Richard Haw's Classic Nikon Repair and Review

Hello, everybody! Today, I am going to introduce to you a hip place for photographers. It is a small hole-in-the-wall type of shop called Void Lens. The shop is kind of new and they just started around a year ago in the trendy neighborhood of Koenji. It’s a great place for street photographers to hang-out and chill. They mostly cater to the point-and-shoot kind of cameras but they also have some TLR and SLR cameras, too. If you are in town, please visit Void Lens and I am sure that it’s going to be worth your time!

This is the storefront of Void Lens. It’s very easy to miss because it’s situated between the bars and restaurants and you will never think that there’s anything camera-related here. There’s no signboards to tell you what shop it is but the cameras caught my attention.

You can get there through the map above. They’re situated near the South entrance of the station (Koenji Station) and their address is Tokyo, Suginami,3 Chome-68-1 Kōenji-Minami. You can check them out at their facebook page VOID LENS 深淵鏡片 or follow them over at their Instagram page. If you want to get the latest news from them then follow them at their Twitter account. To make sure that you they’re open, just call them first using this number 090-8972-1983. They are open from 1:00PM to 9:00PM but I’m not sure if they’re open during weekends. Koenji is a great place to hang around and for cheap booze and a great time so you can hang around here before you go bar-hopping and chicks hunting.

Look closer and you will see some nice cameras! The Lomography guys will probably be interested in the things that they sell. To be honest, I’m actually interested in a Ricoh GR1.

This is my kind of place! Junk cameras make me so happy (unfortunately, no Nikons)!

Walk into the shop and you will see this counter. The owner speaks some English and he said that he’s also trying to study Chinese. He also accepts some minor repairs for simple cameras with no interchangeable lenses. If you’re in Tokyo and you got a problem then it is probably a good idea to visit him and ask what he can do for you.

The shop looks like it has its own community. It’s a nice concept and it’s something that I would like to see more of. It would be nice to have places where photographers can chill and talk to each other. Back then, this would be the photography lab. I wonder if people still remember those days, it was a much simpler era where people actually meet to talk and share ideas face-to-face. Of course, there’s the usual asshole that nobody likes. We’ll just ignore those kinds of people when they’re around. Today, they’re the trolls of social media sites and know-it-alls. The owner of the shop is thankfully a nice and friendly guy.

This is the display case just below the counter. It’s a treasure trove of point-and-shoots! It is nice to see that people value these older cameras. I would rather buy an old camera to have it repaired than buy an overpriced recently-produced camera that just ride the old camera bandwagon but this is just my preference so do what you think is right.

Here’s a closer look of what’s on top of the display case. That Nikon caught my eye which I mistook for the expensive “Pika-Ichi”. They have some vague Chinese cameras, too.

The interior is well-stocked or decent at the least. To be honest, I am not into this kind of camera gear but I was happy to see these because it’s a good thing for the community as a whole. This will also encourage a new generation of film photographers so it’s all good.

Aside from photography gear, they also have some books and film. They also sell film in the shop and you can buy those cheap white-boxed C-41 Fujifilms here. I use them to test my cameras after a repair. They make for great test-roll film and they’re decent enough.

I don’t know what cameras are displayed here but if I’m not mistaken, that’s a Contax on the shelf! The ambiance feels great here and I would’ve stayed longer if I’m not strolling around Koenji with my family. We’re here to have lunch so I had to leave.

I hope that you liked this camera shop article of mine. Please visit and support them, the smaller shops need your support to grow and each time you buy something from them it is helping the used camera and film photography industry grow a bit stronger. I know it’s a specialized market that caters to hobbyists and the “H-word” demographic for now but if we made this mainstream then we’re contributing to the preservation of an industry. It and the people that it employs rely on us. This is more than a hobby for me, it’s a lifestyle and philosophy. Something that I’m doing for posterity through this blog. Thanks, 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.