UK: good London camera shops
 

Hello all,

Quick question: can anyone recommend a good camera shop in Central or
North London?

Thanks.

--
Illegitimi non carborundum

UK: good London camera shops
 

On 29/03/2012 15:48, Bruce wrote:
Joe wrote:
Hello all,
Quick question: can anyone recommend a good camera shop in Central or
North London?


Quick answer: There are a great many good camera shops in Central and
North London and some are truly excellent.

Recommending one (or several) would be made much easier if one knew
what sort of equipment you were intending to buy. New, used,
collectable, digital, film, what format, what brand(s)?

New digital, probably an EOS 60D with an 15-85mm. (Although someone
mentioned I should also look at the Sony A77 with the 16-50mm. Hmm...)

I do own some ancient analogue (Canon A1) which now and then gets an
airing, but I need the digital for work and I'm keen to upgrade from my G11.

--
Illegitimi non carborundum

UK: good London camera shops
 

On 29/03/2012 18:47, Bruce wrote:
Joe wrote:
On 29/03/2012 15:48, Bruce wrote:
Joe wrote:
Hello all,
Quick question: can anyone recommend a good camera shop in Central or
North London?


Quick answer: There are a great many good camera shops in Central and
North London and some are truly excellent.

Recommending one (or several) would be made much easier if one knew
what sort of equipment you were intending to buy. New, used,
collectable, digital, film, what format, what brand(s)?

New digital, probably an EOS 60D with an 15-85mm. (Although someone
mentioned I should also look at the Sony A77 with the 16-50mm. Hmm...)

I do own some ancient analogue (Canon A1) which now and then gets an
airing, but I need the digital for work and I'm keen to upgrade from my G11.


I don't know where you are from, but if you are from North America you
are likely to get much better deals at home.

Erm, I'm from London? Well, not originally, but I've been here for
nearly 4 years now. Never been to the US of A, and I intend to keep it
that way.

(...)
Jessops is the largest UK chain of photo stores with over 200
locations. However they tend to be expensive.

I would recommend visiting Cameraworld (no connection with the US
company) at Wells Street, London W1 (just off Oxford Street which is
the main shopping street) and Jacobs at New Oxford Street.

Thanks! Cameraworld has some interesting used gear, I shall get in touch
with them.

--
Illegitimi non carborundum

UK: good London camera shops
 

In article , says...

On 29/03/2012 15:48, Bruce wrote:
Joe wrote:
Hello all,
Quick question: can anyone recommend a good camera shop in Central or
North London?


Quick answer: There are a great many good camera shops in Central and
North London and some are truly excellent.

Recommending one (or several) would be made much easier if one knew
what sort of equipment you were intending to buy. New, used,
collectable, digital, film, what format, what brand(s)?

New digital, probably an EOS 60D with an 15-85mm. (Although someone
mentioned I should also look at the Sony A77 with the 16-50mm. Hmm...)

If you're shopping for an SLR don't look at the camera, look at the
system. Canon and Nikon both have very complete systems with a lot of
third-party support. Other manufacturers not so much. And if you're
not going to be using any other parts of the system then think very
carefully about why you're looking at an SLR in the first place.

I do own some ancient analogue (Canon A1) which now and then gets an
airing, but I need the digital for work and I'm keen to upgrade from my G11.

UK: good London camera shops
 

On 30/03/2012 00:58, Bruce wrote:

(...)
I don't know where you are from, but if you are from North America you
are likely to get much better deals at home.

Erm, I'm from London? Well, not originally, but I've been here for
nearly 4 years now. Never been to the US of A, and I intend to keep it
that way.

Then you will already know to avoid Jessops. ;-)

Actually I didn't. Thanks for that.

Thanks for the info!


--
Illegitimi non carborundum

UK: good London camera shops
 

"Joe Kotroczo" wrote in message
...
On 30/03/2012 00:58, Bruce wrote:
[]
Then you will already know to avoid Jessops. ;-)

Actually I didn't. Thanks for that.

Thanks for the info!

I've actually found Jessops to be quite helpful, and they used to match
Internet prices. I don't think they still do that, though. We have a
Jacobs almost next door to the Jessops, and they seem to have a better
range in stock.

