Recommend me some shops in Tokyo

[Ashfaque]

Apart from BIC Camera and Yodobashi (for slide films ofc), that time is nigh!

So I'd like get
- one M mount (Zeiss, or Voigtlander) lens - between 25 & 50mm
- one Nikkor Ai-S mount (Zeiss or Nikkor) lens - between 50 & 85mm
- one 6x7 (or 6x6) camera system

Can you please recommend me some shops in Tokyo for 2nd hand items. I've read the two long articles from JCH and TCS already. However they are a bit older. So your recent experiences on any shops you liked or seriously disliked would be highly appreciated.

Somewhat related query: Compare to eBay sellers from Japan, can I get competitive deals from the shops in Tokyo? I don't mind paying a bit extra so long I'm not buying any lemon.

Thanks,

Ashfaque

 

[mooseontheloose]

Ashfaque, if you have read the articles on JCH and TCS, then you'll know where are the good camera stores are. Tokyo is an expensive place, if there are any changes, it's because a shop closed down, not because new ones have opened. I can't speak for Tokyo directly, since I have never bought a camera there, but, while it is possible to find some deals on camera gear, you may have better luck with ebay since many of those sellers don't have a storefront (and thus have fewer costs). It really depends on what you are looking for.

 

[Ashfaque]

Thanks Rachelle.

 

[Helinophoto]

If you stroll along the Ginza-strip, you will find at least 4 shops (I think there are more actually, 6 or 7) that have used gear.
I find it hard to locate the shops in Shinjuku, but you also have Alps there, and you have a small shop somewhere in the area of the train-station, which sell Leica, Rolleiflexes and the like (I think I remembered that I had to walk down a very steep staircase to get down to that part of the store, possibly Chuuko Box, was interesting but prices were.....well... ), it was located not too far away from Yodobashi....but as I said, Shinjuku is hell to navigate for white people, "fresh off the boat"

As for Ginza, I found the stores in the side-streets to be better than the ones that are located right on the Ginza strip. Bought a 50mm for my Hassy in such a side-store, can't remember the name, but I was basically checking the side-streets randomly and found this store, located within 1 block of the main Ginza-strip. A really nice guy worked there and could provide me with a bunch of information and gave me a nice deal on the 50mm.

I would recommend that you google around.

I found this:
http://www.japancamerahunter.com/2012/04/camera-shopping-in-tokyo-pt-1-shinjuku/

and this

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

 

[Ashfaque]

Thanks for the Photo Japan article, Ole-Henrik. Should be handy in the future. I read the JCH article before. Yes, if you don't know speak/understand Japanese, or being accompanied with someone who can, it can be a bit of a problem.

But I appreciate their modesty in formal/social gathering very much. In fact, I can tell you about Nobuhiro Kiyotaki, one of my mentors. People can't believe how humble this guy is when he talks to students. But I digress!

 

[dourbalistar]

I was in Tokyo last month, and spent an afternoon visiting some of the camera shops in the Shinjuku area, mostly window shopping. JCH's guide and google map is a great resource. Camera Box (listed as Chuuko Camera Box on JCH's guide) has an impressive selection, and is packed to the gills with used cameras/lenses of all sorts. Everything is hand labeled with prices and some sort of grading system which I couldn't make heads or tails of. It's the store that Helinophoto referenced, and is indeed down a flight of stairs in the basement, around the corner from MAP Camera's trade/buying center.

For M-mount, MAP Camera has a nice selection of rangefinder gear, also in the basement of their main Shinjuku store. However, the only thing I bought from MAP is a Kanto MR-9 battery adapter, useful for cameras that use the old PX625 mercury battery. You can get the adapter from several online retailers including JCH, but it's priced a bit cheaper from MAP at ¥2,500.

I know you're mainly looking for slide film, but I bought two bricks of the cheap ¥184 Fujicolor Industrial 100 at Kitamura. They also had the cheapest price I saw locally for the Fuji 30th Anniversary disposable camera, at ¥950.