Alex Wilkinson: Supporting Photographers With Honest Advice and Expertise
In this episode of the SheClicks Women in Photography Podcast, Angela speaks with Alex Wilkinson, one of the directors at Wilkinson Cameras, a long-established UK camera retailer with stores across the northwest of England. Alex is responsible for marketing and e-commerce at Wilkinson Cameras, and you’ll often see her reviewing the latest kit on the company’s YouTube channel alongside her colleague Olivia.
Listen to another episode of the SheClicks Women in Photography Podcast
Although photography has been part of her life from a young age (her dad is Frank Wilkinson, the founder of Wilkinson Cameras), Alex didn’t originally set out to join the family firm. Her early career was in hospitality, where she thrived in the fast-paced, people-focused environment. But when her dad encouraged her to give Wilkinson Cameras a try, she made the leap, and now, more than a decade later, she’s an integral part of the business.
Alex talks candidly about her unexpected journey into the photographic industry, the steep learning curve she experienced, and the confidence she’s built over time, even though she sometimes still feels a touch of imposter syndrome. She also shares what it’s like to be a camera reviewer herself, juggling product launches, marketing strategy and video production alongside day-to-day operations. It’s a fascinating insight into the challenges and rewards of running a modern camera retail business.
We also discuss how the photography retail landscape has evolved over the last ten years, from the rise of e-commerce and content creation to the growing importance of video features in cameras. Alex talks about the hands-on approach Wilkinson Cameras takes, whether in-store or online, and the company’s commitment to giving honest advice to customers. That includes recommending more affordable gear when it suits someone’s needs better – a refreshing approach that builds trust and encourages long-term relationships.
The conversation touches on topics that many photographers will relate to, such as the shift to mirrorless cameras, the boom in hybrid shooting, and the impact of social media on buying habits. Alex shares her thoughts on popular models like the Fujifilm X100VI and Canon R50, as well as the surprising popularity of the retro-styled Kodak FZ55 – driven largely by TikTok trends.
Read our Canon EOS R50 V Review
We also dive into the challenges of competing with grey market imports, the value of buying from UK-based retailers and the importance of being able to try out gear in-store. Alex is passionate about helping people get the right kit for their needs and doing so in a way that feels personal and supportive.
This episode is packed with insight, warmth and good humour and it's especially helpful for anyone looking to understand the retail side of the photo industry or who’s wondering what camera to buy next.
Listen now to hear how Alex is helping shape the future of camera retail, one honest conversation at a time.
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Episode Transcript
Alex Wilkinson
We pride ourselves on being really honest. So we would say to you, actually, you don't need to spend this to do that, if you desperately want to spend that much money, this is how we might look to achieve it. And steer them in a better direction, because we want them to come back to us time and time again. It wouldn't do us any good to just allow them to make a very, very expensive purchase that might have them lose confidence in us, because we want to instil confidence in and build relationships and have them coming back to us for a very long time.
Angela Nicholson
Welcome to the SheClicks Women in Photography Podcast. I'm Angela Nicholson, and I'm the founder of SheClicks, which is a community for female photographers. In these podcasts, I talk with women in the photographic industry to hear about their experiences, what drives them and how they got to where they are. now. This episode is with Alex Wilkinson. Alex is a director at Wilkinson Cameras, a retailer with eight stores across the northwest of the UK, and she focuses on marketing and E commerce. You'll also see her on Wilkinson Cameras' YouTube channel, reviewing the latest technology alongside her colleague, Olivia. Alex is passionate about photography and is increasingly interested in videography. She's also dedicated to encouraging more women to explore photography.
Hi, Alex. Thank you so much for joining me today on the SheClicks Women in Photography Podcast.
Alex Wilkinson
thank you very much for inviting me.
Angela Nicholson
It seems like a lifetime ago since we met on Crosby beach at a SheClicks meet up really early days.
Alex Wilkinson
Yeah, that was a lifetime ago for me, a different person since then.
Angela Nicholson
Wow, yeah, a lot's happened in those times.
Alex Wilkinson
Yeah.
Angela Nicholson
Can we start by hearing about your journey into photography and becoming a director of Wilkinson Cameras?
