[Leica] decline in LUG membership

[scott at adrenaline.com (Scott McLoughlin)]

Where? I always wanted one of those :-)

Scott

B. D. Colen wrote:

>Speaking of upheavals - You can now find 'new in box' Nikon F5s for
>about $1200. What does THAT tell you about the present and future of
>film?
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org
>[mailto:lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of
>Thinkofcole@aol.com
>Sent: Thursday, August 12, 2004 2:57 PM
>To: lug@leica-users.org
>Subject: [Leica] decline in LUG membership
>
>
>
>After a week-long business trip to New Jersey, a visit to  several
>camera 
>stores and camera repair shops plus a visit to the  Second Sunday Camera
>Show in 
>Wayne, N.J., I am convinced that not only LUG  membership is affected
>but 
>almost every aspect of the camera business except  digital. Kodak's
>forthcoming 
>departure from several key film businesses should  make this assessment
>even 
>more certain. 
>  I found a Korean-owned camera store in Ft. Lee, NJ, and an
>American-owned 
>camera store in Palisades Park, NJ  both closed. A  big,
>long-established 
>American-owned camera store in Hackensack, NJ, is  moving to Englewood,
>NJ. Two 
>Korean-owned camera repair shops are no longer  buying cameras for parts
>because 
>of big inventory and no demand. A big, long  established American-owned 
>camera stores in my new home of Asheville, North  Carolina, is cutting
>the size of 
>its store in half. All of this suggests to me a  big upheaval in sales. 
>  A local Walmart in Asheville no longer even offers one-hour
>developing, 
>probably because demand is too low. The main one-hour places in
>Asheville now 
>-- which often takes two hours --are the drug-store chains  and K-Mart.
>{Of 
>course, Walmart stores in other cities still offer one-hour  service.]
>  Kodak's end of 120 format will affect Rolleiflex and other 2x2 TTL
>reflex 
>cameras,  although there should be enough other brands around for a  few
>
>years. Its end of 135 -- other than Kodachrome -- will affect all 35mm
>cameras, 
>although here again there should be other brands around for a long
>while, 
>basically Fuji. Kodak's end of sheet film will affect Speed Graphic,
>Crown 
>Graffic, Linhof and other classic sheet-film cameras. 
>  Like 8mm Bolex cameras, many classic cameras will no longer bring
>premium 
>prices anywhere because no film will soon be available without a lot of
>
>trouble looking for it. 
>  As for Leica, Nikon and a few other special situations, the vast
>majority 
>of the users are only the ones already in the market -- the
>professionals, 
>the collectors, the wealthy and a few handfuls of guys and gals  that
>absolutely 
>love to own and use the best there is.
>  On one hand, many camera dealers in some cities appear to be  willing
>to 
>accept far less for older Leica cameras and lenses because they  are
>dead [or 
>almost dead] stock. On the other hand, many Leica dealers are  still
>very 
>active, suggesting that the market is still there. At the Second  Sunday
>Camera 
>Show, I saw a suit-case-full of used Leicas and Leica copies for  sale
>and when I 
>tried to get a look, a major buyer said that he had already  bought them
>all 
>for a big Manhattan store. 
>   What does it all mean? To me it means that except for digital  and
>except 
>for a handful of major cities --like New York -- the camera business  is
>slow, 
>very slow and in lots of places, no longer what it used to be. 
>   As for professional photographers, my daughter  in Minneapolis, who 
>occasionally models for local photographer friends,  told me that one
>professional 
>photographer friend there has  lost business with at least one customer
>because 
>the customer has been  buying stock photographs from a local company for
>far 
>less money rather  than pay heavily for a whole crew to provide special
>stuff. 
>  Unfortunately for buyers, except in the bigger cities, where prices
>are 
>more reasonable, private sellers are looking for double or triple
>current  
>values and it will take at least a year or two for the word to trickle
>down --  if 
>then -- that the market has shrunk considerably.  For sellers, I believe
>they 
>will have to study carefully whether to stock up on this or that model.
>I  
>hope I haven't offended anyone in what I've said. --bob  cole
>_______________________________________________
>Leica Users Group.
>See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>
>_______________________________________________
>Leica Users Group.
>See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>  
>