lxmike
M2 fan.
Feeling a bit nostalgic at the moment, (my first grandchild is due this week), anyway, scrolling through one of the fine forum threads I came across an image of a camera shop in Tokyo , behind the counter was a wall of 35mm film, the memories of camera shops long gone came flooding back. Two of my favourite shops in Newcastle upon Tyne, were Turners, (near the monument) and Bonsers in the Big Market, (I bought my first Billingham bag in 1981 Bonsers and my first Pentax MX too. Turners was great for film developing. Both shops had walls of film, (behind the counter) and Bonsers had a great second hand cabinet, (one of the only ways to buy second hand cameras prior to the internet). Across the Tyne in Gateshead my go to shop was Head Photo, another great shop for camera gear. I miss those days and yet back then I would have been amazed at the capabilities of todays digital camera. I wonder what other members memories of camera shops from their youth is like.
p.giannakis
Pan Giannakis
I had a similar discussion with one of my friends a year ago - i thought it will be a nice project to go online and try to find on google street the photography shops i used to visit in the early 90's. Most of them are now long gone of course and some of them i couldn't find them online anymore - after all those years i forgot where they were. I wrote a post on my blog for my friends - just to jog their memory 
JeffS7444
Well-known
These places weren't hangouts from my youth, but I feel fortunate to have captured these bits of the past.
Top: Sapporo Yodobashi Camera, 2005. It seems that Sapporo Yodobashi Camera still looks much the same today,
Bottom: Francisco Camera (I think), Hong Kong, 1998. I recall Francisco and Cameron Photo being next to each other.
Francis Camera in Honolulu had a nice glass-fronted shop, but IIRC, no cameras were actually displayed there, The one major purchase I made before they closed the location was a green Gitzo "safari" tripod, and really liked that thing until carbon fiber became the new hotness. USA Gitzo agent Karl Heitz promised a "lifetime plus reincarnations" warranty, but apparently that lifetime + reincarnations was KH's, not mine.
My nostalgia is tempered by memories of pretty much everything being far beyond my reach, at least until sometime in the 1980s. Beats me where a person would have gotten the likes of a Zenit-E circa late 1970s western USA. But I wonder how I might have liked having such a semi-affordable option.
Top: Sapporo Yodobashi Camera, 2005. It seems that Sapporo Yodobashi Camera still looks much the same today,
Bottom: Francisco Camera (I think), Hong Kong, 1998. I recall Francisco and Cameron Photo being next to each other.
Francis Camera in Honolulu had a nice glass-fronted shop, but IIRC, no cameras were actually displayed there, The one major purchase I made before they closed the location was a green Gitzo "safari" tripod, and really liked that thing until carbon fiber became the new hotness. USA Gitzo agent Karl Heitz promised a "lifetime plus reincarnations" warranty, but apparently that lifetime + reincarnations was KH's, not mine.
My nostalgia is tempered by memories of pretty much everything being far beyond my reach, at least until sometime in the 1980s. Beats me where a person would have gotten the likes of a Zenit-E circa late 1970s western USA. But I wonder how I might have liked having such a semi-affordable option.
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
I miss having a camera store to shop at. 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.
If I want to go to a camera store, I have to drive 100 miles to Indianapolis to shop at Roberts. Roberts is great, but I wish there was a place here. Sad that a city the size of Fort Wayne cannot support a single camera store.
agentlossing
Well-known
Certainly some of the complicated way we feel about digital cameras today (as film-original shooters) is heavily influenced by how many other, similar computerized electronic devices we have today. Back when I used mostly disposable cameras, one family zoom compact, and we had no computer in the household as a kid... a modern digital mirrorless system camera would have been the most cherished, whizz-bang futuristic wonder product I could ever have imagined. It would have been my prized possession forever. But that was before I interacted with LCD screens constantly, shunted around computer files all day long, interacted with numerous menus and such all around me... you know what I mean? Digital exhaustion plays on our appreciation of modern cameras, I believe.
lxmike
M2 fan.
