You have what is called 'black sooty mold' on your camellias. That, however, is not the problem! Black sooty mold is a harmless simple mold that grows exclusively on the sugary excretions of sucking insects. It is always a one hundred percent indication that pest insects are either on the affected plant, or above it!

In the case of camellias, I would bet money that you have a serious outbreak of tea scale. Turn the leaves over and you will find very tiny brown specks and a white fuzzy coating in some cases. Tea scale.

Once you get rid of the scale insect, the black sooty mold will disappear on its own. The attached link illustrates a bad infestation of active tea scale. If we were to turn the leaf right side up, we would probably see black sooty mold.

BSM, by the way, will also grow on lawn furniture, car roofs, etc. if the excretion drops from insect infested trees.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1246088}}

Thanks...I would have bet money that the brown stuff was salt poisoning in that all the tips of the leaves have that same brown look. I did spray with a pestacide/fungicide/miticide after I found this and I fed the plants figuring it had to be one of these. I just bought this house, and I have been doing nothing but cleaning up the flower beds and gardens. There seems to be a lot of tumors growning on plants, literal scales on trees, and many holes in the flower beds where there is just a stump remaining. It doesn't look like any of the camellias or azaleas have been fed in a long, long, time. The people I bought the house from were obviously not gardening enthusiasts! Thanks again!