buying a Bessa R2A in Tokyo?

[meandihagee]

Hello everybody,

will be travelling Japan mid-november, with high hopes of scoring one of the last Bessas.

Any recommendations of a camera shop where the R2A/R2M could be found?

Many thanks!

 

[jonmanjiro]

Hate to disappoint you, but you're going to have to be veeeeery lucky to walk into a camera shop in Tokyo and find an R2A/R2M for sale. I've seen Map Camera list a couple recently, but they all get sold @ their online shop within hours of being listed on their website.

 

[Rayt]

I was in Tokyo last week looking for an R4M. No luck. And I didn't see other Bessas either aside from a few Ls and Ts. Bought one today from eBay. No Mamiya 7 or Bronica RF either. Seems the usual places no longer stock much film gear in Tokyo. I gave up shopping the second day and decided to take pictures instead 🙂

 

[ForestCap]

According to various eBay sellers in Japan, those Bessas are sold out everywhere in Japan and hard to find these days.

 

[meandihagee]

any chance of a contax T2...?

 

[craygc]

In case it's of any interest: New R2A (No association)

 

[davidnewtonguitars]

HOOT!

10 more characters!

According to various eBay sellers in Japan, those Bessas are sold out everywhere in Japan and hard to find these days.

 

[Yokosuka Mike]

If you get down to Yokohama (not so far from Tokyo) check out "Ohnuki Camera". I've bought a few Bessa rangefinders as well as a Bessaflex SLR from them. They also have a lot of used Nikon and Canon rangefinders. I should also mention that they sell new Voigtlander and Zeiss M-mount lenses at what I consider good prices.

http://www.camera-ohnuki.com/netshop/

 

[meandihagee]

Thank you, kind people!

 

[ColSebastianMoran]

Camera shopping in Tokyo is fabulous. Don't know that you'll find the R2A, but there's an amazing array of used camera shops.

- Ginza, expensive top end items. Amazing array of Nikon rangefinder cameras
- Shinjuku has zillions of shops, but I needed a local photographer guide to find them
- A must is Fujiya in Nakano, a short train-ride. In this small town, Fujiya has several locations, each devoted to a different sort of camera

Also, Belamy (Japan Camera Hunter) has a guide to camera shopping in Tokyo.

 

[jonmanjiro]

any chance of a contax T2...?

Slim to none. Possibly at Fujiya. Prepare to be gobsmacked by current prices.

 

[traveler_101]

According to various eBay sellers in Japan, those Bessas are sold out everywhere in Japan and hard to find these days.

Which raises the obvious question of why Cosina stopped production of these cameras. When they ceased production, diid they underestimate demand?

 

[davidnewtonguitars]

Maybe on the day production ceased, they couldn't give them away.
In my limited experience buying from our good friends in Japan, everything is sold out and hard to find these days! Where oh where do they get their stuff?