I had a similar discussion with one of my friends a year ago - i thought it will be a nice project to go online and try to find on google street the photography shops i used to visit in the early 90's. Most of them are now long gone of course and some of them i couldn't find them online anymore - after all those years i forgot where they were. I wrote a post on my blog for my friends - just to jog their memory
Its funny how the passing of time effects our memory, sometimes I can remember where the shop was but not its name, I look forward to reading your blog
lxmike
M2 fan.
great images thanks for sharing, I would love one day to wander around the camera shops in the far east
lxmike
M2 fan.
I miss having a camera store to shop at. 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.
If I want to go to a camera store, I have to drive 100 miles to Indianapolis to shop at Roberts. Roberts is great, but I wish there was a place here. Sad that a city the size of Fort Wayne cannot support a single camera store.
yes its sad when they close, I still cannot beeive Bonsers in Newcastle is closed, a great shop, with great staff.
lxmike
M2 fan.
you know I never thought of it like that, you are very right, we see so many wonderful gadgets everyday that modern digital cameras seem such run of the mill these days, part of the course.
p.giannakis
Pan Giannakis
Google translate does a lousy job translating from Greek to English but you will get the idea.
Archiver
Veteran
My two favourite camera shops, Camera Exchange and Camera Lane, have been around for many, many years. Camera Lane has been in business for over 30 years, with owner Alan in semi-retirement after they moved from the city in Melbourne to an industrial/office building in the suburbs over a year ago. Camera Exchange also left the city a few years ago for an industrial/business area in the suburbs. They both give the experience of going to a camera store of old, perhaps not with film in abundance, but with display cabinets full of film gear, and more tripods than War of the Worlds.
As a kid in the 70s and 80s, I don't recall ever going to a camera shop, but Dad's Pentax and Minolta were mainstays of the house, along with his collection of You And Your Camera partwork magazines.
In the very late 1990s, the department store I worked at began to sell digital cameras like the Sony Mavica floppy disc camera, but the earliest I visited a camera shop was in 2002, when digital was just coming into a semblance of usefulness. DSLR's were still fairly low resolution and the mirrorless revolution was still a good few years away. People still shot with film compacts and disposable cameras, and Konica-Minolta had not yet been acquired by Sony. Casio was a prominent brand, Pentax had a range of nice compact digitals, as did Ricoh. For digital, things seemed so fresh and fast paced, and film began to wane even further.
In 2008, I was in Hong Kong, and drooling over the Leica gear in the cabinets. Little did I think that I'd own some, only a couple of years later.
F30 - Leica Gear by Archiver, on Flickr
By 2010, I had a 5D Mark II and M9, which I still use for personal and paid work even now. On my 2010 trip to Japan, I was enthralled by the gear at Yodobashi Camera and LAOX.
GRD3 - GRD and GXR by Archiver, on Flickr
I don't yearn for the days of 1999 because digital cameras were still pretty awful, and I had no emotional connection with film cameras at that time. I greatly enjoy the sense of nostalgia and quality when I pick up a SLR from the 70s, though, and remember the days when I would leaf through Dad's camera magazines in the early 80s, and then the early 90s.
As a kid in the 70s and 80s, I don't recall ever going to a camera shop, but Dad's Pentax and Minolta were mainstays of the house, along with his collection of You And Your Camera partwork magazines.
In the very late 1990s, the department store I worked at began to sell digital cameras like the Sony Mavica floppy disc camera, but the earliest I visited a camera shop was in 2002, when digital was just coming into a semblance of usefulness. DSLR's were still fairly low resolution and the mirrorless revolution was still a good few years away. People still shot with film compacts and disposable cameras, and Konica-Minolta had not yet been acquired by Sony. Casio was a prominent brand, Pentax had a range of nice compact digitals, as did Ricoh. For digital, things seemed so fresh and fast paced, and film began to wane even further.
