswick with gallery space.
Melbourne is really lucky with its film availability and sheer amount of good labs it has. There's also WIP lab in Collingwood if I remember.
DownUnder
Nikon Nomad
Archiver and gavinlg...
I wasn't aware of the 'situation' with FotoRiesel, as I've not been to Sydney since 2010 or 2011. I do have a visit planned for May, to rendezvous (a purely social event) with an old partner/fellow photographer now living overseas who is visiting. We've not met for a long time, and to put it diplomatically my current partner is less than positive about all this and I may not live long enough to get there - all not photographic, so I'll say no more, other than May I Rest In Peace, if...
Camera Exchange and I go back a long, long way - I recall Roger, there from Day 1, Derek who was a master at diplomacy, Carl who was always a gentleman, Dave Shaw, the best camera seller I've ever had the pleasure of buying from. The owner did distance himself from the business and we seldom saw him. Ross wasn't to everyone's taste (a purely personal dislike on my part) but he was part of the furniture in the place. I wish him well and the shop endures, which is the important thing.
CE has an impressive stock of 'antiquated' gear and it seems these days the owner is more into stereo equipment. I may be wrong in this, of course - certainly from their web site, they have a lot of very nice photo equipment on sale.
I'm pleased to say Alan and Venus from Camera Lane are still around, theirs is by far the best analog gear shop in Melbourne - the way things seem to be going in the industry they may well be the last left standing as film increasingly vanishes from the scene.
I've heard good things about Ikigai and I plan to visit soon, when I can get out of the Goldfields and back to the Big Smoke.
I agree that we in Melbourne are blessed with an amazing number of film-related secondhand camera and gear shops. Long may they last, for however long the 'analog' market goes on, which I hope will be forever and a day. But in this odd almost-post-Covid era, who knows about just about anything...
Many thanks for your posts and comments. It's good to read so much these days about the Australian photo scene on this site.
I wasn't aware of the 'situation' with FotoRiesel, as I've not been to Sydney since 2010 or 2011. I do have a visit planned for May, to rendezvous (a purely social event) with an old partner/fellow photographer now living overseas who is visiting. We've not met for a long time, and to put it diplomatically my current partner is less than positive about all this and I may not live long enough to get there - all not photographic, so I'll say no more, other than May I Rest In Peace, if...
Camera Exchange and I go back a long, long way - I recall Roger, there from Day 1, Derek who was a master at diplomacy, Carl who was always a gentleman, Dave Shaw, the best camera seller I've ever had the pleasure of buying from. The owner did distance himself from the business and we seldom saw him. Ross wasn't to everyone's taste (a purely personal dislike on my part) but he was part of the furniture in the place. I wish him well and the shop endures, which is the important thing.
CE has an impressive stock of 'antiquated' gear and it seems these days the owner is more into stereo equipment. I may be wrong in this, of course - certainly from their web site, they have a lot of very nice photo equipment on sale.
I'm pleased to say Alan and Venus from Camera Lane are still around, theirs is by far the best analog gear shop in Melbourne - the way things seem to be going in the industry they may well be the last left standing as film increasingly vanishes from the scene.
I've heard good things about Ikigai and I plan to visit soon, when I can get out of the Goldfields and back to the Big Smoke.
I agree that we in Melbourne are blessed with an amazing number of film-related secondhand camera and gear shops. Long may they last, for however long the 'analog' market goes on, which I hope will be forever and a day. But in this odd almost-post-Covid era, who knows about just about anything...
Many thanks for your posts and comments. It's good to read so much these days about the Australian photo scene on this site.
pyeh
Member of good standing
Well, Ozmoose, if you do make it up to Sydney in May, be sure to look us Sydney RFFers up. We'll hold a gathering in your honour. Wives and other significant others welcome too.
Pál_K
Cameras. I has it.
Maybe I’m getting sentimental in my old age, but those photos you made really hit me. That is just so sad.
… Fort Wayne's last camera store, Sunny Schick Camera Shop, closed in 2017 after 90 years in business. These photos were made on the store's last day.
…
Bill Clark
Veteran
I don’t yearn for the days gone, gone, bye, bye.
I was very happy when I changed to 100% digital with my business. It dramatically helped my clients for many reasons. It increased my productivity and decreased my expenses. Photoshop is wonderful. RAW capture was best for me. I could provide better service with my clients. WHCC is great. Pictobooks great, B&H great.
I wish I was young, just starting out as it would be great to be in the saddle again. I really enjoyed the business and my clients could tell it and responded in a way that got them beautiful photographs.
I was very happy when I changed to 100% digital with my business. It dramatically helped my clients for many reasons. It increased my productivity and decreased my expenses. Photoshop is wonderful. RAW capture was best for me. I could provide better service with my clients. WHCC is great. Pictobooks great, B&H great.
I wish I was young, just starting out as it would be great to be in the saddle again. I really enjoyed the business and my clients could tell it and responded in a way that got them beautiful photographs.
BillBingham2
Registered User
Some aspects, yes (e.g. Stuff would last longer). In other aspects, nah (e.g. 3D printers, iPhones).
