where to buy Tachihara in Japan?

[Lesley]

I will be visiting Japan in mid-March and would like to buy a Tachihara 4x5. I have searched the web but have not been able to find anywhere I might find one. Does anyone have any ideas? I will be in Tokyo, Kanazawa and Kyoto. Thanks.

[Oren Grad]

There are probably several places, but one I'm aware of is Map Camera in Shinjuku (Tokyo):

http://www.mapcamera.com

However, if you can't read Japanese you'll have a hard time navigating the site and finding the Tachihara listings. If you click on the small "ENGLISH" link at the top of the page, it will open another page where you can send them an inquiry in English. They'll answer in English (sort of) too.

If you want to buy one, be sure to contact them in advance to make sure they'll have what you need in stock when you get there. Bear in mind, though, that their prices are no cheaper than what you'd pay here at Midwest Photo Exchange or at Badger Graphic - actually, at the moment they're a bit higher.

[Jason Greenberg Motamedi]

I will second Oren's point; due to the weak dollar buying in Japan will not be any bargain. You are best off doing so at home. This goes for both new and used items.

[Gary Smith]

I live here, and the best place to buy one would be the main Yodobashi Camera store in Shinjuku, Tokyo. I am not sure if you are from the US or not, but currently the when is rather weak against the dollar, 121yen to the dollar. So actually its a good time to come to Japan from US, but it costs me alot more to travel outside of the country than it did a year ago.

Actually, if you are in the US it is still probably cheaper to buy the camera there. The Tachihara 4x5s are almost 100,000 yen which is about $830.00 USD, so its not bargin. Toyo field cameras are quite a bit cheaper here though, and even cheaper given the current exchange rate. Ebony's are about the same, the last time I looked.

If you need information about any stores or places to shop, give me a pm.

Hope it helps.

Gary

[Lesley]

Thanks for the info. I'm from western Canada and am not aware of anywhere in Canada that imports them so I have to add in the duty and shipping from the US if I buy from there. I'll have to do a bit more investigation--perhaps I'll have an excuse to make a trip to the states and pick one up there!

[Oren Grad]

Lesley, the Tachihara 4x5 variants listed by Map Camera start at around Y75,000, which does make it a closer call. I think you'd have to add consumption tax for a local purchase; it used to be 3% years ago when I was there, but may have increased since.

The advantage of buying from MPEX or Badger is that excellent support is a phone call away if you have a problem. If the price is close once you take all the extras into account, that ought to be worth something.

[tim atherton]

Thanks for the info. I'm from western Canada and am not aware of anywhere in Canada that imports them so I have to add in the duty and shipping from the US if I buy from there. I'll have to do a bit more investigation--perhaps I'll have an excuse to make a trip to the states and pick one up there!

lesley,

I may not be 100% correct on this, but if you import from Japan, I think you will probably pay import duty + GST (no shipping if you are brinign it in, obviously)

If you import from the US you will probably only pay GST + shipping

[Gary Smith]

Lesley, the Tachihara 4x5 variants listed by Map Camera start at around Y75,000, which does make it a closer call. I think you'd have to add consumption tax for a local purchase; it used to be 3% years ago when I was there, but may have increased since.

The advantage of buying from MPEX or Badger is that excellent support is a phone call away if you have a problem. If the price is close once you take all the extras into account, that ought to be worth something.

One quick thing I noticed. There seem to be two different 4x5s I have seen recently. The red bellows one, seems to be the nicer to the two and comes in at 100,000. The black bellows one is 85,000 at Yodobashi. I cant recall the differences between them though.

I dont shop at MAP much, only on rare occasions. Thier LF selection is small to no existant. Yobobashi is great for new stuff, they have it all in stock (usually), for used stores there are many which are much better than MAP (again LF).

Hope it helps.

Gary

[Oren Grad]

I dont shop at MAP much, only on rare occasions. Thier LF selection is small to no existant.

Yes, even from the website the Tachis look like "to order" items rather than regular stock items.

[Lesley]

I certainly appreciate all the input. After "crunching the numbers" Badger and Midwest come in at around $689 CDN whereas, in Japan, the cost would be about $718CDN. Of course, if I'm out of the country for 7 days, I can bring in $750 worth of stuff without duty or tax. It really looks as if there is little or no benefit to bringing one back from Japan, particularly if one factors in the English-language support one gets from buying in North America. Thanks again.

[Joseph O'Neil]

Hi Lesley;
I am in Ontario. I bought my new Tachihara last year from Badger. Request shipping by mail, and all you will have to pay is a $5.00 import fee plus the GST. I have bought a couple items from Badger, and they have no problem shipping to Canada.

good luck
joe