Tokyo is a treasure trove for anyone wanting to buy new or used photo equipment. It’s not the cheapest place to buy in Asia, you will get cheaper deals in Hong Kong or Singapore, but here in Tokyo you get great service and a water tight guarantee which gives you that extra peace of mind when you are investing in expensive equipment. There are dozens of places all over the place, I’ve been to a fair few of them, so I’ll give my advice here on some chain stores and independent stores I can recommend, both for buying and selling equipment.
Chain stores:
The big 2 electrical chains where you get a huge range of equipment are Bic camera and Yodobashi camera.
Both stores are much of a muchness, they are huge, stock everything electrical you can imagine and they have an excellent range of photo equipment. To get the best range and also find staff members who will be able to communicate in English, Chinese or Korean, Yodobashi camera in Akihabara is a good bet. This is the biggest electrical store in Japan and they are really geared towards dealing with tourists, so you will get help there in whatever language you need. For
View Bic camera, Yurakucho in a larger map“>Bic camera (google map), their main stores in Yurakucho, Shinjuku (west exit) and Ikebukuro will give you great service in these languages and I have also noticed of late they have French and even Swedish speaking staff members (mostly on the weekends).
The plus point of both these stores are their point cards. For each item you buy, you will get 10-20% points added to your members cards (free upon application). so, if you are buying a lot of equipment, you can sometimes get some freebies. For example, a couple of years ago I bought a new canon 5D and at the time the had 18% points which allowed me to get a battery pack and a memory card for free. The points go up and down. When something is newly released it will have lower points (usually 10%) but when a new version of a camera is being released the price will drop a bit and then the points will also go up. Something interesting I have noticed about Bic and Yodobashi is that their stores are independent of each other and their website which means that some items can be different prices in different stores and on the net. So, if you are after something from either of these stores, check a few of them out and also look on the website. When you are speaking to a store clerk, quote the cheapest price you have seen the item at that day and you will get a cheaper deal.
In addition to new equipment, I saw an ad on TV recently saying that Bic have a new store in Ikebukuro devoted soley to photo equipment over 7 floors and of the floors is only second hand equipment. I haven’t been yet, but I think it could be useful.
Buying film. For film, your best bet from these stores is probably Yodobashi camera in Shinjuku west exit
View Yodobashi Camera AKIBAHABARA in a larger map“>(google map) It can be a bit confusing which store to go to, there are actually about Yodobashi stores here, one for computers, one for camera equipment and one for film, camera bags and suitcases. It’s one of the few places in Tokyo with a good stock of 35mm, medium format, large format and polaroid film. Yodobashi in Akihabara is decent, as is Bic in Yurakucho as well.
Independent stores
There are a couple of very good independent stores which sell new and used equipment and will also buy your used gear. Map camera in Shinjuku and Fujiya camera in Nakano (1 stop from Shinjuku on the Chuo rapid line).
Both offer really good deals, for example, I recently bought a canon EOS 5D mk II, in Bic and Yodobashi the cheapest deal was about 275′000 yen with 13% points (about 240′000 yen when you take points into account), but
View mapcamera 一號店 in a larger map“>MAP(google map) had it for about 238′000 and Fujiya for 232′000 (both with no points). So, obviously I went for the
View Fujiya Camera, Nakano, Tokyo, JP in a larger map“>Fujiya (google map) deal. Also, I got a battery card and 2 memory cards and it worked out to be 270′000 yen. I reckon I saved about 10′000 yen by looking around thoroughly. However, a year back when I was buying an EOS 5D Bic worked out to have the better deal due to the 18% points on offer. It pays to shop about.
If you are buying second hand, both these stores are good. They have prices varying by quality, I prefer Fujiya of the 2 because they rate equipment as being in condition A, A-, B+, B, B- etc to let you know how good the condition is and they also write down what faults they equipment has (sensor needs cleaned, slight fogging in lens etc) so you know exactly what you want. Sometimes you can buy A quality equipment which has barely been used for a much cheaper price so it’s well worth checking out. I often get lenses this way.
Also, if you are selling equipment, both these places will buy your stuff. Fujiya actually has a list on their website that shows how much they pay for equipment by maker and condition which gives a good idea of what you can expect. However, be warned you won’t get that much. A camera you buy for 200′000 yen will get you about 40-50′000 yen a year and a half down the line, but these stores will sell it on for 60-70′000 yen.
In both these stores, the staff are there because they are camera buffs, they know about the equipment and are more knowledgeable than the staff in the bigger stores. They are employed for their knowledge rather than their customer services, so sometimes they can come off as a bit cold, they just tell you what you want to know, they don’t push, there is no pressure to buy after testing equipment and that suits me. I do have to say however, there has been a couple of times over the years that older staff in MAP have been quite rude to me. Sometimes it’s just a case that they ignore me when I enter the store but will give a warm welcome to Japanese staff which can be quite common here, but one time recently I asked the price of the EOS 5D mkII and the guy refused to tell me saying there were none in stock. I pointed out he had one on display and he said it wasn’t for sale, fair enough. I asked how much he had been selling them for when he had them in stock and when would he next get stock in and he just brushed me off and went to deal with another customer. I went back a week later and a young lady there was helpful and gave me all the info, but out of principle I took my business to Fujiya who were slightly cheaper anyway.
If you need any advice about buying gear here, drop me a line and I will attempt to help.
Will