A camera store lament

[Lynn Jones]

Here in Austin we have a good camera store (Precision) and in Dallas, Competitive
Cameras, however in Texas overall, we have dozens/perhaps hundreds of feed and tack stores.

I'm not entirely sure what this means!

Lynn

[BrianShaw]

I'm not entirely sure what this means!

Let's face it... I live in Los Angeles... what do I know about feed and tack stores. Sorry I mentioned it. I was being geo-centric. I forgot for a moment that folks in TX might be participating in this discussion. Thanks for chiming in... and I'm happy to hear that you folks still have easy access to feed and tack!

[SW Rick]

Ouch... now I lament... Photomark moved???? Last time I was there (middle of last year, perhaps) they still had 5x7 film in the fridge. I thought they would be the last of the real photo shops.

But Tempe Camera still is here, and has a decent supply of film (probably helped by ASU students). They've actually increased their overall stock since Photomark, as we knew it, left.

[Brian Ellis]

I kind of miss the old camera stores too and it's sad to see them mostly gone. But setting nostalgia aside and trying to be practical, how much do I really miss them? I can go on line to Adorama or B&H and at my finger-tips find virtually everything having to do with photography that I could possibly wan (assuming it's still made) I don't have to drive to the store. I don't have to get there and find they don't have what I want. I don't have to deal with clerks who know less than I do about the product I want or who try to sell me something I don't want because they get a kicker from the manufacturer. I pay no sales tax and more and more these days pay no shipping either. I don't go to a store for one thing and spur of the moment see some other thing I didn't want and don't need but buy it on an impulse because it's "just so cool" (which is how I ended up with a useless Zeiss 35mm system some years back).

So while I understand your feelings about the old camera stores, if I had a choice between going back to them exclusively or buying the way I do today I'd take today every time. I guess what I'd really like is for the two to coexist but that isn't going to happen.

[Brian C. Miller]

Some people are “There’s no place like home” people.

Others are “You can’t go home again” people.

And others are "Somebody moved my food dish" people.

Their film refrigerator was no less empty than Glazer's had been when I visited there two weeks ago during a business trip to Seattle, though they did have a couple of boxes of 4x5 Ektar that Glazer's did not have.

Glazer's film stock comes and goes, and of course there's stinkers like me in town who come in, see, and nab for their little food-sized freezer. Yes, I got all the Acros 4x5. Ektar is back in stock, but Fuji is down a bit. Things will change.

BTW, give me a heads-up next time and let's meet for coffee!

What drives me nuts is that I went and tried to find Panda Labs on Saturday. Found it on Sunday, but of course they were closed. That place is nearly a true hole-in-the-wall operation! No big sign outside, and no huge print on the windows. The business name is in 2-inch high letters, so it's really easy to miss. And the parking around there is miserable. Seriously, the lack of accessible labs is what will kill photography for amateurs! It's one thing to get a camera, another to shoot a roll of film, but what next? The drug stores are still OK with 35mm, but for MF and LF, where is it going to go? The entire Seattle metro area seems to have only three small film labs left standing, and that's it.

(FWIW, the feed store in Everett closed, but the tack store is still open.)

[Robbie Shymanski]

I have felt the same the past few times I have gone to Central Camera in Chicago. I think a lot of it has to do with my personal longing for self-sufficiency and the internet. I either have most of the toys I have longed for or have built them or since moved on. Not much I look for that I can't find within a few clicks of the web. And usually at a lesser cost. I try to keep it local, but if they can't keep my oddball interests in stock...

[rdenney]

Here in Austin we have a good camera store (Precision....

Have you been in Austin long enough to remember Bob Hawley's Camera Crafts? Now, that was a used camera store whose passing was marked with lamentation. I bought A ton (yes, 2000 pounds) of stuff from Bob, and learned a lot about business from him, too. And then there was Capitol Camera, where I bought my Calumet/Cambo view camera, my Pentax spot meter, and much else besides. Precision is a shadow of those Austin legacies, but shadows are what we have.

Rick "whose entire darkroom got started with stuff from Bob Hawley" Denney

[rdenney]

Fortunately one can still buy buggy whips (and wagon wheels too). One just can't walk to the local feed + tack shop anymore, though.

I live in horse country, and have sizable Mennonite and Amish communities north, south, and west. Buggy whips are easier to find in three dimensions around here than good camera equipment.

Rick "noting that buggy whips, unlike lenses and sheets of color film, are easy to make one at a time" Denney

[rdenney]

But Rick,

You have Ace Photo near you in VA. As well as some other stores.

Moe runs a good store and goodness knows I've spent a ton of money with him, primarily for digital stuff. I put my money where my mouth is and I make my major purchases at Ace to support the local store. And occasionally he has some used stuff that is interesting--and when he does I buy it. But he does not stock sheet film and no longer processes E6. And it's hard to browse his store looking for tidbits. The point of a brick and mortar store is that I don't know what I'm looking for. it's a good store, but he has few of the sorts of customers I saw at Houston Camera Co-op.

Rick "who doesn't want photography to be solely an exercise in nostalgia, but it sometimes is" Denney

[goamules]

Ok, sorry I used the old buggy whip analogy! Yeah, I've got a feed store right down the road, then 4-5 more within a 20 minute drive. People are still feeding their horses and mules. Not many people are feeding film cameras.