Where can I now buy a Nikon 950 Coolpix in Japan?

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I plan to buy a Nikon Coolpick 950 digital camera. I have a contact in Japan that knows nothing about cameras. She however can get around quite easily. Is there REPUTABLE camera discount dealers in Japan that have this camera on hand to sell now? State names and addresses. A E mail address will be a big help also if the company can communicate in English. I will need the Japan price in american dollars. What do you think shipping and Custom charges might be? Has anyone gone this route? E mail me directly at: talltandj@aol.com Thanks, Tom

-- Thomas Ferko (talltandj@aol.com), March 08, 1999

Answers

Expect to pay noticeably MORE for a Coolpix 950 in Japan than you would in the U.S. In my experience, Japanese-made Photo equipment costs about 1.5X to nearly 2X as much in Japan as it does in the good ole U.S. of A.

I'd be surprised if you could find a Coolpix 950 for les than 200,000 Yen in the next couple of months.

-- Doug Green (dougjgreen@yahoo.com), March 08, 1999.


"Where can I now buy a Nikon 950 Coolpix in Japan?"

Nowhere. The camera will not ship in Japan until March 25 (April 12th in the US), according to Nikon. Be patient and wait a couple of weeks.

By the way, I assume you can read Japanese, because that's what the instruction manual will be printed in--ditto the camera's menus and controls.

Also bear in mind that the US branches of most consumer electronics companies (e.g., Nikon USA) won't honor warranties on goods purchased overseas. They really, really want you to buy through a US distributor--anything else is "grey market" and is treated like a bastard child when it comes to warranty s

-- Andy Baird (andy8080@aol.com), March 11, 1999.


That's right. It comes out on March 25th. The retail price is 125,000 Yen. At 120 Yen to $1.00 that's $1041.66. The shops here in Japan usually discount the retail price 10-20% for newly released products. The controls on the camera are in English, but the manual will be in "Closed-Minded Japanese" only. Try selling an electronic device in the US with the manual in only English. I've lived here 17 years. I know what I am writing about. rs

-- RS (justin_dec@hotmail.com), March 14, 1999.

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