Alex Wilkinson
Yes, it's a strange journey. So my dad founded Wilkinson cameras. So my dad is Frank Wilkinson, hence the name Wilkinson Cameras, and he has been in the photo trade his whole life. He turns eight to this year, and he's been in the trade since he left school, and I've grown up in this life, you know, our over the dinner chat, our Christmas dinner chat is always work related, much, much the annoyance of the people around us. So I've always been around cameras and trade and you know, when I I'd like Agfa toy bears when I was a kid, because he used to give me the way free with film. But I had absolutely no interest in going into it. I never got forced into it. I didn't really want to go into the family business. I just didn't see that as a trajectory for me. I wanted it, wanted to forge my own path, and so I went into a completely different world, into hospitality for many years, and then my dad said to me, please, will you join I think you'd be a really great asset. And I sort of semi reluctantly, because I loved the nightlife. I loved that madness. I loved working mad Friday. I loved working Boxing Day. I loved those crazy periods. I loved the 14, 16, hour shifts and dealing with all the, you know, frustrating, drunk people. And it was a wasn't sure if I really wanted to change out of that, but I thought, I'll give it a go. I'll see what I think. So I sort of made that switch when I was, Oh, I've been there 11 years now, 11, yeah, 11 years now, and I didn't know anything about cameras. My dad had taught me nothing. He taught me nothing about, you know, exposure, um, how cameras work, none of it. I'd always had access to the great equipment, uh huh, but I'd not been taught any of the basics of it. And I've, I found the nine to five a very difficult transition, and it was, there was so much to learn. And Wilkinson cameras is made up of passionate and very, very talented photographers, and I didn't know what I was doing, but I was always honest about that. So I've had a really steep learning curve, and it's forever learning, because the Tech has changed so much just in that 11 year period. Yeah, and he's continuing to evolve. So I've had to learn so much, but I love learning stuff like that. I love evolving that. So that's sort of how I got to here. And then I got major director. After a few years in the company, I started off as business development and marketing kind of I got made a director a few years into the to my role there.
Angela Nicholson
Do you now consider yourself a photographer?
Alex Wilkinson
Depends who asks. Because I'm I'm just surrounded by so many really, really, really talented people, and I'm exposed to so much of it because of the position. I'm in, and the job that I'm in, in the industry that I work in, and I just don't consider myself to be up amongst those people. So I guess it depends who I spoke to, all of my friends and people outside of the trade, then I'm definitely a photographer. I know what I'm talking about, but I'm not sure if I always identify as one, but most of the time I do. I just get a bit of an imposter syndrome I think.
Angela Nicholson
I was just gonna say, it does sound like that, because I always associate you with with, you know, pretty much knowing what you need to know about photography and about cameras and lenses and everything. So it's interesting that you maybe because you you're with the same people that you kind of started with, and they always knew more than you. So maybe you sort of feel like you're in catch up mode.
Alex Wilkinson
I'm very, very very confident in my knowledge, my product knowledge, and my my understanding of photography, and now video is very It's very good. It's probably higher than most people's. And that's not trying to sound big headed. I just I'm good at absorbing information, and I do all a lot of our video reviews as well. So I do know what I'm talking about, I just, I guess I don't always have time to be a photographer outside of doing it for that purpose.
Angela Nicholson
Got you. Yeah. So how has the business changed over the last 10 or 11 years? Because it seems to me that marketing and content creation has become much more important to retailers than it was when you first got on board.
Alex Wilkinson
Well, when I first started, I was the marketing department, just me. Before that, there wasn't a me. Our e commerce, we're a little bit behind, in all honesty, in E commerce, a lot of focus was always on the stores, and I've tried to change that, and tried to put a lot more into ecom, and I've now got three people, and one of those is a dedicated content creator, and we've seen that massive shift to video, massive shift. And of course, we've also switched from DSLR to mirrorless in that time as well. So it's been a big, a lot of changes, but also, retail is a very difficult environment at the moment, and we've been through a recession in that time as well. Was that in that time?
Angela Nicholson
Probably, we've had a few.
Alex Wilkinson
Yeah, and a pandemic. So for two years almost, I worked at home, and we switched, you know, for a long time, to purely online, because all our stores were closed. So we've seen lots and lots and lots of changes in that time, and adapted to them.
