Last of its Kind?

Plain Nev

Plain Nev

Vincent Furnier
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Neville
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This is photography related, loosely. But in any case it's a nice little story, which you might like to read. Some of you might even have frequented their premises.

www.shetnews.co.uk

Memories of a life in an old-fashioned shop that became an institution

After R.W Bayes closed on Christmas Eve for the very last time, Neil Anderson looks back at more than 41 years in a job that became a way of life
www.shetnews.co.uk www.shetnews.co.uk
 
That was an interesting read Neville. Thanks for posting :D
 
I still remember dealing in the seventies with the likes of Fishwicks, (the original) Jessops of Leicester and the large Eurofoto Centre between West Drayton and Uxbridge. Fishwicks (or was it Jessops, memory fails me) had a very thick paper catalogue; almost as thick as Exchange and Mart and Amateur Photographer were, back in the day. It was also a time when you could buy a camera and it still be a current model five years later.

Fast forward to now when, if you are not quick enough, the camera you bought yesterday has been superseded by lunchtime today and the corresponding value, second-hand, has dropped off a cliff (not so much the higher end of the big manufacturers though).

New developments are getting thinner on the ground now IMHO. Take the iPhone -- I believe we are now on iPhone14? -- what can they do to make it as desirable as the older ones were in their time? Everything has been done; more memory, better batteries, more pixels in tiny sensors, but none of it is going to be enough for people to dispose of their perfectly-capable earlier models in large quantities. I always used to look with greedy eyes at new phones but I've had my LG now for five years and it is just as big, has just as much memory and the battery lasts just as long as the latest Samsung.

Mirrorless cameras seem to be bucking the trend for declining sales perhaps. although quite why this should be I don't know. As many have said, it is hard and of dubious value, to be dumping onto the second-hand market thousands of pounds of, say, Nikon FX cameras and lenses to reinvest in a completely different system (yes, I know the older lenses can be adapted, but it's just not the same is it?).

These days I try to invest more into small artisan establishments as the prices are not too different if you take in the quality. I have just bought a pocket knife from Michel May Knives, made with Damascus steel and an oak handle it cost £140, but the quality is out of this world (with a stainless steel blade the knife is under £90). I have three 'quality' knives, bought over the years, which cost at the most thirty quid, but they just don't hold an edge and the blades wobble a bit. I still believe you largely get what you pay for.

Sorry, this has become an essay, I'll stop now.
 
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That was a very nice read, thanks for posting Nev.
Like Martin I am a "get what you pay for" sort of person and happily pay extra for quality, whether it is the quality of goods or of service. It's sad that the shops offering quality of service are becoming much fewer these days - I recall my job in a backpacking equipment shop while at college, which I really enjoyed - all of us who worked there loved what we did and it came through in the time and effort we put into serving customers. It saddens me that in many shops now, staff resent customers interrupting them, and really can't be bothered to try to find out what the customer really wants etc.
 
So few "proper" shops still exist these days. Looking at the city centre, almost all seem to be large conglomerate box shifters with salespersons rather than shop assistants.
 
ShinySideUp said:
New developments are getting thinner on the ground now IMHO. Take the iPhone --
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I just detest using phones for photography and I've never seen any quality from them but anyway... I find they get superseded faster than cameras. I bought a new smartphone recently and it had plummeted in price despite only being out 18 months. Mrs WW got a new one too as the phone she got two years ago already couldn't run some of the newer applications she wants to use. Thankfully I wont be using applications.

I bought my Sony A7 in 2013 so it'll be 10 years old next year. Before this the longest I'd had a digital camera was 7 years for my canon 20D.

My A7 was £1,549 and that included the 28-70mm kit lens. If I was to sell it I might get £300 for the A7 (or maybe some trade in) and £100 for the kit lens. Not too bad IMO. How much would a £1,500 phone be worth in 10 years time? :D I'm guessing it'll be scrap long before that.
 
