Mudman
Well-known
Pics man pics 
Tom A
RFF Sponsor
Is this the "barn-like" structure with all the small shops on several levels. It is a must "go" if you are in Bejing. A friend took us there when we visited Bejing - whatever you could dream of needing - someone has it!
I did pick up some Lucky 400 ($0.75/roll) and some ERA 100 ($0.50/roll). I have to admit that they looked a bit shellshocked when i asked if they could get me 1000 rolls of the Lucky. They could not - so I bought what they had (60-70 rolls) and 30 rolls of ERA 100 (Nice film, by the way). The Lucky is more tricky and seems to change from batch to batch!
There were a couple of dealers with wooden 4x5's at really good prices too - as well as a book store.
A bit of a "nirvana" for analog's.
Oh, knock off Domke bags - better than the original! $20. If you add up what you need, it could almost pay for a ticket to Bejing and back!
The people behind the counters were very pleasant to deal with too. Overall I found the Beijing population delightful and loved the city. It is on our "must go back" list of places too.
We took the Express T-98 from Hong Kong to Bejing. A great train ride - small sleeper compartment and a big (but dirty window) - it was like watching a travel program on a big screen TV for 26 hours. Highly recommended mode of getting there!
I did pick up some Lucky 400 ($0.75/roll) and some ERA 100 ($0.50/roll). I have to admit that they looked a bit shellshocked when i asked if they could get me 1000 rolls of the Lucky. They could not - so I bought what they had (60-70 rolls) and 30 rolls of ERA 100 (Nice film, by the way). The Lucky is more tricky and seems to change from batch to batch!
There were a couple of dealers with wooden 4x5's at really good prices too - as well as a book store.
A bit of a "nirvana" for analog's.
Oh, knock off Domke bags - better than the original! $20. If you add up what you need, it could almost pay for a ticket to Bejing and back!
The people behind the counters were very pleasant to deal with too. Overall I found the Beijing population delightful and loved the city. It is on our "must go back" list of places too.
We took the Express T-98 from Hong Kong to Bejing. A great train ride - small sleeper compartment and a big (but dirty window) - it was like watching a travel program on a big screen TV for 26 hours. Highly recommended mode of getting there!
filmfan
Well-known
I have not been to the camera shops in Beijing but have in Guangzhou. Might I ask what you paid for your black M7? I have been thinking about moving up from my M6 to an M7 but I find the prices here all over the place.
By the way, you dont want the 90 APO summicron. YOU DONT WANT IT. Here are some pics:
Its a terrible horrible lens (to your credit card) and you just dont want it.
All my friends tell me I need to go to wukesong to check it out, but what I really need to look for there is a repair shop for my poor yashicamat.
Is this hated I feel or just envy? Sometimes I confuse the two...
JHenry
Established
Thanks all for your comments.
The photo market I described is more accurately a large building the many shops inside of it. It is open 7 days per week. On the weekdays it closes at 5pm (not sure about the weekends). It is located at the northeast corner of Jin'gouhe Bridge, on the West Fourth Ring Road Middle. As mentioned above, it is about a 15-20 minute walk north from the Wukesong subway station (site of the Olympic Basketball venue). You can't miss it, because there are huge Nikon, Canon, Olympus and Hasselbad billboards on the front; also due to the number of people going there there is always a massive traffic jam near it.
Sorry to say I don't know the price of a Seagul 203. I'm a recent convert from digital, and am enjoying my rangefinders. Haven't gotten into folders yet...though the desire to try 4x5 is growing.
I paid RMB 17,000 for the M7 (about $2,500). Not as good of a price as I thought given what has been listed above, but it is the cheapest M7 price I've seen in China. Excellent second hand M6's go for about RMB 12,000. The Chinese have a thing for cameras, and second hand prices reflect that by remaining high.
I recommend going to the market on a weekend. It will give you an interesting insight into China. On any given weekend you'll see people buying 5D Mark II's left and right, some people buying Leica's, people shopping for wedding photographers, etc. Almost all paying in cash. Another thing to watch for is what happens when someone buys a camera, lens or any accessory. Before leaving the store it will be fully removed from the box, put together, tested for 30-45 minutes (by the buyer) before the buyer leaves. If there is a scratch or any small blemish on the product (that we would tend to write off as standard manufacturing variances) the buyer will refuse the product. When I bought a DSLR earlier this year, I was the first customer in years at that particular shop to buy a product and not open the box until I got home.
The photo market I described is more accurately a large building the many shops inside of it. It is open 7 days per week. On the weekdays it closes at 5pm (not sure about the weekends). It is located at the northeast corner of Jin'gouhe Bridge, on the West Fourth Ring Road Middle. As mentioned above, it is about a 15-20 minute walk north from the Wukesong subway station (site of the Olympic Basketball venue). You can't miss it, because there are huge Nikon, Canon, Olympus and Hasselbad billboards on the front; also due to the number of people going there there is always a massive traffic jam near it.
Sorry to say I don't know the price of a Seagul 203. I'm a recent convert from digital, and am enjoying my rangefinders. Haven't gotten into folders yet...though the desire to try 4x5 is growing.
I paid RMB 17,000 for the M7 (about $2,500). Not as good of a price as I thought given what has been listed above, but it is the cheapest M7 price I've seen in China. Excellent second hand M6's go for about RMB 12,000. The Chinese have a thing for cameras, and second hand prices reflect that by remaining high.
I recommend going to the market on a weekend. It will give you an interesting insight into China. On any given weekend you'll see people buying 5D Mark II's left and right, some people buying Leica's, people shopping for wedding photographers, etc. Almost all paying in cash. Another thing to watch for is what happens when someone buys a camera, lens or any accessory. Before leaving the store it will be fully removed from the box, put together, tested for 30-45 minutes (by the buyer) before the buyer leaves. If there is a scratch or any small blemish on the product (that we would tend to write off as standard manufacturing variances) the buyer will refuse the product. When I bought a DSLR earlier this year, I was the first customer in years at that particular shop to buy a product and not open the box until I got home.
meven
Well-known
If you come back to HK, I can take you to a very good repair guy in Central (Lee Cho Tat of Panda Camera). He is very skilled and can repair any camera.
ethics_gradient
Well-known
Cheers, seems to be about what they go for on eBay as well, so I guess I'm not missing out on much. About how heavy is the 203? I was surprised at the heft of my Super Ikonta, just curious how another 6x6 folder stacks up.
You must have been the reason I couldn't find any Lucky 400! Apparently it went out of production a bit before I got there (winter of 06/07), I saw a few film shops that had some straggler rolls on the shelves the first time I went, none after.
Definitely pick up a Seagull TLR (or one of the other Chinese TLR's, I paid less for the Mudan which was basically the same thing) to play around with. They're super cheap and a pretty interesting departure from the digital mentality. Chinese people get a kick out of seeing a foreigner using an old Chinese camera too
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