Angela Nicholson
Yeah. I mean, yeah, like you say, it's a really tricky market these days. Is your business in store business still very important to the company, or is it shifting increasingly to online?
Alex Wilkinson
It is still important, but I think the pandemic taught us even more so than we suspected, how key the website is and will continue to be, but the stores are very important to us and will continue to be, because people need to get their hands on to it. They do. And we also it's also a service a lot of people can't offer. You know, the manufacturers, okay, food, film have got the house of photography, but not many manufacturers have their own shops, and we kind of hope that they don't have them, to be honest. And it's important to go in and be able to chat to people that are truly passionate. Can help you. You can actually touch the equipment. You can see it in action. So they do still make up a good proportion of our business, but most of that is driven via the website and via online
Angela Nicholson
I always advise people, if they're asking for advice about cameras, that you can talk about the features, you can explain some of the technology, but actually you need to get it in your hands and see whether you find it comfortable, whether you like the look of the menu and the control layout.
Alex Wilkinson
Yeah. Sometimes people will say to me, oh, you know, my I've, I've kind of said between the Canon and the Nikon, and I'll kind of assess their needs and what they want to do with that camera, and say, look, both of them will be perfect, but you need to go and get hands on it. I cannot abide Android phones. I don't speak Android. I don't like the way they work. But some people feel like that about Apple, and you need to go in and just see which one you get along with. And sometimes it might come down to the grip just doesn't doesn't feel right, does it? For you? Might feel right for my friend, but going into a store and being able to actually physically touch that is so important, and especially when cameras are not inexpensive now, they are considered purchases. It's I don't even go if I'm getting a new mobile phone, I go and look at it in a shop. I would never buy it just online, even though I know it's exactly the same as a phone I had before. I still go and look at it.
Angela Nicholson
And even though you're buying an iPhone?
Alex Wilkinson
Yeah.
Angela Nicholson
Interesting,
Alex Wilkinson
Yeah, I'm I did. I need to see that exactly like I the I need to see the colour in real life. And, and, yeah, just double check it, because it's such a vast amount of money that I'm going to be spending on it, I want to make sure that it's correct.
Angela Nicholson
Yeah, it's true. It made me laugh a couple of years ago when Apple brought out, there was a really nice purple iPhone, and I got that was very excited about it. And then, of course, the first thing I did was stick a cover on it so I could no longer see the purple
Alex Wilkinson
Same
Angela Nicholson
Yeah, yes, yeah. So can you tell us a bit about what your day to day job entails, what do you do?
Alex Wilkinson
Well, I wear many, many hats, because we're quite a small company, quite a small team. We're all we all do different things, but I look after our website and I oversee our marketing department, which means that within that remit is all the social media. I also actually do some of the YouTube reviews as well. Our content creator does a lot on her own. They I will actually do the videos as well, which means we have to much like you, get our hands on the kit, test it, go through it, take out, shoot with it. In our case, we're also filming us doing that, and then we've got to script it which sounds not quite right, just so that we can formulate everything properly, much like writing your review and then delivering it, going through all the footage from that, all the stills, making sure that the person that helps me look at the website has got lots of work to do, liaising with the other directors, coming up with marketing plans, chatting to brands. So booking in meetings, whether it's to find out about new products, or to book in workshops for stores, chat marketing budgets, we work very closely with the brands. So there's, there is a lot of external sort of stuff that we have to do as well. So it's very varied.
Angela Nicholson
Yeah, when you're recording a video, you know you're doing a review. You say we do that. Is it? Is it just you and Olivia? Or do you have someone else there as well, helping out?
Alex Wilkinson
No, just, just me and Olivia. Sometimes I might send Kane if I'm busy. But Olivia is, she's she's so talented, she does most of the filming, all of the B roll, all of the editing. She will write some of the reviews. I'll write some. She'll deliver them. We both present, but she does the putting it together. And is really the talent.
Angela Nicholson
Yeah. Now, obviously, as you said, I review cameras as well. And you know, sometimes you might be lucky and you get a couple of weeks notice. Sometimes you get a few hints beforehand or something. But inevitably, there's always a huge rush at the end where you suddenly got a camera. Sometimes you've only got it for, you know, actually in your hands for an hour, sometimes half an hour. And you know, you're desperately trying to get some thoughts on it, take a few photos, this, that and the other. Sometimes you get a bit longer and there's that sort of frantic peak in activity. How do you manage that with everything else that you've got to do?
