The phantom queen said, >Film sales are steady > among serious hobbyists and pros,...
No way. I look at pro portfolios on a regular basis. I would guess that 90% are shooting digital exclusively. Serious hobbyists are going digital at a very rapid pace. That's just reality. Paul > <So, while YOU think they're "way off," they don't seem to feel the same > way, and, as far as I'm concerned, I'm glad that they are providing for my > film and darkroom needs - and at a reasonable price as well. And there are > a lot of east bay photogs who feel the same way.> > > Quit being so defensive and really listen to what I am saying please? > > I never said they shouldn't keep on catering to the film folks, in > fact I am glad they do given the student and pro base around here, > (and hey I am soon to be one of them so of course I am glad there is > somewhere I can still buy film and stuff reasonably...) but I do think > that they are not catering as much to the digital crowd as they could > be and that's going to cost them money-wise in the future if they > don't get more up to speed. > > Ok, I'm going to lay it on the line. > > Yes, I was talking about LG Photo in Berkeley, and yes, I love the > darkroom, the fact that they have everything in terms of film, etc and > yes, they do have a selection of digital cameras though for a store > that aims to be THE photo store in the area they don't have all the > lines they could. > > When I went in looking for one the sales staff was far sketchier on > the digital end of things than the film. Having a Nikon rep in once in > a while isn't the optimal way to sell cameras. KNOWING the cameras, > the different lines and what the advantages and flaws of each one are > is. > > Stocking digital stuff is a pretty recent thing for them. > > A year or so ago I was trying to make a good decision on which digital > camera to spend my money on and no one behind that counter really knew > more about the cameras than I did walking through the door and doing > some research online. I needed a semi-pro camera and lenses, etc. > Something to get me from school to my first pro assignments. No one > behind that counter had the stats and experience I needed to make a > good decision. They were all gung ho on selling me a film camera, but > nearly blank when it came to finding me the best digital one. > > When I finally did buy one, elsewhere, I still went back for my > lenses, but it took a staff member a good amount of time to figure out > what lenses and adapters go with my particular camera, and in this > case, as it happened they were wrong about a certain lens being a good > one, and I had to replace it with another, better one to get what I > needed. Time and money wasted.... > > They're only now getting to the point where they are handling digital > pics in bulk, doing prints from CD's filled with pics, and they still > don't offer any real help regarding the digital imaging end of things. > No digital lab. You come in as a novice looking to crop and edit > yourself and you're out of luck. They have a machine to do it for you, > sorta, but they could be offering BOTH. > > A lot of people simply can't afford photoshop, but would love to be > able to regularly access a computer that has it...Or could use some > help getting started in that direction. Fact is, a great portion of > LG's knowlege and facility stops at film, and that's not as up to date > it could be. > > I say why not have BOTH labs? > > But when I did, they looked at me like I was from Mars... > > I spoke to a higher up when I did my interview. The impression I got > from him was that they did not want to deal with digital but they felt > they had to. It was almost a reverse snobbery thing and it bugged me a > bit. You look on the book shelves and very few of the good books on > digital photography are even there...They have a lot on film, but > there interest clearly stops there. Yeah, B&N and Borders can cover > that, but do they have a staff that is well-versed in both kinds of > photography and that can answer questions raised by reading or who can > suggest the RIGHT book? > > Not really.... > > I personally personally like BOTH formats and think each has it's own > advantages and that if allowed they can compliment each other. But I > got the impression this guy was resistant to digital and couldn't be > bothered except for the fact that it was beginning to impact the > profit line.... > > He's not seeing the bigger picture, I'm sorry, and that is bad for > business. ANY business. You have to grow or you'll stagnate. To get > new business you have to offer MORE, not stay with the staus quo... > Yeah, you always want to offer your basis products, that's what keeps > your current base customer happy, but you also want to cater to what's > new and developing...You always want to gain NEW customers. > > This store should be doing a thriving business via web, but it's just > poking along....They should be COURTING the digital user and they are > just BARELY covering the area. > > This store is lucky. > > Like you said, it's in an area that is saturated with students and > pros who need or like film. It will probably survive digital or not, > maybe not as well, if they chose not to get more into it, but unless > the schools go all digital and that's not likely, they'll do okay. > > (Except for the fact that they have a ton of film-related equipment > they are admittedly stuck with, things like enlargers, that they are > contemplating selling at a loss because of the fact that sales of > those things has fallen to a crawl...) > > This is not the case for other stores elsewhere. > > There are a lot off stores across the country who will fold if they > don't get more into the digital end of things. Film sales are steady > among serious hobbiests and pros, but the guy on the street who used > to buy 2 and three rolls a month to travel with or to take pics of his > grandkids? > > He's buying digital media cards... > > Just an FYI, my 80 year old friend who is about the most computer > phobic guy I know just went out and replaced his traditional camera > with a digital model. Why? Because he can shoot all he likes and not > waste money on film and bad prints. > > Bottom line? > > He saves money, and the developing labs lose out. > > I've got a couple of buddies who do lab work and film is not nearly > as in demand as it used to be. Folks are shooting more digital, dl to > CD's and memory cards and sending those in to be teched and printed. > Yes, they're still getting rolls too, but the digital is catching up > FAST. I personally think it cost me more to do my own prints so I send > out for most of that, but as far as the cropping, correcting, and > enlarging goes? I'd rather do that myself than pay a lab guy to do > it... It's less expensive. Let's face it, if I was confined to ONLY > film, I'd hardly ever shoot...I couldn't afford it. > > Until digital? > > Photography, even as a hobby, was simply out of reach for me. My > digital camera has paid for itself in the year and a half I have had > it in terms of what I didn't spend in film. I have film cameras, but > except for school, I doubt I will be using them much, unless my > finances change drastically for the better and unfortunately that's > not likely for me...Health issues...I often can't afford ONE roll of > film, but I can always erase the CF card and start over.... > > That's important to me, and it's the main reason I am mainly a digital gal. > > I don't think digital will ever completely replace film. There is a > certain artfulness to using film and many photographers love the > experience of developing thier own film, but I do think that > eventually the market will be maybe 2/3 digital to 1/3 film, and that > ANY store that doesn't recognize and court that business deserves to > lose their business. > > There are too many folks out there like me now not to see that. > Digital cameras on the midline and below have outstripped the > tradtional film ones to the point where some manufacturers are > seriously close to cutting them altogether. Even the pros are adding > digital to the repitoire. Why? Because it's FUN, and it costs > less...You get instant satisfaction and no wasted film.... > > LG NOT going there with full speed is just stupid retail and having > spent my life in retail I have no patience for this kind of "Well, we > already have this and it's worked for us forever so we won't change > all that much" kind of attitude. > > In my time I've watched a lot of people die retail-wise because they > didn't adapt as well to changing times. I've watched more than one > small company self-sabotoge themselves right out of business and I > don't like to see that, really...They can do both, and do well, and > they SHOULD. > > LG is a lovely store, can't be beat on the film end, but they could be > a GREAT store for the digital folks too and unfortunately I am not > sure they wanna go there.. They'd rather stay in a niche market than > cater to the whole market, fine for them maybe, but unfortuately > that's a bit risky for most of the stores out there... > > They're not all that lucky..... > > As for the "expanding labs" that a bit of a fallacy actually. It's not > so much that there are new ones as the ones that are there are going > online, and advertising more to catch up with the market as a whole. A > lot of labs had business enough that they never had to worry too much > about where the business was coming from. They didn't have to court it > as hard. Now they have to be more visible if they want thier share. > > When Mom and Pop can sit down at the computer and print their own pics > and often DO? > > It's dog eat dog time.... >
