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Discovered this great place today. They had an impressive inventory on display of used film cameras of all types, including a half dozen 4x5 cameras. They also had some LF darkroom gear for sale. Good film selection.
If you are in downtown Chicago and need some photo supplies, this looks like the place.
I stopped in there last month on vacation and was impressed. Picked up a box of expired Fuji Quickloads and Kodak Readyloads. :-)
I always love to stop there whenever I'm in Chicago.
Glad to see they're still around and today we perhaps can't be as picky about pricing as we used to be. Just finding something in stock is heartening. But FWIW, back in the days when Shutterbug was the main source of new and used photography gear Central Camera always had the higher prices than anyone else. I used to wonder why they advertised their prices when there were always many other places advertising the same thing at lower prices.
Huh! That's where I bought my first "pro" camera quite a few years ago. I had just gone from a Pentax ME Super (which died on me), to a Nikon N80 (which was too plasticky and not enough camera for me). I bought a Nikon F100 and 8-200 2.8 from Central, almost on a whim, while I was working in Chicago and have always fondly remembered that place as one of the few "real" camera shops left in existence. And that was sometime in the mid-90s, too. If they're still there now, they must really be on a short list of "genuine" camera shops! Excepting B&H of course.
Check out This!
Here are some links to vintage Central Camera Catalogs 1919-1943.Not every year represented.
1919 http://www.piercevaubel.com/cam/cata...ameralp195.htm
1921 http://www.piercevaubel.com/cam/cata...ameralp117.htm
1925 http://www.piercevaubel.com/cam/cata...ntrallp776.htm
1926 http://www.piercevaubel.com/cam/cata...ntrallp658.htm
1932 http://www.piercevaubel.com/cam/cata...ameralp392.htm
1934 http://www.piercevaubel.com/cam/cata...ain75lp402.htm
1935 http://www.piercevaubel.com/cam/cata...ameralp618.htm
1936 http://www.piercevaubel.com/cam/cata...ameralp617.htm
1943 http://www.piercevaubel.com/cam/cata...ntrallp654.htm
Because they were reliable. Some of the others weren't always.Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian Ellis
IN 1942 at the ripe old age of 13 I rode the train From Nashville specifically to go to Central Camera and a couple of other Chicago Photo stores. Good to hear they are still the goo old reliable business.
I made a trip to Chicago back in 1969.
I spent four days, all day long, walking to and fro, visiting all the camera shops and stores in the loop area.
Sad, most are now long gone.
Central is the only one that seems to have 'survived'.
On my last visit, a few years ago, I had a chance to talk with a nice gentleman, who was meeting, greeting and waiting on customers, and in passing conversation said he was the owner/proprietor, and managed to dig out some old 2x3 wooden film holders for me.
Maybe, there is a lesson to be learned here?
Some of the longest 'surviving' businesses are those whose owners are present...
and are actively involved in the day-to-day management,
help and meet their customers on a personal basis.
When you have clerks and 'sales associates' who change on a daily basis, the corporate culture lacks the familial, personal touch, that can only be presented by those people who have a vested interest in their business.
So much for the corporate culture... like all the 'mart's'?
I go to Chicago once a year and always make it a point to buy something from them. I think the store goes back to the 1890s, in a different location.
Kent in SD
Any store that has employees interested in the stuff in the back room will be pretty good. The hard part is finding them. Too many "sales" clerks today couldn't find their ass with both hands.
I stopped by Central Camera last month when I was visiting Chicago. I must say that I felt really saddened when I saw the store. Years ago it was thriving. Now it seems to be holding on by a thread. I don't think that the store has purchased any large format equipment for inventory in a long time. I bought some roll film and left. The people who work in Central Camera seem very nice; but, like it or not, they are witnessing the end of their kind of business.
I always stop in there when I am in Chicago. I can usually find something odd that I need and buy it. Over the years that has been everything from VCs to tripod heads. i hope they hang on. I think, because of their proximity to SAIC and Columbia, that they do allot of student business and students are big on film these days.
So it was their reliability that caused them to advertise their prices when there were 20 other places advertising the same thing in the same issue for much less? My question wasn't why they advertised, it was why they advertised their prices under these circumstances.Quote:
Originally Posted by Trius
You know, I've walked past it a couple times, but only when closed. Next time I'm down in the loop I'll make a point to stop by.
I bought my very first view camera from Central Camera in the mid-1970s from, then owner, H.R. Flesh, whose father, I believe started the business in 1899. H.R. studied to become a doctor, and upon graduation, had to choose between medicine and the family camera store. Mr. Flesh's advise to me was to buy a low-end view camera (he sold me an Omega F) and to sink my money into good lenses (2 Schnieders). I still have & use both the camera and the lenses (although in the last couple days the bellows are getting their second round of taping up the pinholes). His advice has served me well.
Rick Tapio
I work around the corner from Central Camera, so I go by to window shop at least once a week. To me, the low point was about 6 months ago, when they had little in the way of new digital cameras and the same used equipment they had been displaying for quite a while. Since then, they still do not have as much in the way of digital as they had a year ago, but they have a lot more used film equipment on display. Prices are higher than other sources, but at least they have film and chemicals for sale (and recently have gotten some more chemicals in stock). I think the move away from digital is good, as there is no way they can compete with Best Buy, etc., on the PS digitals or with Internet sales on the high-end digital cameras. By serving basic digital needs and establishing themselves as a source for film and related equipment, they might just be able to survive.Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Alpert
Bob