Alex Wilkinson
How do we do that? We both work very well on a deadline, and I work at my very, very best on a deadline. So I am the queen of just getting stuff in in a panic. I probably work my best when I'm very, very stressed. But also it's quite a lot of long nights, sometimes that sometimes it can be late nights and long days. I would imagine you're similar, because it's the products will come to you at the same time. It's kind of peaks and troughs. And at the moment, it is crazy. Our calendar is just hideous. But then there'll be a few weeks where we're sort of going don't know what to do with myself because we've been working so frantically, but I don't know, we just found a found a way to fit in, don't you?
Angela Nicholson
Yeah, that kind of shows your level of interest, I suppose, like in the products and the and being a photographer or videographer, because there is an excitement to it, isn't. There's a buzz when somebody gives you a new piece of kit and you want to know, what does it do? How is it different? Do I want to upgrade? You know, what's going to persuade people to buy this?
Alex Wilkinson
Yeah, that's always the question. That's where the product knowledge comes in, because you have to be able to compare it to everything else that's around and work out who it's for. I think I like problem solving, so it probably works out quite well for me and I've I like the tech. I like learning. So I like learning about new stuff when I first started, and video was sort of becoming more important, but I could still get away with just ignoring it because it was complicated, whereas now I realise that I can talk about it in a way where nobody else understands what I'm saying, and I get it, but I actually find it quite interesting to learn that and to understand it, and to hopefully be able to then break it down for other people to to get.
Angela Nicholson
Do you find that more people are coming into your stores or going online and. Specifically asking about video features, or wanting to buy cameras for their their video functionality?
Alex Wilkinson
Yes, or for the hybrid, you know, they, they've there's definitely a bit of a demand for people creating better quality content who would never, perhaps previously, have been a photographer. So people maybe, if they've got a small business, they want to replicate what they're seeing on social media and in marketing on social media, and try and do that themselves. So there is definitely an interest, and there's a lot of people that want to start vlogs or podcasts, or just, you know, that kind of thing, that they see a lot of people making careers out of it. And I guess they'll, they'll, they want to try that themselves.
Angela Nicholson
Do people still go into a store and basically, sort of say, Oh, can I have the best camera? Because I'm going to be doing this. And actually, you need to kind of explain, Well, the best camera is, this, but it costs this, and it's in quite complicated. You might want to start with something a bit more straightforward.
Alex Wilkinson
Yes, yes, we still get that, and we still get the My friend told me to buy this Nikon camera. And you have to really build trust there, because you don't want to say your friend is wrong, but you want to start a conversation and work out what, what are you trying to achieve, and how can we best do this for you? And some people will just want the very, very best camera, and they might want a Sony, A1 Mark II, when they would be more than happy for their needs that they've described to us. And with an A7 III, and they could save a load of money or buy some really nice G Master lenses to go with it, but they just want the best. And to be honest, I'm quite happy. I quite happily have some more customers like that.
Angela Nicholson
Yeah, that's an interesting position as a retailer.
Alex Wilkinson
Yeah, we pride ourselves and being really honest. So we would say to you, actually, you don't need to spend this to do that. If you desperately want to spend that much money. This is how we might look to achieve it and steer them in a better direction, because we want them to come back to us time and time again. It wouldn't do us any good to just allow them to make a very, very expensive purchase that might have them lose confidence in us, because we want to instil confidence in and build relationships and have them coming back to us for a very long time.
Angela Nicholson
Yeah, and that is the difference between going to a shop and speaking to someone and just clicking on a button, because you won't have that conversation. So presumably they want some some assistance from a human when they come into a store.
Alex Wilkinson
Yeah, we found that a lot online as well. So online, we try and have, like, a very store based approach. We're trying to be very friendly. We're very reactive. She didn't usually get emails responded to very quickly, but we find a lot of people come onto live chat just to kind of, I guess, check that we are who we say we are, that we are human beings, and to just make them feel better in that purchase, I guess. And and we can we have very store like interactions on live chat, quite a lot.
Angela Nicholson
Yeah, what are the most popular cameras that you're selling at the moment?
