Best place in the world to shop for old cameras?

[Stephen G]

Japan.
Tokyo was incredible.
Even Osaka is fantastic.
Stores the size of my living room with more used RF gear than B&H, Adorama and KEH combined.
Some stores stock beauty gear and are overpriced, but many I found affordable.. in fact more reasonable than US used gear retailers.

 

[peterm1]

I have not been there for a decade but Singapore used to be good if you were willing to pay the large prices demanded for good pieces. (All shrink wrapped and stored in dehumidifiers). I was in HK last year and it still seemed pretty good but I was not looking for older stuff. Again pricey.

 

[furcafe]

Do you happen to remember any specific stores for film in Taiwan?

I asked about film & processing availability in HK & Taipei in a post in the travel forum:

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2133224

Mostly Kowloon side at TST in HK. There's tons of great stuff. The best place hands down is Sunrise Photo at Sham Shui Po. I always go there. 20 minute developing for film only. the Central locations are not that good at all. Not recommended.

Taiwan, at the main bus terminal (last stop from the Taiyuan airport), the selection was mostly digital. nothing special i could find. good 35mm film selection though. this was a recommendation from some Taiwan locals when I asked about where the vintage cameras were.

 

[Lflex]

Expired - removed

 

[gavinlg]

Its gotta be Tokyo. If you cant find something you want in terms of film cameras in Shinjuku, chances are its imaginary.

 

[shanenoir]

So Tokyo seems to be one of the best in terms of selection... how are their prices, generally speaking?

 

[Calzone]

I've had some luck over the years in NYC at both Adorama and at B&H, but since I'm local I can take advantage of seeing cameras and lenses in person to take advantage of miss-pricings and miss-gradings.

Bought a 50 Rigid V.1 that must of just been serviced that had clean glass for $499.00 at B&H that was only graded as an "8."

Bought a clean Noct-Nikkor AIS for $2.5K when it should have been priced at least $3K if not $3.2K also at B&H.

Bought a Rollie 3.5F "Whiteface" that was a shelf queen for $999.00 at Adorama. I later found out that the camera was so gummed up from non use that I couldn't get a roll of film through it, and immediately set it to Harry Fleenor to get overhauled.

Recently I bought a M4 that was in "E" condition, but was priced as being in "F" condition at Adorama for $599.00. Now it is fresh haveing come back from Sherry. BTW my M4 had an intact "L" seal.

Word of warning is that I can easily see before I buy, and it is very easy for me to return cameras. Just know that I find the grading systems used above as being sloppy, and I can use this to my advantage.

At this point I have more cameras than I need through either great prices and in great condition.

Cal