An exercise in frustration...

[Matus Kalisky]

I see that the world here on old continet goes the same way as beyond the big lake.
I have the same experience as most of you - it is pretty hard to find a shop where the guys working really know what they are selling. But as well I know that they are usually not paid properly - or - they at least think so.

But we should neither blame them or the cmopanies for this trend - at least not in the first place - we shuld better blame us - those who stand on the other side of the store desk. We want to have as much as possible for as little as possible. I see this so much in the clothing bussines - HUGE amount of crap brought from east asia (do not get me wrong here - I have nothing against importong goods from these countries and my best trecking shos I have used for 5 years were also produced there - but we seem to be willing to import ANYTHING as long as it is cheap - socks, cutlery, toys, guitares) - and people are buying that. It is damn cheap and lasts 2 weeks at most - but most seem to be happy to get two for one. If we are willing to buy cheap crap - the selling companies will make sure we will get it - and a cheap and crappy service will come along.

Sure - each of us has somtheing he is more concerned about - it seems to be photography on this forum. But there in the shops the rules are set by the majority of customers who just enter the shop - let the shop assistant "explain" them what they need and in 5 minutes leave with new camera or other stuff - happy as meloons to get the beat cheapiest thing in the class. This other common feature that is spread not anymore only among teenagers - unability and unwilligness to invest some time, effort and thinking in what we are doing (or should/could be doing) is bringing the quality of the shops and services down too. And 5% customers that do care and think and are willing to pay for what they get - and leave the shops unsatisfied will not change it.

I thank god that thare are no cheap new spot lightmeter as I would probably buy one and than would have no moral right to post these

.. shuldn't be this move to the Lounge ?

[walter23]

Now the kicker is, neither know how to turn off the beeping noise because they
could not find their manuals.

Not to mention the flash. "Oh look at the moon reflecting across the dark water! It's so big!" <clik FLASH clik FLASH clik FLASH>

[walter23]

Having read (and understood!) almost all of this thread, I'm not sure if I'm old for my age or I was well experienced in youth!!

Haha, agreed. Okay, I'm not that young (early 30s) but I'm not quite a grumpy old geezer yet either (grumpy & geezer, sure).

I was, however, alive when records were the norm and cassette tapes just coming into fashion. Now I see young kids fetishizing cassette players (kind of analogous to the way I turn old camera gear into a fetish I guess). Sony Sports Walkman - RETRO! Hah.

[walter23]

On the other hand why would someone be working at a camera supply store and not be interested in all aspects of photography?

Because like most retail workers they'd really rather not be there earning their ridiculously low wage and fighting for commissions, but they need a job?

[walter23]

Secondly, those who do the hardest jobs are the ones who rule the world.

Last I checked the migrant workers living with their families in rows of outhouse-sized wooden shacks in Guatemalan banana plantations weren't doing much ruling. Neither were the indonesian sweat-shop employees or the walmart-crap assembly line workers in China, the meat processing plant workers in most of north america, nor the cigar rollers in Cuba.

To rule the world (and there are probably a few small exceptions), you're born into the right family and you've got a keen and basically sociopathic business sense that allows you to slice and dice everybody in your way and everybody underneath you in order to get ahead. Okay - you might also be the right kind of nerd at the right place and time during some technology revolution, like the handful of lucky dotcom millionaires, but c'mon... buddy the CEO of symantec isn't quite Dick Cheney caliber. Being just slightly rich isn't quite ruling the world.

[CG]

OK, would you work that job for minimum wage? It seems the stores need qualified help but that may not be so easy to find for $6-10 hour.

A more useful question is whether a person, way back then, when an entry level retail job would have been appropriate, would have taken the job, and the answer is yes, I would have, back then.

A camera store can be a place for a young person with photo knowledge to get a start. They can trade a camera enthusiast's specialized knowledge and some time and energy for a wage. An awful lot of fields have entry level positions that pay minimal wages but give someone a toehold on the first rung of the ladder. It's just not appropriate for people without the knowledge.

Best,

C

[jetcode]

Because like most retail workers they'd really rather not be there earning their ridiculously low wage and fighting for commissions, but they need a job?

I see this young guy ho is quite knowledgeable in both analog and digital photography on Sundays, and he is about as blue as one can get. Hungry for at least someone to talk to. I live close to Seawood Camera in San Anslemo, CA and they have some very savvy folks there for a small shop. Last of it's breed. There are some other stores in the area that resemble the kind being discussed here.

[walter23]

Actually there are people in my local photography store who are usually thrilled to get to talk about something other than "what's got more megapixels the olympus D729b-pro M series portable digital or the sony sureshot X1119B2" and "should I get the canon G20 or the pentax M1010 or the sony 18Bpro or the olympus X7 if I want to shoot landscapes and sunsets and pets and flowers and maybe get into some pro wedding work on the side?"

There are a few B&W printers there and even LF shooters.

[Greg Lockrey]

The only time that I go to my "local" store is when I run out of film that I need to do a job that day. Otherwise I use online stores ahead of time. The last time I needed an item from the "local" store it had to be ordered and it took about a month to get it. With the online stores I have it in two or three days tops. My paper and ink supplier has my material in two business days tops. I asked the "local" store to be my paper and ink supplier so that I could help them have a sales volume but all they had to do was match my supplier's price. I guess 200 square feet of paper and ink a day isn't enough of a volume for them so now they are out of the loop. Another time I wanted a small boom light with soft box to use as a hair light and I couldn't buy the one on the floor unless I bought the whole lighting kit. I just needed the boom and box. B&H had a better one to me in three days.