Alex Wilkinson
Kodak FZ55
Angela Nicholson
No way.
Alex Wilkinson
Yeah. 100% Yeah.
Angela Nicholson
Okay.
Alex Wilkinson
So that's 120 pound compact camera that probably realistically is to early 2000s technology that is our number one best seller, probably in the last six months.
Angela Nicholson
Wow.
Alex Wilkinson
X100 VI just continuously, um, placing pre-orders for that. And continuously, yeah, um, having an interest in it. But power shot G 7x Mark III.
Angela Nicholson
Okay.
Alex Wilkinson
Cannot get enough of those. Yeah, social media is and and trends very much at play on those ones. And then what would come after that, R50. Canon R50 was extremely popular, but very short supply.
Angela Nicholson
Okay.
Alex Wilkinson
So, a good product mix,
yeah.
Angela Nicholson
But the FZ55 that was that went viral on TickTock, and people can't get enough of it. They want, they want a retro 2000s look, yeah, which I lived through. That was me. I was at uni in early 2000s so I, I don't need that.
Okay, okay, I can understand the X100 VI, because that is a beautiful camera that's extremely well made. It's got a high quality sensor.
Alex Wilkinson
Yeah.
Angela Nicholson
Great. Autofocus. And the only argument people make against it, oh, it's got a fixed lens. Well, I like a fixed lens.
Alex Wilkinson
I agree.
Angela Nicholson
Because actually, you know, it focuses your mind, doesn't it? You kind of just, you have it, and it's nice and neat, and this, that and the other, yeah. But I want that auto focus. I want those film simulation modes. I don't want, like, you say something from 2010.
Alex Wilkinson
Yeah, I, I know it's very odd. I cannot wait to get my own X100 VI I've not been purchasing one because we want to keep fulfilling customer orders. But I can't wait to actually own that camera. That's, that is a camera that I will own, not just have on permanent loan from work, because it's, it's just lovely. It just has everything I want. I would have it everywhere with me.
Angela Nicholson
Okay, yeah, that's interesting, because I was going to ask you, if you actually own a camera, and if you do, do you actually get to use it? Because, you know, I've got a few cameras, but I'm always using the one that's just arrived in the cardboard box.
Alex Wilkinson
Yeah, that's why I don't own a camera, yeah, because we have so many available to us through work, and we have our own in house kit that we film on and stuff that can always access. So no, don't have a camera, we're even going to put an X100VI into our kit at work so that people can can loan it out from us and try it and have access to it, because it's not necessarily a camera that everybody can afford, even though it is less expensive than some that are coming out.
Angela Nicholson
Can we talk about the grey market? I mean, the prices are very tempting in the UK. How are they able to offer those prices?
Alex Wilkinson
Firstly, well, mostly, they're not paying VAT on them. A lot of the price difference comes from us having to pay VAT on those when we bring them into the country. Some I've been told are brought in quite in clandestine they're actually snuck into shipments so that they're not that the VAT isn't a portion to them. I know that some do come direct from China. I don't know why they're not getting customs on them. That's the government's issue.
Angela Nicholson
That's what I don't understand, because it doesn't sound legal, so I can't understand it, how it's so blatant.
Alex Wilkinson
No, I completely understand the temptation of buying grey. I also think a lot of people don't realise that they are buying grey. The websites look like their UK websites, they look like they're based in the UK. It's all very tempting. It's it's hundreds and hundreds of pounds less expensive. And I get that because that's a lot of money the government needs to the government needs to do something about it. They're missing a massive revenue stream for one.
Angela Nicholson
Yeah, yeah, it's true. I mean, I think we'd all like to see prices be a bit more bit lower, a bit more affordable, but it has to be a level playing field. I think,
Yeah.
And, you know, as you said, there are some cameras where you can save 1000 pounds.
Alex Wilkinson
And how, how do we compete with that?
Angela Nicholson
Well, exactly. You might want to support your local camera retailer. But then you look at those prices, and you think, Oh!