The things I don't like we have mostly done to ourselves. Being just once voice, now in the south eastern armpit of Iowa, not a lot I can do.
On the positive side the younger folks are seeing what we did and trying as hard as they can to make it better. Gee, I hope they do better than the kids in the '60's did.......
B2 (;->
The things I don't like we have mostly done to ourselves. Being just once voice, now in the south eastern armpit of Iowa, not a lot I can do.
On the positive side the younger folks are seeing what we did and trying as hard as they can to make it better. Gee, I hope they do better than the kids in the '60's did.......
B2 (;->
Pál_K
Cameras. I has it.
What I miss are the things I didn’t try, although I barely could afford to feed my one camera with 35mm film (I did my own developing and printing, B&W, but could do only a few prints a month - that actually taught me to be a better photographer).
Once I had a career and was making money, I regret that I didn’t discover just how good Polaroid film and pack film could be until the very end.
I do miss the camera stores and big swap meets. I look at the back pages of old photo magazines and the advertisements are a treat.
Once I had a career and was making money, I regret that I didn’t discover just how good Polaroid film and pack film could be until the very end.
I do miss the camera stores and big swap meets. I look at the back pages of old photo magazines and the advertisements are a treat.
DavidC
Established
Have to agree with most postings here. The lack of a camera store prevents us photo enthusiasts from getting the feel of new cameras relying solely on youtube and reviews. Much of my daily use cameras are those whose "hand feel" are most compatible with me. Some camera stores in the Far East won't even allow you to touch the cameras that are wrapped in plastic if you don't commit to buying?? We live in a strange world.
lxmike
M2 fan.
a strange world indeed
DownUnder
Nikon Nomad
Many thanks. I now have to delay as I've been advised this week that my eye cataract op will be at the end of May. A lot of preparation (like losing another five kilos so I can fit comfortably on the op table, ha!) and a few weeks' recovery, so it means I will delay til July.
By which time it will be bl**dy freezing cold up here in the Goldfields in Victoria, so I will be itching to get into your warmer Sydney winter weather.
And bring some of my Nikon digital and film gear with me. As much as I can carry.
pyeh
Member of good standing
Ozmoose, July it is then! All the best for the cataract op.
PS if your flying Jetstar, they use the new CT scanners in Terminal 4, which are reputed to fry film, particularly colour film. I don't know about the other Melbourne domestic terminal.
PS if your flying Jetstar, they use the new CT scanners in Terminal 4, which are reputed to fry film, particularly colour film. I don't know about the other Melbourne domestic terminal.
Yokosuka Mike
Abstract Clarity
Do you yearn for days gone by?
I replaced the period with a question mark. Maybe I yearn for days when things were grammatically correct. Most people today would probably call that some kind of name that I’m not familiar with.
What do I really yearn for? Photographically speaking… I yearn for the good old days, when we had people in our lives that could tell us that our photos sucked and we would appreciate it! I yearn for the days when we eagerly awaited the newest addition of Popular Photography, ShutterBug Magazine, hell I yearn for the B&H catalog!
I really yearn for the days when I had photography buddies. We used to go on weekend retreats out in the Japan countryside, Southern Alps, take pictures all day, check into the mountain lodge, hot spring bath before dinner, and a lecture from a professional photographer who would evaluate our photographs (previously submitted - everything was film then) on a slide projector of course. After all the formalities we’d get drunk! Yep, a bunch of strangers who got together out of a love of photography would sit around and drink, and talk, and make friends.
Well, I don’t have any photo buddies anymore. Some got married and split the scene, some moved on to make more money, some died. Some joined online forums.
Yeah, I yearn for stuff.
All the best,
Mike
I replaced the period with a question mark. Maybe I yearn for days when things were grammatically correct. Most people today would probably call that some kind of name that I’m not familiar with.
What do I really yearn for? Photographically speaking… I yearn for the good old days, when we had people in our lives that could tell us that our photos sucked and we would appreciate it! I yearn for the days when we eagerly awaited the newest addition of Popular Photography, ShutterBug Magazine, hell I yearn for the B&H catalog!
I really yearn for the days when I had photography buddies. We used to go on weekend retreats out in the Japan countryside, Southern Alps, take pictures all day, check into the mountain lodge, hot spring bath before dinner, and a lecture from a professional photographer who would evaluate our photographs (previously submitted - everything was film then) on a slide projector of course. After all the formalities we’d get drunk! Yep, a bunch of strangers who got together out of a love of photography would sit around and drink, and talk, and make friends.
Well, I don’t have any photo buddies anymore. Some got married and split the scene, some moved on to make more money, some died. Some joined online forums.
Yeah, I yearn for stuff.
All the best,
Mike
steveyork
Well-known
When I purchased my first Leica M back in '97, a local mom and pop photo store was hosting a "Leica Day." They were the only or one of the few Leica dealers in South Florida at the time. In preparation, they acquired a dozen or so M3's and maybe a few M4's, M2's to sell to prospective customers at that event. A sales rep tried to convince me these old cameras, esp. the M3, were the best, but I wanted an M6. Thought I needed a meter, but now --ha, ha -- I shoot only M2's. Never before or after have seen so many old M's in a retail store. Must of predated Ebay. Those were the days.
