Only in Tokyo, Part 13: A hands-on shopping experience!

The Yodobashi store opened in 2005, and has wiped out pretty much all competition in the Hakihabara area of Tokyo. By now I think you know the score: it's a huge shop, spread over seven enormous floors and jam-packed with products. We took a stroll around the camera floor, which is sure to have any photography fan drooling ...


Apart from the insane number of products on show, what's really surprising is that all of the cameras (as well of many other products in other parts of the shop) are unboxed and available for you to pick up and play around with. They're all fully functional models too! In fact, when several versions of a same model are displayed, there's always at least one genuine working model, while the others are usually plastic reproductions that show off the various colours available.


Another thing I noticed in Tokyo was that traditional film cameras seem to be making a come-back. Out and about in parks and gardens, it's not unusual to see someone snapping away with a non-digital camera, as well as the odd geeky enthusiast with all the kit. The Yodobashi store even sells a selection of film cameras!

Instant cameras are popular over here too.


Check out the Fujifilm Instax 210 in the front of this shot. That's a camera that can be quite hard to come by in the UK. Photos work out quite expensive, but that didn't stop three of my friends over here from snapping one up! Photo quality is much better than the current digital Polaroids too, making it perfect for high-quality, old-school shooting.

More news from Tokyo coming soon!

> Only in Tokyo, Part 12: the green Sony notebook, 8 GB RAM


> Buyer's Guides: Our Pick of The Best Products