Listen Up, Camera Store Snob!

[parks5920]

OK, I was going to write out some really long and tedious rant about how if you go into a camera store and ask for anything other than digital they look at you like you have the plague, but...I decided against that. NOW that being said, a word of advice, if YOU are a camera store employee and someone asks if you have 2x teleconverter to fit a Minolta SRT, don't laugh and take about how archaic that is, just remember this; an SRT weighs about 10 times that of a Canon XT, and the next time I come in there is a good chance I will bring it with me and beat the snot out of you with it. 😀
Anyway, thanks, I feel much better now!

 

[wlewisiii]

It's funny, but it doesn't have to be that way.

There are about 4 real camera stores in Madison. The ones that get my buisness, funnily enough, are the ones where there are a couple of employees who know older cameras and are inclined to talk about them. The neighborhood place where I get my 120 C41 done (even though they are a wee bit more expensive) has several folks who know and care about film. They even have a real used equiptment counter. I took in a roll of Reala the other day and as I was taking it out of the Moskva, one of the women at the counter commented how she used to have a Super Ikonta and really regreated selling it.

Yep, they'll sell you a digital and have a print kiosk for all the various media formats, but catch them with a moment and a good conversation will result.

William

 

[parks5920]

Yes, I agree, not all are like that, Samys in Los Angeles is GREAT! And two or three others have a good, knowledgable staff. But you know that feeling when you go into say, a record store and it's nothing but really "COOL" people working there, only their not cool, just rude? Same thing.

 

[cp_ste.croix]

upsales...
it happened before digital too, it was just a little less obnoxious.

part of me really wants to spend a summer working in photoretail so i can buy all my stuff at cost, of course that would mean my wages would be nonexistant for a summer...

 

[cp_ste.croix]

D'oh!

When I worked for an outdoor store we eventually got cost plus 10% on gear from the gear reps...it was the only way I could afford my tent. Ah well...I did some math while I was at the store and worked it out to needing to buy like $1500 worth of gear to make up for the paycut I had taken from the summer before...it was not a fun day in retail that day.

 

[cbass]

The joke is on Minolta for making durable, functional cameras with 40-year lifespans! If those SRTs were not built like locomotives, we would all be using Maxxum 7Ds right now. The fools!

😉

 

[kiev4a]

Recently I got a lens on Ebay that had been offered by a local camera store. I went to the store to pick up the lens and discoved a saleman that I have seen off and on for nearly 30 years. He tracked down the lens, looked at the invoice and said "wow, you got a real deal" and I knew he wasn't shucking me because he knows film cameras as well as I do. The trouble is, since he's about my age, he'll be retiring soon, replaced by a of kid who not only don't know anything about film but also just looks at selling cameras as a job like selling pizza--not a personal passion.

 

[cp_ste.croix]

The joke is on Minolta for making durable, functional cameras with 40-year lifespans! If those SRTs were not built like locomotives, we would all be using Maxxum 7Ds right now. The fools!

😉

Luckily digital camera makers have seen that error...

 

[ray_g]

They even have a real used equiptment counter. I took in a roll of Reala the other day and as I was taking it out of the Moskva, one of the women at the counter commented how she used to have a Super Ikonta and really regreated selling it.

There's something to be said about neighborhood camera stores. I used to enjoy browsing through the used equipment rack as well. Sadly, they have since found it easier and more profitable to unload these on Ebay ...

 

[back alley]

There's something to be said about neighborhood camera stores. I used to enjoy browsing through the used equipment rack as well. Sadly, they have since found it easier and more profitable to unload these on Ebay ...

ain't it the truth.
i used to feel really short changed not living in new york, where 'real' camera stores had tons of great used gear for my cameras.

or so i thought...in n.y. i discovered a dearth of gear, actually nothing in canon screw mount. we have a better flow of gear right here.

ebay, on one hand had helped to kill off local shops and on the other hand has given us all better access to gear, just no hands on.

joe

 

[parks5920]

With ebay, if you don't happen to get what you want, you know that it will pop up again within the next couple of days, and you computer doesn't belittle you!

 

[Byuphoto]

I totally agree. After a stint with digital I have returned to my rangefinders and my beloved Canon F1n and A-1. I can buy lenses for a fraction of the cost of EOS ones. The same thing happened to me. Most of our old camera stores have been replaced by mass market. I went into a Ritz camera and they literally had dozens of different memory card but only 3 kinds of film. When I asked for some 120 color all they had was some old Kodak BW. The kid behind the counter said for me to join the 21st century. I would like to shove a few flash cards up his...well you know. They don't even stock slidefilm anymore. Then I picked a small camera bag up, marked DIGITAL of course, to use with my Yashica 124 LM and he said he wasn't sure it would work with a film camera :bang: Thankfully we have a local studio and although they have went totally digital they still have a large stock of film. I get my Reala there and they even develop my 120. Only charged me $2.00 for a 12 shot develop only. We talk a lot about the old days but he is getting up in years and and I am afraid when he quits it will be gone.

 

[wyk_penguin]

The joke is on Minolta for making durable, functional cameras with 40-year lifespans! If those SRTs were not built like locomotives, we would all be using Maxxum 7Ds right now. The fools!