In 2008, I was in Hong Kong, and drooling over the Leica gear in the cabinets. Little did I think that I'd own some, only a couple of years later.
F30 - Leica Gear by Archiver, on FlickrBy 2010, I had a 5D Mark II and M9, which I still use for personal and paid work even now. On my 2010 trip to Japan, I was enthralled by the gear at Yodobashi Camera and LAOX.
GRD3 - GRD and GXR by Archiver, on FlickrI don't yearn for the days of 1999 because digital cameras were still pretty awful, and I had no emotional connection with film cameras at that time. I greatly enjoy the sense of nostalgia and quality when I pick up a SLR from the 70s, though, and remember the days when I would leaf through Dad's camera magazines in the early 80s, and then the early 90s.
shawn
Veteran
In the late 80s, early 90s I worked at a local camera store called EG Photo. Shared a tiny single story building with a hair stylist when I started there. On the main floor was bags, accessories, chemistry with camera gear behind the counter. Also had a nook for passport/id photos and the C41 processing was tucked into a corner. Studio down in the basement along with a darkroom for B&W. Eventually it grew to the point of buying the building and taking over both sides of the building and expanded it greatly including building a second floor to make a very nice studio. The C41 lab moved over to the second half of the first floor and expanded in capacity and was by far the major money maker along with the studio/photo shoots. Think the record for film processing in one day was around 470 rolls and it was either after a prom or graduation. Either day was nuts in the lab and never a time to get film developed as QC was basically ignored on those days. Employees got film processed/printed at 75% off, a roll of 36 exp. processed and printed was around $3 with the discount. When I started I made $3.50 an hour. I worked in the lab, studio and on shoots.
They were still around in 2000 (had them shoot my wedding) but ended up downsizing over time and digital eventually killed them due to the dramatic loss of film processing. Building is still there (and looks the same) but is now an apparel shop and insurance company.
Shawn
They were still around in 2000 (had them shoot my wedding) but ended up downsizing over time and digital eventually killed them due to the dramatic loss of film processing. Building is still there (and looks the same) but is now an apparel shop and insurance company.
Shawn
Godfrey
somewhat colored
When I was growing up, the only camera shop I knew about was a place named "Camera Craft" on North Avenue in New Rochelle, NY. I have no photos of it. But it was a magical place for me, everything from Kodak's simple cameras to Leica, Alpa, and other exotica on the shelves. My father would take me there every so often just to walk around and ogle the equipment. It's where I first saw a Leicaflex and an Alpa 9d, then a 10d.
Later, on my own, I discovered many other camera shops—from White Plains down into Manhattan, New York—and I often visited to ogle the equipment and ask questions, occasionally to buy things. And even here in the San Francisco Bay Area over the past thirty years...
All gone now, with few exceptions. And most of those exceptions are simple consumer electronics stores now. It's not so much the lack of the stores or the change from film to digital that makes me miss anything; it's the fact that there are few places where people knowledgeable, and willing to talk, about cameras and making photographs gather. My digital cameras are in many ways simply better cameras than my film cameras are, but that doesn't matter much. I make photos that I like with all of them, and I don't need so many things from the shops that I once did now. But there aren't many people to visit and discuss how to use various bits and pieces properly other than on the forums like this one, and I miss the in-person moments.
G
Later, on my own, I discovered many other camera shops—from White Plains down into Manhattan, New York—and I often visited to ogle the equipment and ask questions, occasionally to buy things. And even here in the San Francisco Bay Area over the past thirty years...
All gone now, with few exceptions. And most of those exceptions are simple consumer electronics stores now. It's not so much the lack of the stores or the change from film to digital that makes me miss anything; it's the fact that there are few places where people knowledgeable, and willing to talk, about cameras and making photographs gather. My digital cameras are in many ways simply better cameras than my film cameras are, but that doesn't matter much. I make photos that I like with all of them, and I don't need so many things from the shops that I once did now. But there aren't many people to visit and discuss how to use various bits and pieces properly other than on the forums like this one, and I miss the in-person moments.
