The future for local camera stores
Thomas Hawk and Jason Burn have some harsh but fair things to say about local camera stores. Here’s Thomas:
Well, I’m bound to make a few enemies with this one, but I just finished reading Jason Burn’s post on a bad experience he had with his local camera retailer and have to agree that your local camera store is increasingly becoming a bad place to buy camera gear.
I often wonder about what the future holds for the camera stores in here Santa Fe. There are a lot of tourists and a lot of pro photographers in town (and lots more semi-pro and committed amateurs), and more than one camera store.You’d think competition and a local market with some high-end requirements might make the stores responsive and on their games.I’ve had some good experiences and some not so good ones, but the with the prices for everything being much higher than reputable stores online, and the selection being much more limited, it’s no surprise I don’t buy a lot of stuff from them.I’ll go in if I need some prints made in a hurry, or if I need a roll of film developed for my Canonet, but for larger purchases I (like many other people) will research and shop online.But if stores offered more of a community feel (hosting exhibitions, contests and photowalks, offering training and talks, making it a place to hangout), then a camera shop could be a real boon to local photographers.Bike shops often have a similar role to play in the local cycling community. It’s cheaper to buy bike stuff online, but there are still plenty of excellent bike shops around.It seems like there are a lot more people getting more serious about their photography with the rise of the DSLR – if an enterprising retailer could figure out how to harness that enthusiasm, things could work out well for them.Otherwise local camera stores will go the way of the record store, I’m afraid.