😉

Why does this make me think of a 5-letter word starting with "L" and ending with "a"? 😕

 

[ray_g]

When I asked for some 120 color all they had was some old Kodak BW. The kid behind the counter said for me to join the 21st century. I would like to shove a few flash cards up his...well you know.

I was checking out a Maxxum 7, and was going to buy a handful of film at the local camera store, when I asked what had happened to the used equipment section. The salesman/kid gave me pretty much the same answer (about joining the 21st century), referring to ebay (in my post above), and how they could make more profit that way.

I just looked at him and smiled. I put the camera and film down and said, "and I can get the camera for $100 less from B&H."

Sad. I would have been happy to pay a little extra for a more personal relationship, for some piece of mind by handling the equipment before buying, and to support a local establishment.

 

[dmr]

OK, I was going to write out some really long and tedious rant about how if you go into a camera store and ask for anything other than digital they look at you like you have the plague, but..

Digital is where the money is. It's trendy. It's the Latest And Greatest<tm>. 🙂

If I owned a camera store and were in business for maximum return on my investment, I would sure as heck try to get the owners of those film SLRs and rangefinders to "go digital" and buy their equipment all over again -- from me! 🙂 There's gotta be a good margin in the prosumer (isn't that the current buzzword-compliant term?) SLRs and lenses and ...

But I don't own a camera store. I'm also disappointed to see one (real) camera store after another fall over and die. 🙁 I've been watching them die ever since I saw Woolco (which is long dead itself) start to sell Pentax cameras.

Today's digital camera isn't the lifelong tool we're used to. The cameras of a generation ago (I'm counting all but one of the cameras I own as being a generation old) were expected to have a service life of several decades. Will that DSLR that you get at Wally World today be usable in 30 years? I don't think so. The high-tech sensor it has will be as obsolete then as the 78rpm record is today!

However, I think most of the cameras those of us who frequent this forum use will still be viable.

Jeez, why do I feel a need to jump into these discussions? 🙂

 

[egpj]

One of the camera chains here in Florida has stopped buying used equipment and is going all digital. It was sad to see but they said they could make more from the new digital bodies. Saw a couple of Nikon F2 bodies in there and thought about getting them but they were not discounted enough/I did not have enough money. The MP body I recently purchased before the price increase was the last one (this was from another different camera store) they had. They were not expecting to restock any film bodies as well. I also found the attitude that if you were not there to get a new digital setup then they did not have the time for you. Oh well.

Side note: I looked at the new digital Konica/Minolta. Being used to looking through an R9 it was pretty bland. It may take great looking pictures but I bet my R9 takes even better pictures and it is even better to compose through my viewfinder. I actually said "YUK" when I looked through it.

 

[Tim]

My FLCS (favourite local camera store) has as it's motto "Committed to traditional photography" and seems to be doing very nicely, thank you. Mind you, I think this is largely because there are getting fewer and fewer options if you do want analogue gear.

 

[wlewisiii]

When I get that noise about the 21st century, I like to go back and show my tintype of my Great-Greatgrandfather (he passed away in 1935, IIRC, at a very ripe old age). And then I ask, "Will my great-great grandson be able to actually see any of the photos of me taken with these digital wonders?" Most of them have been smart enough to understand that the answer is "no".

Even color films have an enormous lifespan comparativly speaking, but I'll stick to silver salts on celluloid, thank you very much. Unless anyone knows of any company currently making 4x5 glass plates... 😉

William

 

[XAos]

Then I picked a small camera bag up, marked DIGITAL of course, to use with my Yashica 124 LM and he said he wasn't sure it would work with a film camera :bang:

I know the whole digital film thing has been beaten to death, and this is all just for catharsis, but nothing to me really underscores the patronizing consumerism more than items like tripods and camera bags marked "digital". I guess to me it boils down to this - people resent feeling manipulated, and attempts to manipulate us make us angry. I have, use and enjoy digital cameras, but someone attempting to make me feel backward for using film - and it happens ALL the FREAKING TIME - get under my skin. And it would be one thing coming from someone with good gear with nice specs that understands that I'm looking for specific features like wide aperture lenses, really fast film speeds etc... and I get some of that too, but mostly its people with pos err p&s digicams with f8-f16 lenses, ISO 200 equiv, 2 second shutter lag, 15x zooms, no manual or even priority modes, external flash capabilities, or manual focusing ability. I suppose I need to learn to let go of my anger, because it only leads to the dark side, but the idea of being able to have lightning come out of my fingertips and shock the bjeebers out of these people has some definate appeal.

 

[Krasnaya_Zvezda]

Yeah, that "Digital" label on tripods and bags (how can a bag be digital?) reminds me of the trend a number of years ago of labeling things "Turbo". I had some stupid sunglasses that said "Turbo" on them. What tripe. We live in a strange, strange world.
A couple of months ago, I went to the local Best Buy and when the camera salesman said "What can I help you with?" and I said "I want a Nikon N75", he did just a quick double take, then said "Sure, here you go." But before I could get away, he couldn't help asking, "You sure you wouldn't like to look at a D70?"