G
JeffS7444
Well-known
2005 Narita Airport, Japan. If you've got to spend a few hours at an airport, there are worse airports to be stuck in than NRT. Looking at photos of tech gadgets when they were new reminds me that today's thrift-store finds were once costly objects of desire! Not too long after this trip, I treated myself to a 32", 1080p Sharp Aquos TV, and thought I had gotten a pretty good deal at 1200 USD! Photographed with new-to-me Panasonic DMC-LC1. I was thrilled to have that camera with it's EVF and Leica Vario-Summicron lens. But the tiny Sony RX100 that I've now owned for years would handily outperform it.
JeffS7444
Well-known
In many ways, the "good old days" are free for the taking even now: Buy less stuff, and savor that you do buy, more. Like Sergei in his youthful quest for a Kiev-19:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL_rlX7LdAc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL_rlX7LdAc
Franko
Established
The early 70s used to find me passing through Chicago quite regularly with a little time to spend. Visits to Altmans and Central Camera were always good for a pleasant afternoon. If you couldn't find what you needed there, it probably didn't exist. Sadly, a Nikon F today feels twice as big and heavy as it did then and possessing the gear that got us through the "good old days" won't take us back there.
JohnWolf
Well-known
"Do you yearn for days gone by?"
No, not at all.
Even back then I was a remote shopper - mail order through the NY stores, Cambridge Camera or 47th St. Photo. Talk to friends, read the reviews in Popular & Modern Photography, compare prices in ridiculously small type in the back of the magazines, and then call to order. No sales tax and no salesmen.
I much prefer today's Internet model: tons of reviews, scads of photos, and generous return policies. And, of course, forums like this one.
John
No, not at all.
Even back then I was a remote shopper - mail order through the NY stores, Cambridge Camera or 47th St. Photo. Talk to friends, read the reviews in Popular & Modern Photography, compare prices in ridiculously small type in the back of the magazines, and then call to order. No sales tax and no salesmen.
I much prefer today's Internet model: tons of reviews, scads of photos, and generous return policies. And, of course, forums like this one.
John
zuiko85
Veteran
Sure, I miss the real camera store. Durning my formative early twenties (1970-1975) I lived in Chicago and a lazy trip down to the loop on the Ravenswood L was at least a monthly activity. There, within perhaps a square mile were at least 7 or 8 camera stores. Altman's was the most complete and a wonderland for a camera addled but poor hobby photographer. From the getgo I was taught how to develop and print B&W by a friend. He had a Miranda so I had to get a Miranda (Although I lusted for a new Minolta SRT101.) No matter, a used Miranda D with a 50mm f1.9 Soligor was half the Minolta's new price. And, the 'D' model had interchangeable finders and screens, allowing me to form a lifelong strong preference for plain matte screens, no stinken split wedge or micro-prism messing up my view!
What I really miss was walking into Altman's with a sawbuck and walking out with 100feet of Tri-X bulk. A box of 10 Kodak snap-caps was just north of $1....ah but life was sweet.
Oh yes, Diafine of course. Best developer ever for the lazy soul.
Now what, a burned out Central Camera that may never really come back, I doubt they had near enough insurance for that event.
What I really miss was walking into Altman's with a sawbuck and walking out with 100feet of Tri-X bulk. A box of 10 Kodak snap-caps was just north of $1....ah but life was sweet.
Oh yes, Diafine of course. Best developer ever for the lazy soul.
Now what, a burned out Central Camera that may never really come back, I doubt they had near enough insurance for that event.
Dralowid
Michael
Remember Olden in NY 1265 Broadway at 32nd?
At the time I was coming over from the UK monthly and normally had a space in my luggage for something on the return trip. I imagine they are long gone?
At the time I was coming over from the UK monthly and normally had a space in my luggage for something on the return trip. I imagine they are long gone?
lxmike
M2 fan.
You know I actually forgot about how small the print was back in the day, I would struggle to read such adds now!