Alex Wilkinson
Yeah. And I, I completely, I get that. I get that it's not it's not a tenor, it's not even 100 pounds, it's a lot of money. It's at a time where money is tighter than ever for most people. I really want people to support UK shops, but I totally understand that it's not necessarily their crusade at their level. It needs to come higher than that. Needs to come at a government level, and the government needs to realise that they're missing out ultimately. But also, I do wonder whether the manufacturers are supplying other countries at different prices, which is how they can afford to do it at that price. Yeah, I don't know. We're often banging the drum with the manufacturers and saying, you know, you need to get this sorted, because anybody that will assist into this or watching it probably isn't in photo retail, because they have time. But canon UK get their stock from Canon Inc, just as an example. And canon UK have numbers to make up, and they have sales to make up, so they're losing out here as well. But they do find it frustrating, so we do talk to them and try and level it out, but I I can understand it. And it's when you see a review and you see the prices across the world, and it's $1,000 or 1000 pounds or similar price in euros, you kind of like, oh, hang on.
Angela Nicholson
Yeah. It doesn't help that the price you tend to put for the US price is without sales tax, and in most parts of the US, they pay sales tax, which does bump the cost up a lot. But when you're just looking at the numbers, it's yeah, it's a bit galling.
Alex Wilkinson
Yeah. I think the government needs to do something about it. And I guess I would just ask that if people looked into it in more detail and thought about the positives of buying from the UK, because I understand that we can't ask somebody to pay so much more money to support us, but we won't be here. You know, there's, there's other smaller dealers that won't be here, or they've gone. There's, there's so many that have gone, and so many people don't have camera shots in their towns now, because they've not been able to compete with Amazon or grey or other options, but I think a lot of people do value camera stores, and I guess while we try and bang on to the government and beyond, if we could ask for their support, that would be very much appreciated, because we can offer you a lot in return.
Angela Nicholson
Yeah, and your stores, you know you can build up a relationship with the people in there. They know what you've got, and they know what lens you might want next, or what you're saving for, and all this sort of stuff. And they could advise you about something when it comes in, or an accessory that might be really helpful all of those sorts of things.
Alex Wilkinson
Yeah, help you out with a repair or a faulty product pack exchange second hand, you know, all of those things that other services that the others don't offer or can't offer.
Angela Nicholson
Okay? Well, I think that's a good time to go to Six from SheClicks. I've got 10 questions from SheClickers, and I'd like you to answer six questions please by picking numbers from one to 10. So could I have your first number please?
Alex Wilkinson
Let's go for number eight.
Angela Nicholson
Number eight. Oh, okay, well, you've kind of answered this in a way. What's your favourite camera? That's from Marie-Ange.
Alex Wilkinson
Currently, Fujifilm X100 VI because I get to handle so many. My favourites change quite often. But currently, Fujidfilm X100 VI.
Angela Nicholson
Okay. I mean, that's been around about a year now, so that's quite a long term favourite for a reviewer.
Alex Wilkinson
Yeah, well, I've not been able to get my hands on it.
Angela Nicholson
Okay, yes, fair enough. All right, your second number then, please.
Alex Wilkinson
Two.
Angela Nicholson
Number two, what was the first photograph you remember seeing. That question is from Liz.
Alex Wilkinson
Oh, that's a really tough question.
Angela Nicholson
Your dad must have had a few.
Alex Wilkinson
I guess it'd be like holiday snaps, probably as a as a kid. I probably haven't thought about it, because I've always been surrounded by photos so many, quite interestingly, most of my parents house was filled with art, and most of my house is filled with art and print rather than photos, and it's always been the same.
Angela Nicholson
Oh, okay, okay, can we go to your third number then, please?
Alex Wilkinson
Number one?
Angela Nicholson
Oh, that's just an interesting one. People are always trying to get the most from their budget when buying camera gear. Do you have any cost cutting tips that you'd recommend and any to avoid? That's from Paula.
Alex Wilkinson
Look second hand, I would say, if you're going to go down that route, try and do it with a retailer. So whether that's us, your local camera store, one of the big second hand dealers who I'm not going to promote, because you you know that the equipment's been checked. You know that it's guaranteed. You're not making it's not a risk for you, but you are. You are going to save money. And people are trading in kit all the time. So you can get very, very recent equipment. It's not ancient. You can people trade stuff in remarkably quickly. So top money saving tip, definitely by second hand, particularly with lenses. It's relatively risk free. I would say if it's guaranteed, if it's got a retailer's guarantee on it, because there's not as much to to go wrong with them. You can usually tell from the condition of them. So I'd probably, I personally, wouldn't buy off stuff like that, or any cameras like that, off Facebook, marketplace, eBay, unless I was very, very confident that I knew them or that I could fix anything that went wrong, but I wouldn't hesitate buying secondhand from a dealer. It's a really good way to get a good saving.
