Treasure: a Real Camera Store in Carrboro, North Carolina

Southeastern Camera, Carrboro, North Carolina

For all of you film photographers, here is a treasure in Carrboro, North Carolina: Southeastern Camera. Walk in, and a visual delight of cameras, film, tripods, bags, photographic detritus, and stuff awaits you. 

Old timers like me remember when every town and city had at least one camera store. Some were well-equipped, while others mostly provided film and print processing. But regardless, you could step into one and buy film and, often, some sort of hardware. The digital tsunami of the 2000-2010 era eliminated most of these stores. Internet commerce, and especially eBay (ePrey), killed off most of the survivors. Typically, only major cities like New York or Los Angeles had enough customer base for physical camera stores to survive. 

Bodies and lenses? Just rummage and select.

Broken body for parts or repair? Just look around.

Some of these probably work

I saw a large number of classic 1970s bodies, like Pentax Spotmatics and Minoltas, in the bins. Many of these probably work but may need adjustment.

Off-brand zoom lenses. Some may be all right, but many were poor even when new.

In the 1970s and 1980s, various companies sold millions of zoom lenses, often covering 80 to 200mm in focal length. Many were mediocre optical quality. Amateurs often bought one of these in a kit along with their body, prime focal length lens from the camera manufacturer, braided banjo-style neck strap ("for comfort"), and, of course, "protection" filters for those "valuable camera lenses." The protection filter scam has lingered into the digital era. They are aimed at those rugged photographers who riding camels in the Sahara Desert or crossing the Antarctic on snowmobiles, taking pictures all the way.

Enlargers and film scanners.

In the early 2000s, photographers scrapped millions of optical darkroom enlargers. Now that are popular again. Nikon, Minolta, Hasselblad and others made film scanners in the early 2000s. They were discontinued and are now old, unreliable, and unrepairable electronic devices. The units in good operating condition sell for serious $$$s.

Film, real film!

Southeastern stocks all types of film, some of which is in a refrigerated case. I assume some of the customers are students at nearby University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. 

Sample photograph from the 35mm Leitz Summaron lens (Kodak BW400CN film)

When I stopped by in late-October, Southeastern had a beautiful little Leitz 35mm Summaron lens in thread mount for my Leica IIIC. It was $450, and I reluctantly (barely) passed. They had at least one Hasselblad, many Nikons, and a functioning Rollie 3003. I found a brand new Nikon cable release with the wide tip that fits my Leica, so I gave them some commerce. 

Summary: friendly employees and great stock. It's great to see a traditional camera store again. (Thank you SE Camera for letting me take some photographs in your store).

Before the Crisis: Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, in 1982

The Texas border city of Del Rio was in the news in September of 2021 because of the thousands of Haitian refugees who were hoping to enter the United States. Del Rio is in south central Texas on the Rio Grande. Across the river in northern Coahuila estado is Ciudad Acuña. The news stories reminded me that I spent a day in Ciudad Acuña in 1982 during a long road trip to Big Bend National Park. 

Wash day in the Rio Grande, Ciudad Acuña, Mexico (Agfapan 25 film, Leica M3)

Looking back, it felt like a simpler and more innocent time. We had no issues crossing into Mexico and then returning to USA. No one checked the car or asked us to open the trunk. We had our passports, but I cannot recall if the agent looked at them. I was surprised that there were no fences on the US side of the river, and, at least in July of 1982, anyone could easily cross the river. Ciudad Acuña looked rather sleepy. 

Everyone we met was very friendly. Mexican families were washing their cars in the river, and the local kids were swimming and having a great time. I did not write down the location (my photo note-keeping was haphazard in those days), but I think this was at the Braulio Fernandez Ecological Park.

Where is the traffic? Near Alpine, Texas.

West Texas is big, lonely, and arid. You drive for hours and hours and see cacti and dry brush. Winter might be very scenic when snow drapes the terrain. It might be a bit cold, too.

Big Bend National Park, Texas

In or near Big Bend National Park

Somewhere I have more negatives or slides of west Texas. Scanning them will wait for another day. 