Cheers,
David

UK: good London camera shops
 

On 30/03/2012 14:04, J. Clarke wrote:
(...)

New digital, probably an EOS 60D with an 15-85mm. (Although someone
mentioned I should also look at the Sony A77 with the 16-50mm. Hmm...)

If you're shopping for an SLR don't look at the camera, look at the
system. Canon and Nikon both have very complete systems with a lot of
third-party support. Other manufacturers not so much. And if you're
not going to be using any other parts of the system then think very
carefully about why you're looking at an SLR in the first place.

Believe me, I've thought long and hard about this. Photography is an
important part of my job after all, even if not many people will ever
get to see the photos.

The only thing that annoys me about Canon is lack of GPS. But I can work
around that. The thing that intrigues me about the Sony is the EVF. The
thing that worries me about the Sony is low light performance.

Do you really think that the Sony/Minolta system is lacking in
completeness to the extent that you would discourage people from buying it?

--
Illegitimi non carborundum

UK: good London camera shops
 

On 30/03/2012 15:53, David J Taylor wrote:
"Joe wrote in message
...
On 30/03/2012 00:58, Bruce wrote:
[]
Then you will already know to avoid Jessops. ;-)

Actually I didn't. Thanks for that.

Thanks for the info!

I've actually found Jessops to be quite helpful, and they used to match
Internet prices. I don't think they still do that, though. We have a
Jacobs almost next door to the Jessops, and they seem to have a better
range in stock.

Prices for the 60D seem to be the same everywhere...

So it's really a question of establishing a relationship with a shop
that has good service.


--
Illegitimi non carborundum

UK: good London camera shops
 

Joe Kotroczo writes:

On 30/03/2012 14:04, J. Clarke wrote:
(...)

New digital, probably an EOS 60D with an 15-85mm. (Although someone
mentioned I should also look at the Sony A77 with the 16-50mm. Hmm...)

If you're shopping for an SLR don't look at the camera, look at the
system. Canon and Nikon both have very complete systems with a lot of
third-party support. Other manufacturers not so much. And if you're
not going to be using any other parts of the system then think very
carefully about why you're looking at an SLR in the first place.

Believe me, I've thought long and hard about this. Photography is an
important part of my job after all, even if not many people will ever
get to see the photos.

The only thing that annoys me about Canon is lack of GPS. But I can
work around that. The thing that intrigues me about the Sony is the
EVF. The thing that worries me about the Sony is low light
performance.

Do you really think that the Sony/Minolta system is lacking in
completeness to the extent that you would discourage people from
buying it?

I think it's ruled out of initial consideration by most serious
photographers for that reason.

A *few* people who know their needs very well, and are confident they're
stable, are very happy with it. And a lot of new people who haven't
gone through multiple system transitions to really understand what a
pain it is are buying it.
--
David Dyer-Bennet, ; http://dd-b.net/
Snapshots: http://dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/data/
Photos: http://dd-b.net/photography/gallery/
Dragaera: http://dragaera.info

UK: good London camera shops
 

On 30/03/2012 18:34, David Dyer-Bennet wrote:
Joe writes:

(...)
Do you really think that the Sony/Minolta system is lacking in
completeness to the extent that you would discourage people from
buying it?

I think it's ruled out of initial consideration by most serious
photographers for that reason.

A *few* people who know their needs very well, and are confident they're
stable, are very happy with it. And a lot of new people who haven't
gone through multiple system transitions to really understand what a
pain it is are buying it.

My needs are fairly specific and stable. I will be using the camera for
location scouting.

I've been using a variety of compacts for the last 10 years or so, and
I'm getting really tired with them. I'm looking forward to a proper
viewfinder and a body that's more comfortable to hold than my current G11.

I don't need much, a 24mm-70mm equivalent zoom, a 50mm equivalent prime,
great low light performance, a body that's big enough to hold firmly and
comfortably (bigger than a 600D body anyway). I almost never use a
flash. I'd love to have GPS in-camera, but could work around that with a
separate GPS logger.

--
Illegitimi non carborundum