Are camera shops the last bastion of retail excellence?

[StevieBee]

Like many here I suspect, I'm afflicted with the inability to pass a camera shop without at least looking in the window but most often, an urge to venture inside like a nerdy Mr Benn!. Did so today at a store I've never been to previously (London Camera Exchange, Colchester). Ended up chatting to the staff there for about an hour. Bought nothing! Same thing at Camera World in Chelmsford (though I do buy quite a bit there) and a while back ventured into a shop in Plymouth and was included in the tea round for staff!! Recently had a lengthy conversation with a bloke at CVP on Kubrick.... only phoned to enquire about a baseplate for a Tilta cage!

Struck me that anything photo related seems to bring out the more positive sides of what retail is missing in the wider sphere of things.

Just curious to know if this is down to my sparkling personality or something others have experienced.

[PinkHouse]

Absolutely, most of them are like that, even more generic ones like Jessops still have passionate staff. Unfortunately camera shops are becoming a dying breed on the high street due to competition from smartphones and the general decline of high street retail

[JagYouAre]

I definitely think this is true. I expect a lot of it comes down to the fact that you would probably need to be a bit of an enthusiast to want to work in a shop selling items in what many would consider to be a dying (or certainly more niche) market.

I love perusing a good camera shop. At worst you can have a play with all the latest tech on offer. At best you might pick up a gem; on several occasions I've found a great example of a lens I've been after on the second hand shelves at a good price.

As you say, and mentioned above, the staff always know what they are talking about, even in the more chain-y type places.

[Derek Smith]

Take care in camera shops.

I went to my local for some images to be printed, and got to chatting to a staff member while waiting. I mentioned I experienced problems with the size of my Panasonic G7. I've got big, clumsy hands, and occasionally changed the focus dial.

"Have a play with the G9," he said, just as if he was being friendly. He walked off and left me to it. It fitted, instantly. I bought it.

What a dirty trick.

So take care in camera shops. You might buy something you didn't know was essential to your happiness.

[Craikeybaby]

My local(ish) camera shop, LCE in Leamington Spa, are also great. I have made a point of buying all my recent kit through them, as it would be a shame to lose them.

[Tony1963]

I pretty much stopped going to camera shops from around 2005 when a sales idiot in Photosound, Bishops Stortford, laughed out loud at me and my wife when I asked if they sold sensor cleaning kits. Not only did he laugh, but he passed on my request to other sales staff in the very busy shop, still laughing. Obviously I walked out, went on the net, and ordered from Wex, delivered two days later.

Why should I support a moron with, maybe, few qualifications and no idea how to make a customer feel valued? Back in my twenties I might well have done a Clarkson on him!

I know that he wasn't typical at all, but he was more than the final straw for me.