Camera Craft: Where Good Photography Began

The Museum's various projects and research requests have us frequently looking back on the many businesses that have lined Queen Street. Many businesses have come and gone in the past 50+ years, but some have persisted for well over half a century. One of those is Camera Craft.

Opened in October 1961 by Mrs. Stahl, a “graduated, professional photolab technician”, Camera Craft advertised the best in high-quality camera equipment. Early 1960s advertisements list Zeiss, Agfa, Rollei, Leitz Wetzlar, Voigtlander, Hasselblad, Braun and Durst as brands carried by Camera Craft. In addition to classic film cameras, they also offered a selection of movie cameras for sale. “Your Dealer for the best on the market”.

Sault Star, 1964

Camera Craft was originally located in the Churchill Plaza where they operated for three years. In 1963, Camera Craft began sponsoring a Sault and District Soccer Association team (Camera Craft, and later The Cameramen). In 1964, they moved to 724 Queen Street East, opposite the original Sault Ste. Marie City Hall in a location formerly occupied by the Textile Shop. Camera Craft’s new location on Queen Street was ideal for collaborations with various city events, and 1964 saw Camera Craft host a Community Night photography contest with prizes for the three best black and white and colour photos. In 1965, they promoted the Bon Soo Winter Carnival and participated in Soo Bargain Days for the first time. Throughout the fall and winter of 1965, Camera Craft offered a variety of promotions, including a free roll of film with each developed roll. By the end of 1965, Camera Craft had expanded its merchandise to include Kodak Instamatic models, binoculars, tape recorders, transistor radios, as well as German Polydor records.

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Fred Kehrer, 1970s. From the Sault Museum's collection.

In mid-August 1966, an announcement was made that Stahl’s Camera Craft was going out of business, and they had reduced their inventory to clear. By September, new management was found in Horst (Fred) Kehrer, and the business would continue.

​Fred Kehrer arrived in Canada in 1954, an immigrant from Klingenberg am Main, Germany. After spending a short time in the Sault, he left to take a job in London, Ontario, but returned with his wife Gerlinde and family when the opportunity to take over the Camera Craft business arose.
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Right from the beginning, Fred Kehrer found ways of getting involved in his new community. The early 1970s saw him join the German Austrian Association, the Chamber of Commerce and the board of Kiwanis, of which he remained a long-time member and eventually Board President. Under Kehrer, Camera Craft continued their sponsorship of its soccer team. By the late 1980s, the Cameramen had become the longest-standing team in the local association. “Without a doubt, the people who make up the Camera Craft Team are the closest of friends throughout the year and this above all else is a major factor in the lasting success of our team”

Camera Craft soccer, 1982

Under the helm of Fred Kehrer, Camera Craft established a loyal customer base for both photo development and camera sales. By 1972, Camera Craft serviced and sold Nikon, Canon, Bolex, Bell and Howell, Alpa, Praktica, Miranda, Konica, Bronica, Pentax, Kodak, Vivitar - among many others. An integral part of Camera Craft’s business was that if a camera was purchased from their shop, they would be happy to teach the purchaser how to use it. This offer remained true over 60 years later. Photo services were added in the early 1970s for everything from photo cards, passports, to engagement photos.

In October 1977, Camera Craft moved from 724 Queen Street to its present-day location at 716-718 Queen Street East. According to a Sault Star article, the move was primarily to make room for the stereo component of the business. Oddly enough, this move was the second time that Camera Craft moved into a former location of the Textile Shop - they had obtained 714 Queen Street after their move from 724 Queen 13 years prior. Staying on Queen Street was important to Kehrer, and he put off moving for some time until a building near their previous location had come up for sale. Fred stated that “It feels like home”. Camera Craft held a grand re-opening event with free coffee and doughnuts and a free 5x7 portrait for those who attended.

The market began to change in the mid-1970s. The advent of big-box stores changed how people bought camera equipment. Stores like K-Mart and Sears became competition for specialty camera shops like Camera Craft or Walz Camera, as they also sold popular camera and stereo equipment brands. Camera Craft began offering workshops and courses to set themselves apart from their big-box counterparts, including the “Elmo-Canada Super 8 sound workshop” for audio track mixing and splicing in 1978, and “Portraiture and Dark Room Presentation” in 1979 and “Colour Negative Processing and Printing” in 1981.

A significant effort to market to young people was made in the late 1970s and into the early 1980s. Car stereos and a popular LP exchange program were introduced after their move to 716-718 Queen. Camera Craft sponsored the Miss Teen Soo pagent in February 1977, offering the winner a Kodak EK 4 camera. Comical and creative advertising techniques were implemented, including Star Wars themed ads.

Sault Star, 1971

Sault Star, 1978

Sault Star, 1977

The 1980s brought on more collaboration and sponsorship, including the Chamber of Commerce photo contest, sponsorship of Kiwanis Winterfest, the Soo Thunderbirds,the Sault Aquatic Club, and several collaborations with photographer David Hill for boudoir photography, with one seminar aboard the Norgoma. Camera Craft, alongside Walz, sponsored the local Conservation Authority’s photography contest. Camera Craft celebrated their 20th anniversary with a massive sale in 1981.

Camera equipment began to rapidly change from the 1970s into the 1980s with the advent of programmed autoexposure, autofocus, the “point-and-shoot”, disc film and auto winding - and Camera Craft was on top of these changes. They ensured to always have the newest advancements in photography equipment.

Sault Star, 1980

Sault Star, 1981

In the 1990s, photographer James Wishon took over the business after Fred Kehrer’s retirement in 1997. James, a commercial photographer, ran Wishon Photography and in the 2000’s, the Sault and Area Camera Club and Photography North.

Under his ownership, he opened the gallery space next door to Camera Craft in 2012 to provide local photographers a much-needed place to display their work. Wishon oversaw the massive market change when digital photography was introduced. Camera stores not only provided printing services and camera equipment, but were a place for artists and hobbyists alike to gather. When photographers began shooting digitally, photo printing and weekly visits to pick up film at camera stores dropped dramatically. The gallery space was created to foster connection and act as a gathering space for photographers who no longer had the need to visit as frequently as they had in the past. 

James Wishon successfully brought photography into the 21st century through his work at Camera Craft. Camera Craft introduced photo restoration services, and offered a wide selection of top-of-the-line camera equipment to the people of Sault Ste. Marie. 

In 2026, Wishon announced that he was retiring and closing up shop after nearly 30 years at the helm. Camera stores are few and far between; at the time of their closure announcement, Camera Craft was the last photography store between Thunder Bay and Barrie. Although big box stores can provide the cameras themselves, they lack the personalized service and true expertise of a specialty store - something the staff at Camera Craft were always eager to provide. 

Camera Craft generously donated several items to the collection of the Museum; a 1930's Kodak camera, a late 1920s Ihagee camera from Germany that were on display in the shop, a Camera Craft branded hat and photo album as well as business cards and film envelopes. The Museum will have a hand in preserving the legacy of this long lived shop, but the real legacy will live on through the photographers who picked up their first camera, or first roll of film, from Camera Craft.