DownUnder
Nikon Nomad
No Jetstar for me, I gave them up long ago as bad, bad news. Slow travel is the way - by XPT. Daytime, 8.30 am departure, a civilised time to leave for anywhere. I treat myself to the luxury of first class, get a window seat, look out the window and take photos all day. Arrive in Sydney in time for a good dinner and a restful evening. The way to go.
On the topic of Sydney - does anyone remember the small camera shop that once operated (and did for many years) on Elizabeth Street facing Hyde Park?? The gentleman who ran this wonderful place sold me my first Nikkormats, two 'demo' Els he had acquired from some closed shop. I kept them for many years and used them well, eventually moved to digital (but kept to 'mat FT2s) and in 2020 I sold them to a young photographer in Melbourne who tells me he uses them often and loves them - as I did.
It's good to know when one's cameras used for such a long time, go on being used to make good images. That somehow lessens the sadness I feel at having seen the closing of so many good photo shops in recent years.
As I'm fond of saying, time passes, everything changes. It's now up to us to make the best use of what time remains for film as a viable option in photography, while film prices hold (fairly) steady, processing is available or ideally can be done at home, and supplies go on being made and sold. Long may it last!1
DownUnder
Nikon Nomad
Me too. You say "grammar" - that's what my step-grandkids (apology if I've just created a new word, ha!!) !in Malaysia think is their grandmother...
I think 'group' photography is mostly something we all did when we were younger, maybe even a generational pastime now. I did much the same in the '70s when I lived in Vancouver and Santa Fe, not so much when I came to Australia . Here, then and now most Aussies tend to be individualists or family-oriented, so they don't do things in large groups as we did in other countries.
Today's young photographers are largely what is known as 'derivative' in the art world - they see something online and they then try to copy it, as they did in the so-called GOD (good old days, no religious input here) when photo magazines and books were the way to learn. Think Flickr, Facebook, Instagram, online magazines, and of course the zillions of photo web sites, a few of them quite good, some excellent, one or two exceptional, and the rest.
I still occasionally delve into their world, mostly to attend (by invitation) small camera clubs which still exist in country towns in Australia. Now and then I'm asked to "say a few words" to a group about things photographic, but inevitably I think, what for, why, and what on earth will I tell them that they haven't read before on some web site where a would-be celebrity photogra[her woofs on about anything and everything. One fellow old duffer I know in Melbourne has his own photo web site but yap-yaps on endlessly about current events and politics. Who cares about his opinions on anything? We've tried to tell him politely that a photo site should be about photography, but he tends to get easily offended and doesn't deal at all well with any sort of disagreement. So we desist - and largely avoid his company anyway. Sadly there are far too many of those around. In fact, sometimes I think I tend to be one of them, tho' in my 70s I've learned (I think so, anyway) to bite my own tongue and keep my dinosaur thoughts mostly to myself. The cats seem to listen, but they don't care much, unless I bribe them with feline goodies, and even then... well, you get the picture, I'm sure.
So I tend to do my photography, and of course my now and then darkroom work, entirely on my own. My partner has a Nikon D90 and uses it well, at times better than I do with my arsenal of expensive gear. I'm still shooting film, on occasion when I feel the call of the wild and miss the old days, but it's now becoming less frequent, as my film stocks diminish and I run out of good FB paper. The Ilford Galerie 11x14 and 16x20 sheets I bought in 2001 still await (safely refrigerated of course) my last few printing sessions, but understandably, I'm delaying this until I've done a better cull of my negative archives.
Yes, as you say, photography can bring us together and lets us share many things, but in the absence of 'fellow conspirators' one can do as well on one's own. I make my best images when I'm out and about on my own, without companions (even family) to intrude in my thoughts or cross my plans. As for drinking with the boys, I gave that up many decades ago, having discovered after a bout of illness that laid me low and took me off alcohol for half a year, that I can have as good a 'piss up' on my own at home, and much more cheaply.
A glass or two of red wine in the darkroom is the way to go, as a reward for making a super good print. But it doesn't do much for my photography, altho' after a few skinfuls I always tend to think I've suddenly become the new Cartier-Bresson. In my dreams...
This thread has certainly evoked many thoughts of time past. Some good, others, well, we all have them, don't we? Regret is a facet of ageing.
Archiver
Veteran
PhotoQ processes film, and they left their long time place in Kew Junction a few years ago to move to Harp Junction, opposite the Harp Hotel. I have taken many rolls of film to PhotoQ, although that was in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Back in the late 2000s, I could go to PhotoQ and drop off some rolls for processing and buy a box of eight rolls of Fuji XTRA400 with 36 exposures. Or score some film close to expiry, some of which I still have in the freezer. You can't buy boxes of eight rolls anywhere now, but then, it was a regular product from Fuji.
There's a new photo lab in Peel Street in Collingwood called Halide Supply. Haven't tried them yet, but they boast of high res scans as a default with 24 hour turnaround.
Vanbar still does film processing, including slide film.