I took these photographs on Agfapan 25 film with a Leica M3 camera with 50mm ƒ/2.8 Elmar lens (Mexico scenes) or a Nikon F camera. Click any photo to enlarge it. I bought the M3 the year before in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was a beater but served me for 25 years.

Pearl Street Houses, Vicksburg, Mississippi (South Section; Kodachrome Film)

Introduction

A few days before Thanksgiving (2020), a gent from Maryland emailed me about my photographs of Pearl Street. He had grown up on there in the 1960s and said my photographs of the houses along both sides of the railroad tracks were the only ones he could find on the web. We met one afternoon and walked around. He was in town to visit his 94-year-old mother, who no longer lived in the old family home and now lived in another part of town. 

The family home had just recently been razed, as shown by fresh dirt on the site. He told me that before the urban renewal program of the 1970s, they all used outhouses behind the houses. Federal funds covered the cost of installing sewers and connecting piping to the houses. He also remembered when Tuminello's (500 Speed Street) was considered the finest restaurant in town, but African Americans were not allowed to eat there. Several small local grocery stores catered to the local residents. All the children knew each other and played together, and parents kept an eye on the games.

My friend's visit inspired me to look over Kodachrome slides that I took along Pearl Street over the years. Some I had scanned before, and I scanned the remainder. I will show reduced-size versions below. They are ordered from south to north, so the house numbers decrease. See the caption under each frame for the address. Many of these cottages have been demolished, and today there is nothing left to see. Brush and trees occupy many of the former house lots. Click any frame to see a larger view of 1600 pixels on the long dimension.

Pearl Street south of Fairground Street

2607 Pearl Street

2605 Pearl Street

2603 Pearl Street

These houses are still extant. The railroad embankment runs right in front of their porches and ruins the view. At least the locomotives no longer sound their deafening horns now. I took these photographs from the tracks.

Fairground Street

Fairground Street Keystone bridge, view east, photograph taken from top of petroleum tank at Levee Street tank farm

501-509 Fairground Street cottages, photograph taken from top of petroleum tank at Levee Street tank farm

503-507 Fairground Street (Leitz 90mm ƒ/2.8 Tele-Elmarit lens)

502 Fairground Street (2020 photograph taken with Kodak Ektar 25 film, Hasselblad 501CM camera)

Fairground Street Keystone bridge (Leica IIIC, 5cm ƒ/3.5 Elmar lens, ⅒ ƒ/11.5)

Fairground Street Bridge from KCS tracks (Kodak Ektar 25 film, Hasselblad 501CM camera, 80mm ƒ/2.8 Planar-CB lens)

Fairground once was a through street that gave access to Levee Street on the west side of the railroad yard. I remember driving over the Keystone bridge in the 1980s, but the city deemed it unsafe and closed it to traffic in the 1990s. At one time, the City was going to move it to the Catfish Park at the waterfront, but nothing came of the plan. 

Fairground Street view north

KCS train heading south. Note iron rooftops on the left

This is the view north along the tracks on the east side of Pearl Street. At one time, a parallel road on the west side extended as far as the cottages on the west (see the iron roofs). All these houses are now gone.

Film Notes

The last of the Kodachrome 25 film.

Most of the photographs above are scans of Kodachrome 25 (K25) color slide film. Kodachrome was the world's first successful color transparency film. Introduced in 1935 and modified over the years, it was in use until 2010, an amazing 75-year production history. Many people associate mid-century color photography with the colors of Kodachrome. It had a certain look. For more information about this historic film:

1. Mike Eckman wrote a blog post on Kodachrome and reproduced an excellent 50-year anniversary article from Modern Photography magazine. Mike reviews classic film cameras and summarizes articles on various film topics. 
2. Wikipedia has a good article with a timeline of the different emulsions.
3. A short 2009 article in Time.
4. Original sources and examples from filmcolors.org
5. Retrospective with contributed examples on casualphotophile.com. Casual is a great site for film photographers. 

I find Kodachrome difficult to scan with my Plustek 7600i film scanner, especially compared to scanning color negative (color print) film. Dense slides just do not scan well.  The color balance is often off, but using the "HDR" setting on the Silverfast Ai scanning software usually handles the colors reasonably well. Sometimes, I use the neutral grey dropper tool to set the colors. Placing the dropper tool on grey pavement usually works. My experience with Nikon's Coolscan scanners was better, but they are no longer in production and are extremely expensive on ePrey. And if the Coolscan unit fails, it may not be repairable any more.