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Yesterday I took the wife to Cheshire oaks designer outlet not been there for years . Took a hour of queuing just to get into the car park and to say it was heaving would be the understatement of the year .. never seen such a variety of people all rushing around to get cheap yet still overpriced bargains .. while the mrs was shopping I sat on a bench and chatted to a few folks .. 1 from derby approx 80 miles , 1 from Preston circa 100 miles and a family from Hertfordshire circa 200 miles just to go shopping the worlds gone crazy .. but the mrs got a winter coat reduced from £200 to£50 so I suppose that’s why people go
 
One of my greatest regrets is that there used to be a little camera shop in town nearby. A proper camera shop. Gone now unfortunately. But I never visited in all the years it had been there. It must have survived somehow. Although, I don't think I ever saw anyone in there. The best of it was that I had a camera. I just wasn't an enthusiast. Too late now! :(
 
There's still a camera shop in Bicester, started by a couple of blokes made redundant from Jessops. They have diversified, and sell a lot of other stuff (were a return centre for Amazon) in order to keep going through the pandemic. I have occasionally visited the LCE in Leamington, and that has the feel of a proper camera shop, but it's a fair drive and I don't need more GAS.
 
Yes, I think LCE is about the closest you'll get these days. Long may they continue. Camera shops these days are almost boutiques, and their stock is spread pretty thinly. I suspect that they don't actually carry a lot, but order it in as necessary.
 
I have said it before somewhere on this forum, about the quality of service at London Camera Exchange (Plymouth branch), I have been there loads of times, once with a faulty item that was dealt with efficiently and with courtesy. I suppose in the last eight years I have spent between £6000 and £8,000 with them. My first purchase at LCE was my Nikon D810 (just after release) and since then my entire complement of Nikon FX lenses has come through there.
 
Of the box shifters, LCE seem to be pretty good and know one end of a camera from the other. Besides, they're the only choice these days! Used to have at least 3 "proper" photography shops in town but "progress" (increased rents and the internet [not helping the small shops when people went in to play with their prospective purchases before ordering them online]) made them unsustainable.
 
You've probably got better scenery than me though!

I suppose I should count myself lucky in that I bought almost all my kit from the proper shops when they were still around and now know enough to know what I need, so don't have to handle the stuff before I buy it. If I DO want a fondle, I go to LCE (if they stock it) and they buy it from them, even at a premium over web purchases.
 
We have Real Camera in Manchester which is where I buy new film and parts (picked up an MPP lens board with cone for my 90mm lens at the end of last month). I like checking their 'used books' shelf too.

There is an LCE here too but I've only popped in a couple of times.

I've used Newton Ellis in Liverpool for camera repairs and servicing of the film cameras I have picked up at auction.

I'm with Martin on investing in artisan well made items in general. When I can see value in the input (materials, time, craftmanship) I can see value in the output (quality of finish, fit for purpose, durable).
 
Awfers said:
Also reminds me of one of the local village bakeries, the family that ran it were in their late 60s, couldn't find an apprentice to either work there or take it over, so they were forced to close. Theirs was also the best bread in the village! Now it's a hair salon... Like we need more of those.
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That's how it often seems to be in France these days too. In 'our' village the boulangerie general store was taken over by a very motivated woman and has been transformed, but the other shop and resto have closed now.
 
Reminds me of over hearing a conversation once

local pub had closed and someone said to the ex publican its a shame you had to close

his reply was " well if you came there more often maybe we wouldn't have closed"
 
nog said:
his reply was " well if you came there more often maybe we wouldn't have closed"
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... which is the case with every business.

Use it or lose it.
 
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Awfers said:
If I may ask, which department are you located in ?
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71, we have a house in Cussy en Morvan, about 25k from Autun. It's an investment/holiday home/project right now, but could become our retirement home for a while.

At the turn of the 19/20th century there were about 2000 in the village, but now there are around 400, mostly retired people left.
 
Nice read but I have to say that refusing to have a card machine in the shop can’t have been the wisest move I have seen and pretty much takes many if not most people who would have come across the shop by accident out of the browsing to buying equation
 
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