Richard Haw's Classic Nikon Repair and Review

Hello, everybody! How are you guys today? I wasn’t suppose to publish another part for my “camera shopping” series until next month but I would like to publish this as soon as I can because of its urgency. Nitto Camera (日東カメラ) is a shop close to my heart because it’s being ran by an elderly couple trying to maintain a 74 year-old business but they are going to close their shop by the end of January in 2018. They still do not know where they should set up shop next and there is a chance that they will just close for good. The thing is, the rent is too expensive in their area and they aren’t making enough profit. The shop owner is a kindly old gentleman and I have bought some stuff from them in the past and seeing them shut down is very sad not only for me but also for people who are into this hobby. Please visit them when you are in town before they go on a hiatus. I am sure that you may find something worth buying there though I must admit that their inventory is not as extensive as the other shops. I do get lucky here sometimes so I wish you the best.

 This is their storefront. They are open from 12:00PM to 7:00PM. The owner is old and this is the best that he can do. He has just recuperated from an illness so manning the shop is tiring for him especially if he is alone. It’s a small shop but it has a decent inventory.

They can be reached using this map. Their address is 〒164-0001 東京都中野区中野 5-49-6 (just copy and paste that on your map application) and they closest station to them is the convenient and awesome Nakano station. Their telephone number is 03-3387-0111 and This is their website. It is around 6 minutes walk North from Nakano station (North Exit).

Important! Please treat this article as obsolete because Nitto Camera’s found a new place and is back in business! Check this link and see the NEW shop and how to find it!

I got my Bronica S2a kit from them some time ago this year. It’s not in mint condition but it’s functioning OK. I will always remember them for getting me into medium format.

You will be greeted with this scene when you enter the shop. The small boxes at the front all contain junk and smaller accessories like straps, lugs, hoods, etc.

Opposite of this is the film development section. As far as shops are concerned, they have a decent-enough selection when it comes to old film development equipment. This used to be better-stocked. I suppose that they aren’t putting everything out because they will be leaving soon anyway. I’ve bought a few things from this section over the years.

Here is a small part of their junk bin section. There was a time when they had plenty of junk Nikon F Photomic finders here being sold for around $9.00 each. I wish I got one!

This is just a small part of their rangefinder section. I rarely look here because they don’t often carry Nikon rangefinder cameras here. They do have Leicas, Canons, Mamiyas and other stuff here. I have seen some interesting things sold here before.

Some cheap TLR cameras. I remember testing that Seagull before. It seemed OK but I did not buy it since I didn’t need one. I also found the finder to be a bit too dark for me.

Some medium and large format gear here at the bottom of the display case. That Bronica looks nicer than the one I got. I wonder which model it is but it looks similar to mine.

Here’s something for the filthy rich! I will afford one of these in the future, just you wait!

Here is a Robot with a Sonnar lens. This is the going rate for these here if you remember my previous post on Lucky Camera where I also showed a Robot being sold there.

(Click to enlarge)

Here are some Leica rangefinder cameras. I’m not knowledgable in these so I can’t really say anything much about them. They look to be in really nice condition despite their age.

And here are some assorted accessories for your cameras! There used to be more things inside this display case. You can get lucky here sometimes if you come in regularly.

Here something for the Nikon lovers! I’m actually in the market for a Nikon F90X and the Nikon F90X being sold here is just within my budget! It’s a great camera, think of it as a smaller and lighter Nikon F4. That Nikonos 4A might appeal to Nikonos collectors.

Check out these Nikkors! While the price aren’t cheap they aren’t overpriced, too. In fact, they’re priced just about right and might even be cheaper compared the other shops.

Here is a closer look. That Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 Ai-S is priced a bit high because it is still in production after more than 3 decades! This is their going rate at the present.

These Nikkors are reasonably-priced as far as shop prices are concerned. I am eyeing the unused AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G on the left and I may get that lens tomorrow. It’s cheap considering that it hasn’t even been removed from its plastic cover!

I hope you liked this article. I know that the tone of this article is kind of sad but I hope I can help them just a bit. I would also like to see them get back on their feet as soon as the problem of looking for a new place is solved. Renting a place here in Tokyo is not easy so it may take him some time. The rules for renting a place is also ridiculous and I hope that the norm changes for the betterment of everybody residing here in Japan. Thank you so much for supporting my site and if there is something that we can all learn from this is we should support the small shops even if they charge a bit more because they are also considering problems like paying the staff and the rent. We should all do our best and be supportive of these small shops so that they will be in business for the next generation. I am deeply affected by this so I apologize, this is very personal to me. Until next time, Ric.

Help Support this Blog:

Maintaining this blog requires money to operate. If you think that this site has helped you or you want to show your support by helping with the upkeep of this site, you can simple make a small donation to my paypal.com account (richardHaw888@gmail.com). Money is not my prime motivation for this blog and I believe that I have enough to run this but you can help me make this site (and the companion facebook page) grow.

Helping support this site will ensure that this will be kept going as long as I have the time and energy for this. I would appreciate it if you just leave out your name or details like your country and other information so that the donations will totally be anonymous it is at all possible. This is a labor of love and I intend to keep it that way for as long as I can. Ric.