# Sony Inroads



## Mt Spokane Photography (Jun 1, 2019)

I stopped in at our local Camera Store in North Spokane today. They have been around for over 100 years, and still have their original downtown location.

They have evolved, however, into a high end audio visual store, even selling high end appliances. 

They still sell high end cameras, but for the Canon 1 series or Nikon D5, you have to go down town. They used to have professional photographers to assist you, now, that's gone away but the people at least do know the products.

They used to have a Canon and a Nikon display in the prime location, and Sony around the corner with Fujii and others.

Thats changed dramatically. Now the Sony display takes up both spots formerly occupied by Nikon and Canon, and Canon / Nikon take up the less desirable and smaller display cases.

I have not been to the more pro oriented downtown store lately, but I'd expect the same.

I wanted to compare the EVF of the EOS R with mine to see if its as bad as mine is, but they are sold out, the salesman said they can't keep the R or RP in stock.


----------



## old-pr-pix (Jun 1, 2019)

At least they are still in business! The local pro shop closed about two years ago -- I had done business with them for fifty years! The owner then opened a smaller footprint retail outlet that specializes in used gear and Internet sales. A different new store opened about an hours drive away - when they opened they specialized in Sony, Fuji, Olympus with some Nikon. They didn't carry Canon at all! From what I hear a lot of the smaller, independent local retail store camera business (i.e. not big box) is influenced by the camera manufacturers' business practices and the quality of their local reps. An aggressive, helpful rep. can swing a lot of business in his/her company's direction. It's my understanding that Canon locally can be a real pain for retailers to deal with.


----------



## unfocused (Jun 1, 2019)

Local camera stores have been in decline for decades, but digital pretty much killed them off. It was the sales of film, chemicals and paper (the consumables) that were the bread and butter of many stores. Selling a camera meant a lifetime of selling the consumables. Now that's gone.

By the way, what does this thread have to do with the title? Placement of displays are often determined by the retailer's contract with the supplier. Suppliers offer perks or incentives for stores to place their products in prominent locations. It doesn't mean the product has stronger sales or is in more demand. In fact, it might mean the opposite.


----------



## privatebydesign (Jun 1, 2019)

unfocused said:


> Local camera stores have been in decline for decades, but digital pretty much killed them off. It was the sales of film, chemicals and paper (the consumables) that were the bread and butter of many stores. Selling a camera meant a lifetime of selling the consumables. Now that's gone.
> 
> By the way, what does this thread have to do with the title? Placement of displays are often determined by the retailer's contract with the supplier. Suppliers offer perks or incentives for stores to place their products in prominent locations. It doesn't mean the product has stronger sales or is in more demand. In fact, it might mean the opposite.


I disagree. Film was developed and printed cheaper by mail order, the real nail in the coffin for local stores has been the economies of scale provided by the big online retailers and the fact that they are, effectively, cheaper as they don't generally collect sales tax.

What far too many people did was go to their local store and handle all the display models then go home and order it online for 5-10% less while getting a no quibble return period, that is what has killed local stores in general not just camera stores.


----------



## Mt Spokane Photography (Jun 1, 2019)

We are lucky for a relatively small population center to have two stores that sell pro level cameras. The small one must order them in for you, but they arrive in two days. The larger one I mentioned also sells online from a huge warehouse, so I can order online for pickup at the warehouse, or see it first at the store.

They tried going head to head online with Adorama and B&H but gave up on that. They match prices, however, and sell some stock on Amazon.

I haden't looked at their website for a long time, but Cameras used to be the big splash, now, they list Canon and Nikon at the bottom of the page but not Sony.

*They have also dropped the top of the line models for each manufacturer, sad times.*

Same for lenses, no more supertelephotos.


I guess that I'd go to the little town of Coeur D Alene, ID a few miles away to order a high end model. I usually buy from them just to do my part in keeping small shops going.

