paul_sharratt Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 Hi all, A large family group is off to London and then Prague in late November. I'm looking for suggestions in both cities for: Camera Stores for B&W film (home bought Efka/Adox?), Leica, general interest (any good used equipment stores in Prague?); Photography Galleries; Good street photography locations; Locations that say "London" / "Prague" Where to eat! and drink!!!! What to do with toddlers (who shoot with a Leica!). Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter_stacey Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 For Prague, right in the centre of town there is a really fine photoshop that will have all your needs. Photoskoda is located in Vodi?kova (that's the street name) and is very easy to find (but hard to leave the store). The website is here: http://www.fotoskoda.cz/intro.asp?lang=en As for good street photography locations, there are too many to list. Prague is known as the Paris of the East and it has this reputation for a good reason (I like it more than Paris actually). Don't worry about finding locations, just make sure you have plenty of film (and memory if you are also taking digital) because your biggest concern won't be in finding photographic locations, but in trying not to shoot everything. It's really a magical city and in November there could be snow, which will add to the atmosphere. As for Paris, it's a little bit the same. Too many locations for photography to list and a good way to get around is on the tourist buses. There are several routes and you can buy 2-day tickets for the buses that allow you to hop on and off whenever you like. I'm not so familiar with photography stores in Paris, but a couple of useful links: http://www.gisparis.com/paris_shopping/shopping_a_camera_in_paris.htm and (photo.net's own guide to Paris): http://www.photo.net/france/paris Regards, Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roland_schmid Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 Prague is way to expensive for used equipment. In Prague you can get excellent Foma b&w films and papers for a good price. (You can get them at Fotoskoda, see above). Usually Prague is a good place to visit photo exhibitions and to get good and rather cheap photographic books - in Czech Republic life excellent photographers. If you like heavy and fat food, Prague is the place to go. Restaurants in the touristic center are usually not very good and expensive. Beer is excellent (try for example "Bernard"), wine from Moravia normally below average. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zane1664879013 Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 OMG -- Czech beer is outstanding. Try the absinthe as well, it's legal! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jira Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 For cheap films I go to "Be Foto" (www.befoto.cz - only in Czech). Cheaper then Foto Skoda. For example they have Ilford Pan 400 for 70Kc - Skoda has it for 85Kc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astral Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 Prague in November can be superb for photography, especially if misty. I find it best to get out early - before breakfast and before the tourists crowd the place, especially on Karlov Most (don't sit on the parapet). If you're reasonably fit, climb the cobbled Zámecké schody steps to Nove Hrady - good photos. There can be some great early evening night shots from the citadel walls at the eastern end of Jirská, especially if the sky is clear - indigo sky with the city lights, etc. There are some good small restaurants a short walk from the west end of Karlov Most, around Josefská and Thunovská - not the cheapest or best, but a sensible stopping point before the haul up to the castle (especially if the weather is cold/damp). Plan you visit for the theatrical razzmatazz of the changing of the guard at the entrance to Nové Hrady - check times locally, get there early (I haven't seen it for a while, hopefully it still happens). Vysehrad can be pleasantly quiet, and you can pay respects to Bedřich Smetana, Antonin Dvorak and other celebrated Czechs ..... It can be a bit bleak there in winter though. Prague can be pretty darn cold in November, minus 2-5 C ain't unusual, even in daytime, regardless of global warming - which is a great excuse for regularly slipping into a bar for a Merunkovice (apricot schnapps) and kave (coffe) to warm up ....... Some small restaurants in the quieter streets in the city cater mainly for office/shop workers and are only open on weekdays: these are usually good value and serve more traditional dishes as well as many of the better beers like Staropramen Granat and the original, genuine, real, tasty 'Bud' and, of course, many others. The Lucerna Arcade between Štěpánská and Vodičkova (off Václavské náměstí) features the infamous Upside Down Horse sculpture - but the Art Nouveau Cafe is much more interesting IMO - not particularly cheap, but good coffee and cake (I haven't been there for a while tho'). Museums and exhibitions often require 'large bags' to be left in the cloakrooms - I've never had a problem, but it can be unnerving. If you like exotic rocks and minerals (some folk do!) take a trip around the National Museum (Czech Rep. has superb geology). And finally, many of the mini-concerts on offer at lunchtimes and in the early evenings are actually very well done - prices vary, be choosy. Enjoy! AC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_harris10 Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 I can't help much with Prague, but I live in London. There are loads of good places