RETAIL NEWS
VISIT THE NEW
CARMARTHEN
CAMERAS STORE!
Indulge your passion for photography with
the best products, services and free events.
C
ARMARTHEN CAMERAS
was started in 1998
by the current owner
Mathew Whittal-Williams,
who’d spent many years
working in Francis
Photographic, a small but dedicated
camera shop dealing in new and
used photographic gear. When the
shop was first opened, Mathew
specialised in used photographic
equipment, mainly 35mm film
cameras and lenses, but also
medium-format and large-format,
as well as many collectable film
cameras and accessories. With the
introduction of digital cameras, the
business flourished, with a lot of film
equipment being part-exchanged
and sold.
In 2008 we took over the existing
Francis Photographic business
when owner Bill Francis retired, and
continued to expand and build the
new business, adding brands and
new lines. With the internet boom,
business expanded further with
Carmarthen Cameras being quick
to branch out online. In 2016 we had
outgrown the shop and found a very
large disused chapel in the centre of
Carmarthen town for our new home.
A range of services
The chapel, known as Zion Chapel,
is a listed building and took three
years to get through planning, restore
the building and turn it into the dream
camera shop that it is today.
Carmarthen Cameras is now a
Nikon Premier Dealer, a Canon Pro
Stockist, Olympus, Panasonic and
Fuji Authorised Dealers, and main
dealers for Sigma, Samyang, Carl
Zeiss, Tamron, Irix, Lee Filters,
Format Hitech Filter, Cokin and many
ot her brands of tripods, bags and
straps etc.
The staff have evolved too, with
a 20-strong team now dealing with
shop floor and internet sales, as well
as the processing and printing suite.
We have in-store printing of t-shirts,
mugs and even slate. Our customer
base is worldwide and we have
regular visiting customers from
across the UK. We pride ourselves
on our customer service, with expert
staff on the shop floor to advise and
help the customers.
Ask the experts
All the shop floor staff are keen
photographers themselves. Krish is
a published portrait photographer,
Sean is a macro and landscape
expert, and Mark is a traditional
darkroom printer with over 30 years’
experience. Many of our customers
also enjoy the events we organise and
learn new skills with our special days
involving landscape shooting, bird of
prey demonstrations and astro night
events. Sign up to our newsletter and
keep up to date with news and events.
We are very proud of our new
premises (built in 1850) and we
have created a truly stunning shop
and destination store where our
customers are free to view and
try out all the latest equipment in
a lovely environment.
n Visit Carmarthen Cameras’ online
store at carmarthencameras.com
and take the visual tour of its superb
new shop and see for yourself what
the fuss is all about.
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PRACTICALPHOTOGRAPHY.COM 87
