paris - camera shops

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Please mention personal experience of camera shops (new/second hand) in Paris. We are scheduled to go there next month. I have googled and came across some useful information (will post compilation later) but I would like to know if anybody on this forum has any tips/warnings/suggestions etc. From cost perspective, it certainly looks as if Paris is not the place to buy (compared to US/UK) but prices are still cheaper than what you get here in SA. Thanks.


1) Boulevard Beaumarchais has the highest concentration of stores, including La Maison du Leica, Le Moyen Format.

2)
Few outside the boulevard Beaumarchais:
- Objectif Bastille: professional, all brands. 11 rue Jules César - 12th arrondissement
- Lotz Photo: small shop 12, rue richer 9th arrondissement

3)
Get off Metro Line 8 at stop St-Sébastien-Froissart; walk a little bit north and stop in Le Cirque ( www.lecirque.fr ), then walk south towards Bastille & revel in camera goodness.

4)
There is also Prophot ( www.prophot.com ) in the 9th. they have the largest selection of film that I know of in town, as well as bags, tripods, etc. There is a seperate shop, still part of Prophot , close-by that specializes in high-end digital gear...prepare for camera store attitude here if you visit.

5)
The best Nikon shop in town is La Boutique Nikon ( www.laboutiquenikon.fr ) -- nice guys, but not close the the center or any tourist attractions. I bought mt D200 & D3 there. They have about anything Nikon you could want.

6)
There are a few other good, small stores scattered about. Check out MacMahon Photo ( www.macmahonphoto.fr/ ) for Leica, Zeiss & Nikon as well as Photo Suffren ( www.photosuffren.com/ ) for Voigtlander, Rollei, Zeiss & others.

 

[bwana]

Sorry, I don't know of any shops but one word of advice is to obtain the correct paperwork from the shop so you can claim VAT back on your departure.

 

[undesign]

My camera was irreparably damaged on a outing to Versailles (to the utter horror of a group of Japanese standing behind us, I think they were more concerned than I was ). Did a bit of internet research and bought a replacement at FNAC - it's a chain store selling books, music, electronics etc. Price was reasonable. I forgot to ask for the right paper work to claim the VAT back...so as Bwana said, don't firget that.

I wasn't that interested in photography at the time so never went there, but there is a street with plenty of photography stores, they refer to it as Photography Boulevard something. You should be able to find it on google.

 

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Thanks for the tips bwana & SiriS.