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Japan store advice


Francisco Rios
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The price won't be much different than in the US for brand new stuff but the warranty might be a pain to manage later on. Some camera are also only availablre with Japanese menu... You would find better deal in China and Hong Kong. However for used stuff there are a lot of gems and Japanese people are crazy with gears, you can find 40 years old lenses brand new with packaging!

The main stores are Map camera, Yodobashi Camera, and BIC in Shinjuku

Used stuff: http://photojpn.org/news/2016/02/used-camera-shops-in-tokyo/

 

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I was there back in 2010, thought I'd look around for some tech and camera gear... but what these guys, especially Oli, say. Price is only a bit cheaper if you buy a local market model (e.g. Kiss instead of Rebel or ___D), but they do not provide worldwide warranty, so... didn't pick up a single thing except for a tripod that time (long exposures in Tokyo is kinda cool). But they do have some cool stores to roam around... but you don't end up drooling more than you would over at a B&H... If you're into watches, I'd look at that instead, I've recently imported a Casio Pro Trek PRW-6000SC-7 and love it! They've got some cool stuff and nice prices there.

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I was in Tokyo in April, went to Bic, Map and Yodobashi as mentioned earlier. Map is your best bet for used digital gear. If you're looking at vintage lenses, there are tons of shops all over, when you go to places like Shinjuku you will see lots of camera shops, just wander into them and start checking stuff out. There's so much camera wise in Tokyo - not surprising since its the largest metro area in the world and home to most of the worlds camera makers. Its so cool coming from the US where there are no camera shops in many cities.

All Sony stuff is Japanese market only, languages are locked and no warranty outside Japan. They won't even sell you a body if you don't speak Japanese. International versions are more expensive. I got a long demo from a Panasonic rep at Bic, the GH5 could be switched to English. Same for the Olympus and Fuji. If you buy anything in Japan, you can avoid paying tax. Though as mentioned, HK is much cheaper for new gear and all the models are international versions.

Bic is a gear slut's dream, every camera and lens on the market is on display - and you can try everything but the high end Leica and Phase One stuff out. I went there three times - each visit was a couple hours - just tinkering with everything from the PenF, to the FS5, to the Hasselblad Xd1. Also take your passport to Bic - you can buy a tourist metro card for unlimited travel on the Tokyo trains, it winds up being a really great deal and allows you to really explore Tokyo on the cheap. Google it, it winds up costing the same as just a few rides a day, we easily got out money's worth out of it. Also, Bic is more than just cameras, the one I was in had 8 floors of everything electronic, from phones to TV's to vacuums. Its total sensory overload. My wife even thought it was cool, and sh'e not into any gadgets.

Here are a few photos from our time in Japan: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.752566191617450.1073741852.558979244309480&type=1&l=ae03370d02

 

Cheers

Chris

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