As one might expect from the country that’s home to such camera manufacturing giants as Nikon, Canon, and Sony, Japan enjoys an extremely well-developed photography culture. This legacy, when combined with the Japanese obsession with quality and collecting vintage items, has produced a strong interest in used camera equipment, and Tokyo has a plethora of stores that specialize in old cameras and lenses. A huge concentration of these shops can be found in Ginza, which carry everything from relatively run-of the-mill DSLR optics to ultra-rare vintage film camera bodies from such legends as Hasselblad and Leica. While the rarer stuff usually carry eye-watering price tags commensurate with the items’ quality and pedigree, it is certainly possible to find relative bargains for well-maintained pieces if you’re diligent enough in your search. Even if you don’t have the budget to afford to purchase anything, window-shopping is always fun and often times lead to a stroll down memory lane.
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Camera Resurrection
As one might expect from the country that’s home to such camera manufacturing giants as Nikon, Canon, and Sony, Japan enjoys an extremely well-developed photography culture. This legacy, when combined with the Japanese obsession with quality and collecting vintage items, has produced a strong interest in used camera equipment, and Tokyo has a plethora of stores that specialize in old cameras and lenses. A huge concentration of these shops can be found in Ginza, which carry everything from relatively run-of the-mill DSLR optics to ultra-rare vintage film camera bodies from such legends as Hasselblad and Leica. While the rarer stuff usually carry eye-watering price tags commensurate with the items’ quality and pedigree, it is certainly possible to find relative bargains for well-maintained pieces if you’re diligent enough in your search. Even if you don’t have the budget to afford to purchase anything, window-shopping is always fun and often times lead to a stroll down memory lane.
