Buying cameras in Japan

Japan is a paradise for all of us who enjoy taking pictures. All the major camera brands are Japanese, that’s good because prices for lens and cameras are much lower here than in other places. Furthermore, Japanese people in general like photography a lot, and that’s good for the market. You can find zillions of specialized shops, second hand cameras shops and there are even huge shops filling medium size buildings only with cameras. My advice is, go to Akihabara and compare the prices in different shops, sometimes the difference is pretty big. The cheapest shops are usually in the little streets (not in the main Akihabara avenue). Here are some pictures I took in Yodobashi (A good place to look stuff, they have almost all new models), and also pictures inside Mapcamera, a shop with all kind of old lenses and cameras, even from 50 years ago.

D60 a gogo

Canon area

Compact cameras

More compact

Canon EOS

Sigma

Pentax

Sony Alpha

S5 Pro

D300 panel

Canon EOS Digital

Canon and Nikon

There are many Hasselblad and Leica in there

Only Leicas

More Leicas

Did you notice the “?” in the price? That means that depending on the day and your skills to negotiate the final price than vary a lot.

More interrogation marks.

And more

The entrance to the forth floor in a building with five floors, all full of photography goodies. Mapcamera.

I love that you can test lenses and cameras all you want before buying. I took this picture using a 10mm lenses from the shop. I did not buying but I’m thinking to do it.