to take photos, the tube network is popular for street photography, but the South Bank, Covent Garden and Borough Market are also popular. The City (aka. the Square Mile) is good for very "Londony" pictures and photgenic buildings. A typical photographic day out for me is starting at Vauxhall (Vauxhall station and the MI6 building) and walking along the South Bank thames past the Houses of Parliament to Borough Market and Tower Bridge. It's quite a walk though. Prices of equipment in London are quite high, but there is a lot of shops. My favourites are the Leica Store in Pied Bull Yard (hard to find, but here: http://maps.google.co.uk/?q=WC1A%202JR) and Aperture (on Museum Street, a few hundred meters from the Leica Store). There's also Caplan's (http://www.richardcaplan.co.uk/, near the other two), plus Red Dot Cameras and Nicholas Camera (not so central), but I've not used them. For more general stuff and film, Jacobs on New Oxford Street (near Tottenham Court Road tube station) is good. Silverprint (http://www.silverprint.co.uk/) near Waterloo station carries a lot of film, but it's closed on the weekends. Branches of Snappy Snaps (all over the city, look for green and yellow signs) carry Ilford and/or Kodak B&W film, and a couple can develop B&W - the ones I know of are in Kensington and Pimlico, but there are more. Some can do 120 rollfilm too. Quality of development varies, but most are OK. Travelling around London with toddlers is difficult I'm afraid, the streets are very crowded, and the tube network gets really packed in the morning and evening. Busses are more child friendly, but pretty slow. The Photographers Gallery (http://www.photonet.org.uk/) is usually good, and the Tate Galleries (one's in Pimlico, one's on the South Bank) often have photo exhibitions. Magnum and Getty sometimes have public exhibitions too. From November onwards the Nation History Museum hosts the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition which has always been pretty amazing in the past. It's hard to recommend somewhere to eat, I tend to go places where children wouldn't be welcome. There's loads of guides though, Harden's is reliable, and available for free online – don't believe anything you read in Time Out. If you have a large group you'll probably need to book, or wait a while for a table. There are a lot of restaurants, many amazing, but some terrible. The best ones have months long waiting lists, but can often fit in small groups for lunch if you turn up on-spec. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fotohuis RoVo Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 FotoSkoda is a reliable and professional store where you can get anything from Leica M till Voigtländer, the newest Sony DSLR 25+ Mpix camera and a lot of films and photopaper (Foma also) even the Dutch photochemicals from Amaloco. In case you need precise info where to shoot with a Leica-M, you can send me a PM. Or maybe you can join our model seminar in Prague while your family is have a city trip with one of our guides. http://www.fotohuisrovo.nl/documentatie/Seminar_Praha.pdf best regards, Robert (from Holland) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter_n1664876959 Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 Prague is beautiful. If you're looking for inspiration take a look at Josef Sudek's work. I'm sure your local library will have some of his books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerjporter Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 I didn't go in to FotoSkoda, but the photo shops i did go in to in Prague seemed to have every Olympus digital model of the time available. I was hoping to find a soviet panorama film camera for cheap, but didn't. It is probably the most picturesque city i have ever been to. My wife criticized me for seeing the city only on the 1.5 inch screen of my 60d canon. it has been 2 or 3 years since i have been there, and i still weekly pull up the 2000 some photos i took and continue to re-edit and re-explore the images. you will have a blast. ps, absinthe is legal in the u.s. now, it just isn't well advertised. Portland even has it's own distillery already... http://www.integrityspirits.com/trillium-absinthe.html ... just another reason to love Portland!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lezec Posted October 24, 2008 Share Posted October 24, 2008 Just to add to the fairly extensive info above. Foto Skoda (Skoda is name of the owner BTW) is good if you want to buy film. They will have almost everything you want. Many locals including many those living outside Prague buy their gear there. But it is more expensive than in the US. Films are about 35% more expensive than at Adorama and cheaper than on Broadway. TriX sells at CZK119, which is about $6. Everything will be more expensive in Czech Republic (and Europe) than in the US including Leica so no benefit of buying it here. The selection of Leica gear will be very limited too. There is a shop not far from Foto Skoda named Foto Pazdera (guess what, Pazdera is name of the owner) and they do only second hand gear. You can buy all sort of stuff related to picture and film taking. I have not seen any Leica gear there for a while. The shop is basically in the sight from Skoda, but on the other side of the street past the KFC restaurant. I live about 80 miles away from Prague, but I bring all my C-41 films to Foto Skoda and I print all my B&W scans there too. They are hopeless processing B&W. In fact they do not develop B&W themselves, but they send them god knows where, and those guys will screw your negatives. Enjoy Praha and 'Na zdraví' Pavel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now