Nikon at Yodobashi Camera Akiba store in Akihabara, Tokyo

I have recently been on a short trip to neighboring Tokyo, and it was my first time visiting the city. Being a big camera geek, I have naturally been excited to visit some big camera stores. One of the biggest, if not the biggest, is the Yodobashi Camera Akiba store near the Akihabara Station (link to Google Maps). Yodobashi Camera is one of Japan's biggest retail stores specializing on various appliances, and digital cameras are a very big part of their business. There's a whole floor dedicated to cameras, and a big section specifically to Nikon. Canon and Sony, as it happens, have a smaller space within the store, Fuji and Olympus even smaller. With that said, all camera brands can be found there, and also other photography brands like GITZO, Manfrotto and many more. Let me share some images from the store from you, so you can see what to expect. Prices were not cheap, but if you purchase a camera in Japan as a foreign visitor you can get a tax refund, so perhaps it could pay off for you (depends which country you are coming from). Also another thing about Yodobashi Camera: You can bargain prices, and perhaps get up to 10% discount (not many people know that). What impressed me personally is the vast selection: They have everything. For example, all Zeiss DSLR lenses for the F-Mount were displayed there. I could touch them, and test them out. I can only dream about that here in Taiwan.

Yodobashi Camera Akiba


This is how the store looks inside. It's huge.


These are sections dedicated to various camera brands.


This area was full of camera bags and tripods.


In this area promotional event for Canon took place.

The Nikon area in Yodobashi Camera

Like I mentioned before, the Nikon area is pretty big, slightly bigger than the Canon area. All DSLRs and most F-Mount lenses can be found there, and also tested, as some of them are mounted on cameras. There is also a lot of promotional material such as catalogues, but they are in Japanese language. I really enjoyed this part.


Various Nikkor F-Mount lenses.


The legendary 105mm and 135mm Defocus Image Control lenses by Nikon.


A look at high end lenses by Nikon.


More DSLR lenses by Nikon.


This area was dedicated to Nikon Z mirrorless cameras.

Zeiss lenses for Nikon

This was probably my favorite area of the store, featuring various Zeiss lenses for the Nikon F-Mount. All these lenses are from the Milvus series, these are high precision manual focus lenses for enthusiasts. They are not cheap, and not all of them are significantly better than Nikkor lenses, but some of them are very unique and amazing.


Zeiss Milvus with the Nikon Df camera.


More Zeiss Milvus lenses.


Basically all Zeiss Milvus lenses could be found here.


Another angle.


I have tested the Df and I really liked the combo.


A closeup on the 100mm and 135mm f/2 Zeiss Milvus.


More from the Milvus line.


The Nikon Df, a legendary camera, paired with the 50mm 1.4


These even more expensive Otus lenses were not accessible for testing.


The Nikon Z6.


The Nikon Z7.


Nikkor S-Line lenses.


They even had other products by Nikon, their famous binoculars.

Other brands


This is GITZO mini traveler, my favorite.


Tripod heads by GITZO and other brands.


Expensive Billingham camera bags.

In conclusion

I would definitely recommend any camera fan to visit this store, if you happen to be in Japan. It's right next to a big metro station (Akihabara Station), and easy to navigate. You can spend hours in the store as there are multiple floors with other product lines such as watches, laptops and other computers, there's a big section for Apple and Samsung products, as well as for other appliances. Having the ability to hold lenses and cameras in your hand and test them out a bit is really valuable, even if you don't purchase anything. Akihabara itself is a lot of fun, so definitely a must see part of Tokyo.