The fire broke out at the Collins Street photographic shop just before 1am today.

Tim Jones,  who has owned the shop since 1992, said the outcome could have been a lot worse.

``Most of the damage is simply smoke damage - there's a lot of black ash everywhere,'' he said.

``It's a fair mess, yeah.''

Tasmania Fire Service crews from Hobart, Glenorchy and Clarence attended the fire.

Fire investigators put the damage bill at $250,000, but Mr Jones said he believed the final bill would be considerably less.