What has become of the camera shop of our generation? Video rental shops are pretty much dead because of online rentals and move rental vending machines. Right behind them is the extinction of photographic stores. I can remember when I recieved my first camera and would go to the photo store to develop film, but now there aren’t any photography studios and stores remaining.
Photos are now almost all digital photography, coming from digital SLR and digital cameras and put automatically onto digital frames. If you want to print a photo you have to go to a pharmacy or have them ordered from a web source. I recently sold my SLR digital camera and ordered a digital SLR camera from a web digital camera sale. I was stuck with only a film camera just as I was going on a cross-country journey that was meant to last about a month.
It was such a shock to see how much camera accessories had simply disappeared. I could barely find film to insert into the camera not to mention a shop that would actually develop it. With all of the progress in SLR digital cameras and other accessories like digital camera batteries and camera bags I would have thought camera stores would still be left but the only stores that still sell DSLR cameras are now giant electronic stores or online sites.
Not like the disappearance of video stores, I believe there is still a need for camera stores and informed sales staff that can help me compare digital cameras. I desperately hope there’ll be an emergence of camera stores as customers realize they need more information about cameras than a lowly sales clerk at a giant electronic store can offer.
There is still hope remaining! I recently stumbled on a camera store that managed to survive amongst the giant electronic chain stores because of the owner’s forethought to explore his experience as a wedding photography. By selling the wedding photos through the storefront he was able to offer discounts on frames, albums and physical prints for wedding packages. By utilizing the product he had in his store and the reputation he had as a wedding photographer he was able to boost both companies and make a good living. Maybe there is still hope for the camera shop.
To find a camera shop in your local area visit dLook, Australia’s smartest online directory.