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I remember many years ago my Dad saying the best and cheapest place to get photography and camera kit was the multitude of shops on the Tottenham Court Road. I have vague memories of him visiting lots of shops there and picking things up at substantial discounts with a bit of haggling.
I want a couple of new lenses and a few other bits and am there with work in the next few weeks.
So the question I ask is simply, is it still worth a visit? Are their still deals to be had? And are there any particularly good shops there?
I can’t think of a single camera shop on Tottenham Court Road any more.
Welcome to 1990!
Yes, you will be wasting your time going there, its all online now.
Specialist camera shops still survive, Grays of Westminster etc, but they dont do business by being the cheapest.
WEX are good for new stuff online. 2nd hand, try Ffordes. There are loads of off-shore sellers who are cheaper than UK sellers. I think WEX may be one of the multi country sellers.
Thanks both, I’ll side step of then.
Just round the corner is Park Cameras which is my preferred bricks and mortar shop.
That was still the case about 10+ years ago but it looks like they've all gone now unfortunately....
not London but back in Sheffield in the summer I noticed Harrisons on London Rd is still open remember picking up a 2nd hand Weston light meter there around 1979 and a few cameras and lenses over the years
https://www.harrisoncameras.co.uk/
Wex took over Calumet, and still run the London store if you have time to get over to Whitechapel and want an actual shop.
Used to be a fantastic day out going round the hifi shops on TCR and haggling over the various bits of a hifi, car stereo, camera and lenses. There were some amazing shops.
As it happens, I took a walk along there yesterday.
No sole camera shops at all, though a few do sell a small number of cameras, amongst the computers/phones/tech gear.
Probably 10 tech shops in the area where the camera shops used to be.