Angela Nicholson
Yeah, my perception is that people are less brand loyal than they used to be. So you see when mirrorless cameras came along, suddenly where people were had to switch brand if they wanted to go mirrorless. And then there's more choice now, so you don't necessarily have to, but it seems like people will chop and change a bit more. Is that your perception, too as a retailer?
Yeah, obviously Sony just led mirrorless, and a lot of people, because Canon and Nikon really dug the heels in for a while, and just they just were not letting go of DSLR until they suddenly, properly started to take things seriously. Their first entrance did mirrorless. So they weren't good, were they? They weren't great. And then they came out with this R Series and the Z series. And before that, everybody had had to switch because they wanted these latest technologies. So they did switch to Sony, and Sony did work very hard to make that happen as well. But now we've seen those switching back, and we see people jumping shit back. But I think now that they've had that one brand swap, sometimes they've not gone back to Canon. They've switched over to Nick on, so they've gone Canon to Sony to Nick on, because they're offering something that that brand needs them. So I think you're probably right, and I think after canon and Nick on dominated for such a very long time, and then Sony dominated mirrorless for such a long time, I think the bit of people did have the confidence to switch brands a little bit more, perhaps, but you still have your die hard Nikon and Canon bands for sure.
Oh yes, oh yes. All right, so your fourth number please?
Alex Wilkinson
Number six, please.
Angela Nicholson
Number six. Do you ever shoot on film?
Alex Wilkinson
Not very often. I have a couple of film cameras, but I don't use them very often, just because I think you have to go out and be quite dedicated and quite you have to go out with something in mind. I think occasionally I'll take a disposable camera out, all right, just for fun, so chat some on holiday and take them to weddings and things. Okay, I've got a couple of medium format like little one was a paper, cardboard camera that I built during lockdown. Oh, yeah, one's a little Lomography camera. And I've got an old Canon, a one. Oh, nice. But I don't use them very often because it's a lot. It's just, you got to be in the frame of mind, haven't you?
Angela Nicholson
Yeah. And also, you know, we're so used to digital photography, you know, whatever you do, we'll say, I'll just tweak that ever so slightly. Or, you know, I'll just do this, do that, and with film, I'd be so frustrated that I'll have to scan it first if I'm going to do that, and that's not going to happen.
Alex Wilkinson
So, yeah, I'm very I've always got like 100 million things going on in my head as well. I think film is a very mindful activity for people that are good at working like that, yeah, but I am not that person.
Angela Nicholson
Okay, fair enough.
Alex Wilkinson
I am much more chaotic and sort of 100 miles an hour.
Angela Nicholson
Fair enough. Okay, let's go for your penultimate number please,
Alex Wilkinson
Number seven.
Number seven, what do you think will be the next big innovation for mirrorless cameras, aside from AI and content credentials. That's from Marie-Ange again. Oh, that's a tough question, isn't it?
That's a really tough question,
Angela Nicholson
Because I always think that when a new technology comes along, you start to see potential, the things it can do. But thinking about what the next innovation is going to be, is tricky, you know. So we can see lots of uses for AI, but what's the other thing?
Alex Wilkinson
Yeah, I honestly don't know. I guess that we'll probably we've seen so much innovation, but I think it has slowed a little bit because we've, we've answered a lot of questions that needed answering. I guess it's not an innovation, but I'm excited to see what Nikon can do with Red technology, because they bought red video companies.
Angela Nicholson
Yes, of course.
Alex Wilkinson
Very excited to see what they do with that. I wonder whether we're going to see future sensor development, whether we'll see the improvement and sort of evolution of the global shutter and whether, if we see that come down, and the sort of opportunities that that might open up, perhaps, if we can get that with better low light sensitivity, better, yeah, less, less noise in low light areas, maybe.
Angela Nicholson
Higher resolution and things.
