Photography-centric web comic CLICKittyCAT published a series of one-liner comics this week based on true stories it gathered from a camera store in Ventura, California, called Dexter's Camera. The shop has served customers since the 1960s, so they've fielded plenty of unusual questions over the years.
Update: Calumet has posted an update to its Facebook page to say they might reopen a few locations. Full statement at the bottom of this post.
In a story that is still very much developing as more information comes to light, well-known camera store chain Calumet Photographic has filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy without so much as a whispered warning to their employees.
New photographers today can buy their first camera, take lessons on how to use it, research photography destinations, order prints and books of their work, and start selling it without ever setting foot in a brick-and-mortar camera store or printing business. It's hard to imagine how any photo store with an actual sales floor can still survive.
After a couple of months in beta, the photography review site DPReview is finally announcing the official launch of an online store that bears the website's stamp of approval. Named GearShop, it's a specialty camera store that will stock its shelves with only DPReview recommended and approved products.
Check out this photo showing the inside of a camera shop (and pharmacy) from 1910. It's the image on a postcard that's currently being auctioned over on eBay (with a starting bid of $100) by a seller named 2raccoons. Here's the description:
Up for auction is this extraordinary photograph of a woman in standard Gibson dress standing at a store counter purchasing a Kodak folding camera. The store employee is wearing a jacket and bow-tie which adds charm to the photograph. It is uncertain if the woman is actually buying the Kodak camera, or if the scene here is "staged," but $25 is about what one would have paid for the Kodak folding camera at that time, which can be seen on the cash register.
$25 for a top-of-the-line camera. Not bad. Add a couple zeros to that price and you'll get what many DSLRs are selling for these days.
Here’s another sign of the changing times: so many camera shoppers are turning to the Internet for deals that …