Photos inside a Tokyo camera store

[bakubo]

First off, I hope David will indulge this post with many photos. I just thought that people outside Japan might like to see a bit of the inside of a Tokyo camera store.

Here in Tokyo one of the things I love/hate are the camera stores. I love them because I can easily just walk in to see and handle just about any camera made. I hate them because I can easily just walk in to see and handle just about any camera made. Seeing and handling them makes me tempted to buy something. I usually don't have the strong temptation to buy gear, but in Tokyo it is hard to resist.

Just in the last few months I have played with a NEX 7, A77, Olympus EM-5 and other m4/3 cameras, Leica M9, Mamiya 645DF, Nikon D4, Nikon D800, Canon G1X, Fuji X-Pro1, Pentax K-01, Nikon V1/J1, Pentax Q, etc. Usually multiple lenses sitting there also to try. No one hovering around you watching either. It was sort of funny the day I was in Yodobashi Camera at Shinjuku and they had the Leica M9 sitting out there to be played with just like it was a cheap digicam. Back 20+ years ago though the cameras were sitting out without tethers. These days they all have tethers/leashes on them and the lenses do too. Theft is a bit more common than years ago so the stores have bent to reality. The cameras also these days draw so much power that they are usually connected with power cords rather than use batteries. It means that sometimes it is more difficult to move around and point the camera in some directions because of all the cords which sometimes get a bit entangled. Years ago it was very sweet. Now it is merely sweet.

Recently a buddy in the States was asking me about the camera stores here so this afternoon while I was in Shinjuku I took a few random photos inside of Yodobashi to send him. I happened to have a Panasonic G3 with me so I used that. You may enjoy seeing the camera playground.

Not too many places outside of Japan would have a US$11,500 camera sitting out for anyone to pick up and play with and no one around to bother you or hover around you. Yes, batteries in it too.





Olympus EM-5, E-P3 and lots of lenses



Nikon D800 and D4

[bakubo]

Zeiss lenses to look at and mount on a Canon 5DII



Fuji X-Pro1 and lenses

[bakubo]

[bakubo]

And here's a special photo for Barry.

[bakubo]

I haven't been to Adorama or B&H in New York so I don't know how they compare. In Japan the chain of Yodobashi Camera stores, Bic Camera stores, LABI, etc. are pretty much all like in these photos. In Matsuyama I would sometimes stop in at a DeoDeo and it was almost this good too.

[bfitzgerald]

You know they might actually like the Pentax Q in Japan it could be a hit. In Europe not a hope it got discounted heavily after it made no impact at it's silly RRP.
Looking at the camera market I think another maker or 2 will follow Kodak I can't see it being sustainable for some makers too many products out there.

[Birma]

Wow. What a wonderful camera playground Henry .

I can see how visits could bring on an attack of GAS very easily. Do the have cases of lenses as well?

[bakubo]

Wow. What a wonderful camera playground Henry .

I can see how visits could bring on an attack of GAS very easily. Do the have cases of lenses as well?

Yes, it is hard to resist sometimes. There are also lots of glass cases with even more lenses. The ones that are sitting out are there for you to handle and to mount on the cameras sitting out or on your own camera.

For example, yesterday there was a Nokton 25mm f0.95 for m4/3 (Voigtlander 25mm f0.95mm) sitting out and I had my G3 with me so I mounted it on the camera to take a few photos. Turned the camera on and tried to use it, but shutter wouldn't fire. I remembered seeing a menu entry to allow shutter firing when a lens isn't mounted so since this is a MF lens I figured I had to do that. My G3 has a Japanese menu (can't change it), but fortunately I found the menu entry quickly and was able to use the lens. Here are a couple of photos taken at f0.95 and ISO 160. I couldn't figure out how to get an enlarged view in the EVF to MF so I missed the focus a bit in this first photo:



The man in this second photo was walking towards me so with the very shallow f0.95 dof and him moving I was lucky that I got this one perfectly in focus:



By the way, I have since found out how to get the enlarged view when using a MF lens.

[Birma]

f/0.95 - now that's a head-line figure! Nice shots Henry. I'm not even going to look up the cost of that lens - I can do with-out those sorts of ambitions

[bakubo]

f/0.95 - now that's a head-line figure! Nice shots Henry. I'm not even going to look up the cost of that lens - I can do with-out those sorts of ambitions

Here is a nice write-up about it:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/revie ... cton.shtml

While not cheap at US$1200 it isn't in the stratosphere:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/control ... details&Q=

The lens has the look and feel of the old MF metal lenses we used to use before AF. Of course, using adapters with NEX and m4/3 bodies those old lenses are getting new life.

[Birma]

Now you've done it Henry !

(thanks for the links )

[bakubo]

Now you've done it Henry !

I happened to see the lens on kakaku.com last night and was surprised to see it is quite a bit cheaper in Japan than in the U.S. It is 72,800 yen so at the current exchange rate that is US$895:

http://kakaku.com/item/K0000145739/

Most things with the strong yen are more expensive for me these days since I have to convert dollars so this is one of the unusual cases. Maybe I should buy one and sell it after I get back to the States.... Probably not enough profit in it to bother though since I would have to sell it for less than the B&H price.

There is also the 17.5mm f0.95 but it is more:

http://kakaku.com/item/K0000344280/

[bakubo]

Today I was over at Akihabara and stopped by the huge Yodobashi Camera there. It is even bigger than the one at Shinjuku. Multiple floors with various kinds of electronic gizmos. The 3rd floor is all camera related stuff. It is like going into a large supermarket. Here is the A77 with 6 lenses for you to play with and even mount on your own camera:



On the other end of this display behind me is a big section with the A65 and 5-6 more lenses.

Here is the tripod section. It is a little hard to tell in this photo, but I am standing near the front of two aisles of tripods in 4 sections going all the way back to the wall:



A few days ago someone who had visited Japan mentioned how he went into one of the big camera stores at Ikebukuro or Shinjuku and was amazed that the tripod section was bigger than the whole camera store he worked in back home.

I should have taken a photo of the camera bag section. They had 3 long aisles filled from floor to the top with every type, size, and color of camera bag that you could ever imagine.

[mikeriach]

I'm gobsmacked at the sheer size of the shops and displays.
My only local camera shop is a Jessops which is about 6m x 8m in floor space.

Maybe my bank balance is celebrating!

Mike

[bakubo]

I'm gobsmacked at the sheer size of the shops and displays.
My only local camera shop is a Jessops which is about 6m x 8m in floor space.

That Akihabara store was even big by Japanese camera store standards. Huge. You can find just about anything you can imagine there, I think. Not just the various cameras and lenses, but all kinds of accessories, filters, etc. Right down to things like original lens caps, flash shoe covers, etc.

Maybe my bank balance is celebrating!

The weak U.S. dollar is keeping me from buying much. In more normal times the prices in Japan are typically similar to B&H. Some items would be a bit more and some would be a bit less. This time though almost everything is quite a bit more than in the U.S.