If you have ever had a peek at Japanese photography magazines (Asahi Camera
and Nippon Camera), you will notice a number of differences between the
American and Japanese photography magazines.
First, the two Japanese magazines have clearly have amateurs at their
target, but show portfolios of professional (and advanced amateur)
photographers. In fact these magazines deal with a range of topics to the
extent that I would have to buy a few American magazines to cover their
content. Asahi Camera has a monthly competition of B&W and color
photographs with technical data (camera used and exposure and film used).
There is a monthly classic camera section. They use good glossy paper to
print these magazines and thus they are heavy and more expensive. (800yen
or more). These in addition to technical reports of cameras and lenses.
These are substantial magazines compared to the American counterparts.
Japanese camera dealer ads are at the end of the magazines. Yodobashi
Camera does not advertise here. Instead you see many used camera dealers
on these pages. Some of them do deal with new cameras, but the
advertisements of new cameras amount to a fraction of these dealer ads.
The manufacturers' ads are scattered throughout one issue.
Besides the two major general photo magazines, there are other special
magazines with a narrow scope. I've seen magazines on classic cameras in
which I saw an Olympus ad for the OM2000. In fact Olympus has an ad for
the OM2000 in Asahi Camera in March and also in these specialized classic
camera magazines, obviously looking for a market for the 2000. I am not
aware of the existence of a guidebook on used camera stores in the United
States, but there are at least two different guidebooks
on the shelf at Map Camera in Shinjuku. Although I did not buy anything, I
have to say a young salesman at the classic camera section of this store
was more helpful than those at Yodobashi and took the time to help me with
my questions regarding a short shutter-release extender (my home-made
device tends to come apart). I learned that in order to look for such a
device in Tokyo, I would have to go to Ginza where a number of used camera
stores are located. I thought that some of you who have been looking for
rare used OM items would be happy in that part of the city. Shinjuku is
for new cameras and Ginza is for used cameras in Tokyo. Due to
insufficient time, I chose not to go to Ginza on this trip.
Those of you who ever checked on the link to Map Camera on my Olympus page
will have noticed a table of numbers besides the prices of the OM-3Ti/4Ti.
These are for those who cannot afford to buy the camera in one payment. In
credit-card payments, I was invariably asked whether I wanted to have one
or multiple payments. The table on the Map Camera page is to show how much
monthly payments you will have to make in installment plans of 24, 36, 60,
and 84 months!
I learned that there is an Olympus Camera Club in Japan. They get a
monthly magazine called "Olympus Photography", and the address of the club
is "Olympus Camera Club/Editor's Office for Zuiko News" at Ogawa-machi
Mitsui Building, 1-3-1 Kanda Ogawa-machi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan
10100-014. It was established in 1955!
I am afraid that the part of the problem of the OM system in the US despite
the relatively inexpensive prices compared to most of Europe might be due
to the lack of organization. The United States is potentially a huge
market for the Olympus cameras. If Olympus America can do a better job of
recapturing some segment of the photography market for the OM system, we
would all feel more comfortable about the future of our cameras.
Tomoko Yamamoto
Photographer, Composer, Soprano
mailto:tomokoy@xxxxxxxxx
http://www.charm.net/~tomokoy/
-All the photos (except panorama) with OM's-
http://ep.com/ep/csp.html?csp=1130
-Olympus Equipment Classifieds-
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