General Inquiry - Tokyo Trip Discussion

Hi everyone!

I'm a beginner in photography (I only take photos with my smartphone, lol), but something about film photography has really piqued my interest.

I'm heading to Tokyo in a couple of weeks and was wondering if anyone knows where I can window shop (and maybe buy) used but good-quality 35mm film cameras that are beginner-friendly. One model I've been eyeing is the Minolta Hi-Matic AFD. My budget is capped at $100 or ¥15,000 - this is the max price of used Minolta Hi-matic AFD's in my country.

I'm open for recommendation of other models!

I currently have a Kodak Ektar H35, but I didn’t really look into the cons of this model before buying it—I only saw the positive reviews. The quality feels like a 50-50 chance per shot, lol.

Thanks in advance! I hope I can get some helpful recommendations!

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u/FocusProblems 3h ago

Have a look at the Tokyo camera shopping guide on Japan Camera Hunter’s website. If you’re pressed for time, the highest concentration of used camera stores are in Shinjuku in the streets around Map Camera. Chuko Camera Box for example is around the corner and has cheap cameras. The Kitamura flagship store is worth checking out. Doesn’t really have an amazing range but it’s fancy and well presented. If you’re ever looking for something specific though, eBay is king. There’s a ton of film cameras sold out of Japan on eBay but most of them aren’t in Tokyo. Even though Tokyo is the world capital of used film camera stores, I could think of at least dozens of camera models that aren’t even that obscure but you wouldn’t find a single example of even if you went to every store in the city (which would take a couple of days).