SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

In the 70's and 80's Leeds used to have a fine selection of specialist shops whatever it was you were interested in. Shops that employed people who had an interest in the particular speciality and could guide and advise you. Today that specialisation has all but gone or retreated onto the web. I have been passionate about photography since college in my teens and I can remember, as an example, there were 3 Leica dealers in Leeds. There was Beckett Film Services on the Headrow, Bentley Film Services on Albion Place and Leeds Camera Centre in the Merrion Centre. Now there aren't any my nearest dealer is in Harrogate. I worked briefly for Beckett Film Services soon after college. They were amasing and as well as being Leica main agents they were main agents for the following manufacturers- Nikon- Pentax- Rollei- Linhof- Exacta- Olympus- Alpha- Hasselblad- Canon- Carl Zeiss to name a few. Within audio visual they were main agents for the likes of Tandberg- Ferragraph- Tascam- Revox plus many more

Don't forget Bass & Bligh with their own repair specialists.

I seem to remember a shop called Jeffrey's in the fifties. Whether it was a specialist photographic shop, it certainly sold film and cameras. I used to have an Agfa 35m and the only place I could get film for it was somewhere on Commercial Street I think, but I couldn't tell you the name.

Bass and Bligh were upstairs in the Thorntons Arcade if my memory serves me correctly. Today there is a good photographic dealership in the Merrion Centre called Dale Photographic. They still sell Ilford chemicals and paper. I bought a Gossen Spot-meter and a Manphrotto tripod from them a couple of weeks ago. They mainly specialise in medium format but they are official Nikon and Hasselblad agents and are worth a visit. They also had a fairly mint condition Leica IIIf with a 50mm 2.8 Summitar in which would be a nice combination if anyone is looking to produce B&W images in a vintage mould. I haven't tried it so I don't know what the lens flare is like. Summitar's were well known for lens flare

Ive just bought a D SLR,but having just read the previous message im seriously thinking of binning it.It all sounds too complicated !!

kenneth wrote: Bass and Bligh were upstairs in the Thorntons Arcade if my memory serves me correctly. Today there is a good photographic dealership in the Merrion Centre called Dale Photographic. They still sell Ilford chemicals and paper. I bought a Gossen Spot-meter and a Manphrotto tripod from them a couple of weeks ago. They mainly specialise in medium format but they are official Nikon and Hasselblad agents and are worth a visit. They also had a fairly mint condition Leica IIIf with a 50mm 2.8 Summitar in which would be a nice combination if anyone is looking to produce B&W images in a vintage mould. I haven't tried it so I don't know what the lens flare is like. Summitar's were well known for lens flare They also had a shop in lower Brigate and more recently a workshop on an upper floor at the Lower Brigate/Duncan Street junction. Mmmmmm, Hasselblad (no not some strange fetish cnosni before you say anything!) couldn't run to that - but still have my old Pentax. Somehow the thought of being restricted to 36 shots at a time seems rather weak now with all this digital technomonologology

cnosni wrote: Ive just bought a D SLR,but having just read the previous message im seriously thinking of binning it.It all sounds too complicated !! I have never entered the digital world and have no plans to do so albeit, that does not mean I disagree with it I guess I am old fashioned and still enjoy 35mm photography with my Leica M system and the B&W images that it produces so as I can make prints in my darkroom. It is still, in my opinion, the most fun you can have with your cloths on. Out of interest, do forum members interested in taking pictures meet up anywhere for coffee? it would be good to compare notes and discuss photo opportunities.

"Out of interest, do forum members interested in taking pictures meet up"You can meet a few of us in this virtual world:http://www.flickr.com/groups/secretleeds/    

Brunel wrote: "Out of interest, do forum members interested in taking pictures meet up"You can meet a few of us in this virtual world:http://www.flickr.com/groups/secretleeds/     Thank you for that. I was interested to add a post to the meets thread on the discussions page as I would be keen to meet up with others who share my passion for this fine city. As a 61 year old photographer my main interest is in recording the past before it all vanishes, as it used to be my present

Also here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/oldleodis/Why not scan some of your pics and post 'em up to Flickr.