WITH THE CAMERAS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19696, 25 January 1926, Page 10

WITH THE CAMERAS.

THOUSANDS OF SNAPS. AMATEURS INVADE DUNEDIN. BUSY TIME FOR DEALERS. The cameras have been clicking merrily as Maxim guns in Dunedin since the Exhibition opened. At least 300,000 snaps have been taken by amateur photographers, both residents and visitors, and one firm alone sold 600 cameras during November and December. It is the season for photography, and with bright skies, glimpses of iNature at its best, pleasant moments at Logan Park, friends m smiling poses the camera people have had everything to their liking. .before Christmas the weather was bad, and camera dealers suffered in consequence. They had anticipated a rush from the opening of the Exhibition, but till a week before Christmas trade was below the previous year's total. With the coming of bright sunshine, however, there was a demand for films and cameras, and from the beginning of iNovem-be-r about 50,000 Kodak film cartridges have been sold in Dunedin. Photographic dealers and chemists, who stock the requisites, report abnormally heavy sales, and in one week one firm sold 1530 films. Who have been the photographers, and what have the subjects been? To the first question, dealers have no hesitation in saying that visitors predominate among the army of camera people. They answer the second query by saying: “Snaps of the Amusement Park, the scenic spots in and about Dunedin, and of friends.” These energetic amateurs are undoubtedly advertising agents for the city. Many snaps of Sullivan’s Dam, the harbour, and scenes about the city have been handed to dealers, to print. The latter are impressed with the number of visitors who have been busy with the lens. The holiday-maker takes pride in his or her snaps, and on arrival home again, the photographs are sure to be displayed to admiring friends. Dunedin will gam an advertisement. A photograph of an interior view at the Exhibition is more or less a rarity, state the retail dealers. The manager of a large wholesale firm states that the rarity of snaps of exhibits is duo to the restrictive influence of the permit system under which cameras may be taken into the Exhibition pavilions. He said that an erroneous impression existed among photographers that no views were to bo "shot” inside the pavilions, though a small charge is made for permission to take views of interiors. This gentleman considered that sufficient prominence had not been given to the fact that permits could be obtained, as he was sure that many more thousands of snaps of the hundreds of interesting exhibits would have been taken. The teason has been so busy that extra staff has been engaged by retailers, who develop and print the negatives. Few people now spend their moments making prints, as they have found it easier and less risky to place their films in the hands of experts. “Good photographs are treasured,” declared a photographer. When a fine negative is produced, it is noted that the“snapper” frequently asks that it should be enlarged. In this branch of work a Dunedin photographic stores manager reports an exceptional increase since the opening of the Exhibition. He attributed the boom to the low cost of the enlargements, as compared with the charges made by studio photographers. The post-card size is very popular as good prints make cheap gifts for friends elsewhere, and prove more acceptable than the printed card, as the subjects are invariably of personal interest.