You can tell they are professional, they don't sell Sony
http://www.cameracorral.com/


----------



## unfocused (Jun 1, 2019)

privatebydesign said:


> I disagree. Film was developed and printed cheaper by mail order, the real nail in the coffin for local stores has been the economies of scale provided by the big online retailers and the fact that they are, effectively, cheaper as they don't generally collect sales tax.
> 
> What far too many people did was go to their local store and handle all the display models then go home and order it online for 5-10% less while getting a no quibble return period, that is what has killed local stores in general not just camera stores.



Well, it's certainly a bit more complicated than I made it out to be. I would say that the whole ecosystem that supported local camera stores has collapsed. My point, which I oversimplified, was the camera and lens sales were not really the foundation for many local stores. Before big box and the internet, there was the back of Popular Photography and Modern Photography, which were filled with pages of tiny print listings of lenses and cameras sold by the New York stores, just as B&H and Adorama still do over internet. Even then, local stores either couldn't or didn't attempt to compete on price and people still went into the local store to handle the merchandise and then ordered from the back of the camera magazines.

But, back then, there were local newspapers that bought huge volumes of film and paper from local suppliers (at least the newspaper I worked for did so) The paper bought local because they supported their advertisers. There were local portrait photographers who bought film and paper from the local stores. Local colleges and universities bought supplies from local retailers for their photo labs. Print shops and other businesses also bought supplies from local camera shops. And, of course, the character of professional photographers has changed as well. Whereas, you once needed a pretty extensive investment to go into business and you needed a local supplier to support that infrastructure, now days people buy a rebel and a kit lens and are ready to roll, if they have the talent (or in some cases, even if they don't). So, I agree I overstated the significance of enthusiasts, but there were a fair number of enthusiasts who developed and printed their own pictures. 

Much of that local ecosystem began to collapse years ago and yes, big box retailers did move in and compete for the lower end market, which didn't help. But, digital has had a huge impact because the few remaining newspapers and other commercial users and producers of photography no longer need a ready supply of chemicals, papers, etc. 

So, I am guilty of oversimplification, but digital did dry up an ongoing source of revenue for many businesses. None of these things taken individually killed off the stores, but the ecosystem that supported local commerce has collapsed.


----------



## nomadwithalens (Jun 2, 2019)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> I stopped in at our local Camera Store in North Spokane today. They have been around for over 100 years, and still have their original downtown location.
> 
> They have evolved, however, into a high end audio visual store, even selling high end appliances.
> 
> ...



What professional oriented store is downtown? I recently went to the northside store to look at lenses and they said the same thing: the R is selling like crazy... I was hoping to test the 50 RF on their R, didn't bring my own...


----------



## Mt Spokane Photography (Jun 2, 2019)

nomadwithalens said:


> What professional oriented store is downtown? I recently went to the northside store to look at lenses and they said the same thing: the R is selling like crazy... I was hoping to test the 50 RF on their R, didn't bring my own...


Huppins has their original Store downtown. They used to have a better selection of high end products, but if the camera is not in the North end store its almost certainly out of stock downtown.

You can try it on my R if you want to stop by my place 20 miles North of Spokane.


----------



## nomadwithalens (Jun 2, 2019)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> Huppins has their original Store downtown. They used to have a better selection of high end products, but if the camera is not in the North end store its almost certainly out of stock downtown.
> 
> You can try it on my R if you want to stop by my place 20 miles North of Spokane.



I have the R just didn't have it on my person when I went but thank you. I thought the downtown location was closed! I'll have to swing through and check it out because that is a lot closer for me.


----------



## dcm (Jun 2, 2019)

I see that CC moved from Sherman. I'll have to drop by when I'm up in July.


----------



## Mt Spokane Photography (Jun 2, 2019)

dcm said:


> I see that CC moved from Sherman. I'll have to drop by when I'm up in July.


The problem is that they can't afford to stock any of the higher end model equipment, just entry level, or occasionally a trade-in. They do order it and get it promptly. They have managed to get new models for me that no one else could get.


----------