Alex Wilkinson
But I'm not sure.
Angela Nicholson
Yeah, it's a tricky one. I mean, like you say, some of it's trickling out as well, because we already have built in ND filters and we also have built in graduated ND filters, but it's quite isolated, so maybe we'll see that spread out, but it's not a new technology.
Alex Wilkinson
No, as a retailer, it makes me a bit sad that I can't tell you an ND filter either, but we'd love to see more built in ndS for video work definitely, because we use those quite almost extensively on every video that we make. So that would be very useful to have that in video as more of a feature for for cameras. But I'm not sure if that's like an exciting it's not a big it's not a big tech change.
Angela Nicholson
No. Okay, your final number then, please?
Alex Wilkinson
Number 10, please.
Angela Nicholson
Number 10. Do you see more interesting video amongst your customers? Or are they almost all into photography? Several people last night, we did touch on that earlier, but maybe you want to revisit?
Alex Wilkinson
Our customer base is still probably more of a photography shift. So there's obviously other companies out there that are much more in the video market. We're still very much in photo, and I would say hybrid and as such, we yeah, we still are, but the video sort of market is a bit more difficult to get into. It's bit more difficult to market to. I think they're quite often a younger market, and they're much more fickle on the whole which I don't mean in a negative way. It's just they're more difficult to acquire as a customer and more difficult to keep hold of, so I guess that we see more loyalty from the photo, so probably more conscious of that, if that makes sense.
Angela Nicholson
Yeah, yeah. Okay. I mean, so you're, you're passionate about photography, but you are interested in videographythese days as well?
Alex Wilkinson
Yeah, yeah.
Angela Nicholson
So a similar trend?
Alex Wilkinson
Yeah. I think you can just tell so much more of a story with video. And I think a lot of people put off video because it, it's, it's all a lot of when people talk about video, they talk about it in numbers that make no sense if you don't know what they mean. But I think it's a lot easier to convey a story in video, and that is the way that we're being pushed via Instagram and Tiktok, is to create more video content. But I think if you actually demystify it and actually start making some of it, it becomes quite an interesting process that's similar to photography, but also quite different. We found that videographers can very quickly and easily switch into stills, but it's much more difficult the other way around. I don't know if you feel that or see that?
Angela Nicholson
Yeah, I think perhaps some, some of it's kind of like resistance. But what I was going to suggest is that if you think in a videography way, and you you know you want to, you want to, you go out and you're going to shoot something, and you tell a story through it. And that's actually quite a good thing to do with photography as well. Rather than just go out and take a load of photos of things you see is to kind of like, right? What is the story of today? And that's what I'm going to photograph. But that's the way a videographer thinks.
Alex Wilkinson
Exactly, yeah, exactly, because they've already thought about the ending before they've gone out filming. Because you can't go and film a video that has a story unless you know what the story is in advance, yeah, because you miss parts of it, or you miss shots of it. So you they've usually kind of thought it all out, and they've thought about what they want to achieve, and they've storyboarded it, whether literally or in their heads, before they go out. Whereas photography, I don't feel is done in the same way. Sometimes you might have an idea of the shots you need to get that day, but I don't know. It's a different thought process to, I find.
Angela Nicholson
Yeah, maybe if you're shooting for a client or, you know, some sort of commercial work, you may think in that way more, but the average enthusiast photographer probably doesn't think in that way.
No.
And it might help them if they did. Okay, well, Alex, thank you so much for joining me on the podcast today. It's been really fantastic chatting with you.
Alex Wilkinson
Thank you very much. Yeah, I really enjoyed it.
Angela Nicholson
Oh, good. Thank you.
Alex Wilkinson
Thank you for inviting me.
Angela Nicholson
You're very welcome. Okay, bye, bye.
Alex Wilkinson
Bye.
Angela Nicholson
Thanks for listening to this episode of the SheClicks Women in Photography Podcast. I hope you enjoyed it. Special thanks to everybody who sent in a question. You'll find links to Wilkinson Cameras website and social media channels in the show notes. I'll be back with another episode soon, so please subscribe to the show on your favourite podcast platform and tell all your friends and followers about it. You'll also find SheClicks on Facebook X Instagram and YouTube if you search for SheClicks net. So until next time, enjoy your photography.