Weekend in Vienna - from the Archives 1979

Many years ago - a previous life - I took the train from Vienna to London en route back to USA. I had spent seven months in southern Europe, and it was time to return to the US. My original plan was to take the train all the way from Athens, but at the last minute, I bought a cheap student air ticket to Vienna and bypassed the long and questionable train ride through Yugoslavia. 

It was March, winter, the best time to tour a city like Wein, when the cultural season is in full swing. I took a few frames with Kodak Tri-X film using my Nikkormat FTn camera. I can't recall who developed the film, but it is a mess of scratches.

Dorky American traveler in the Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna

Schönbrunn Palace Glorietta

Schönbrunn gardens, 28mm ƒ/3.5 Nikkor lens

Schönbrunn gardens, 28mm ƒ/3.5 Nikkor lens

Vienna is full of astonishing cultural and artistic treasures - churches, palaces, statues, concert halls, and museums - remnants from the glorious years of the Hapsburg Empire.* And it looks amazingly good. It is not an urban decay place. The photographs above are from the Schönbrunn Palace, the main summer residence of the Habsburg rulers.

The Karskirche is a Baroque church located on the south side of Karlsplatz. It is a curious architectural mixture of ancient Greek and Roman elements with Byzantine, Renaissance, and Baroque styles. Vienna is full of sights like this.

Photograph of Strauſs from https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8453822q/f1.item

Vienna is the city of music. Here is Johann Strauſs the Younger (1825-1899). You see him all over town, along with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791). Joseph Haydn, Antonio Vivaldi, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Antonio Salieri, and Franz Schubert also spent time in Vienna.

Staatsoper from the student ticket section

As I noted above, European cities are rewarding in the off season, when cultural events are in full swing. As I recall, I bought a student ticket at the Weiner Staatsoper and had to stand in the upper balcony for a 5-hour performance of Tristan und Isolde. Note how in those days I traveled with a suit and neckties. That is how you dressed in a city. Not only that, back then, gents wore a suit on the airplane, and ladies were similarly properly attired. Today, we have become swine, especially Americans.

In the future, you will see more photographs from the archives. Despite the flaws in these 1979 negatives, the data is still there. Will our digital files be readable (or even last) 40 years? Think about it - you already know the answer.....

* My grandmother told me she remembered visiting Vienna with her sister when it still was Hapsburg. It is amazing how many changes have occurred in one century.

From the Archives: the Lorman Country Store, Lorman, Mississippi

Lorman Country Store, Leica M3, 50mm ƒ/2.8 Elmar lens, Kodachrome film

Lorman is a small town - really just a hamlet - south of Port Gibson on US 61. Lorman was known for its old-fashioned country store, which had been in continuous operation from 1875 until 1996. In the past, US 61 passed directly in front of the store. Today, the new 4-lane road is a short distance to the east, and the old store is not subjected to heavy traffic right in front.

Waiting for a ride, 1990 (Olympus Zuiko 35mm shift lens)

In the past, the store housed a post office and sold all the necessities needed by a small farming community. By the mid-1980s, the store was still open, but most visitors may have come to see the museum of antiques, old adding machines, books, and stuff. It was pretty interesting. But finally it happened, bad news: in March of 1996, the Vicksburg Post announced that the store had been sold and that all the contents would be disposed at auction. My photographer friend and I drove to Lorman a day or two before the auction. The proprietor generously let us take pictures inside during its last day of operation.

The photographs are all from Kodachrome film exposed with a Nikon F3 camera with 50mm ƒ/1.8 Nikkor AiS lens. In the interior, I used a Vivitar flash with a cardboard diffuser.

The frames above are from Kodak Tri-X Professional film (the ISO 320 emulsion) taken with my Fuji GW690II camera with 90mm ƒ/3.5 lens (the "Texas Leica"). I used a tripod. A wider-angle lens would have been useful, but I did not have one at the time for 120-size film.

This has been a quick look at the Old Country Store. As of 2019, it houses a restaurant - photographs to follow.