London camera store

[alberto greco]

Dear Friends,

 

in this spring I will have the occasion to go to London pretty often and i was

wondering how prices for photographic equipment are over there.

 

Could you please indicate me a well-known and highly reputated camera store in

London (better with a web site where I can browse around a little bit) so I

can compare prices, services, eventual rebates, etc, etc with the Italian

standard?

 

Any help will be much appreciated.

 

THX in advance

 

Alberto

[alan_ginman]

For a price check you could look at Jessops.com. Jacobs (jacobsdigital.co.uk) is another one in the centre of London. I don't have any experience of Italy, but in Spain prices for consumer goods are very similar to the UK, so I doubt if you will find much difference, but you are right, it is sensible to check.

 

I hope you have a great time over here.

 

Regards

 

Alan

[ken munn]

Arguably the best camera store in London for Canon is York Cameras.

 

http://www.yorkcameras.co.uk/

 

Unfortunately its website is awful, and doesn't give much/any price information, but it

generally has all but the most obscure stuff in stock. Whenever I've looked there it always

seems that prices are about the highest. If you need advice, you'll be talking to experts.

 

-------

 

Jacobs is not so well stocked, but has more competitive pricing. It serves professionals as

well as consumers and often has high-end used gear for sale. Advice level is good - they

know what they are talking about.

 

http://www.jacobsdigital.co.uk/

 

Its website is better and shows pricing. Its flagship store is very close to York and Jessops.

 

------

 

Jessops is more mass market, staffed by sales people rather than photography experts.

Advice will be adequate as long as you don't ask hard questions, or non-mainstream

stuff.

 

www.jessops.com

 

Some prices at Jessops are very competitive, others are less so. It depends, I suspect, on

what is being promoted this month. The flagship store is just across the road from Jacobs,

so it's easy to compare. The website carries pricing.

 

------

 

The best value I've found for Canon products is a shop called Microglobe. Again, it is

within a hundred or so metres of the others mentioned here. It is not much more than a

shop front and a small warehouse, and advice levels are very low. It stocks a limited range

of Canon kit, although some of it is quite unusual.

 

http://www.microglobe.co.uk

 

The website is also a mess, but does have pricing. Goods are not always in stock, so if you

want something specific it's worth phoning to check that they have it.

 

--------

 

These four stores have the advantage that you can visit them all within a few minutes

walking distance. There are other outlets elsewhere, but between these four you'll almost certainly find what your looking for, at fair (for UK) prices.

[nickwhite]

You can check for fairly competitive prices with Warehouse Express http://www.warehouseexpress.com/Home/default.aspx

 

If you need Pro equipment then Calumet is probably the best place to go http://www.calumetphoto.co.uk/locations

 

I would avoid Jacobs at all cost - I have had two bad experiences with them - never again!

 

Jessops are on every high street but charge top price with no room for negotiation.

 

LCE (London Camera Exchange) have many branches and carry plenty of used equipment also http://www.londoncameraexchange.co.uk/index_group.php

 

You will find the smaller independent photo shops will often 'match' national prices for genuine UK products (ie not grey imports) - my local shop (in Devon) certainly will (but only if you ask!).

 

Most prices on UK websites will include VAT at the UK rate of 17.5%, but It's best to check.

[mark u]

We just had a whole thread on this topic:

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00Ol46

[HarryBaker]

I agree with all that Ken Munn says. And all these shops are within 2 or 3 minutes walk of the British Museum where you can still take pictures and the entry is free. Generally speaking on-line purchase is very good in the UK and is much cheaper than the shops, especially if you look at the reputable dealers advertising in Amateur Photographer (where, incidentally, you can see a couple of my pictures this week!)

[chris_clarke3]

I checked out Calumet. The 16-35 II is 1068 pounds sterling. At BH its $1400.

 

Hardly a good deal in the UK.

[nickwhite]

Chris, for the UK that is good; Canon, Nikon etc usually just change the dollar sign to a pound one when pricing for us poor Brits (even with the exchange at $2 to the pound) - that's why we are poor!