Cameras and our photography give us a way to share a timeless window into someone else’s world.
This is why I take every opportunity I can get to travel around the world, bring my camera(s) with me, and find someone or something that deserves that timeless capture. In that spirit, this week I visited family in China and brought my new iPhone 17 Pro Max and a very capable OM-1 Mark II with a versatile 12-100mm lens. I have been to China several times over the years, and I would like to share with you some of those experiences through my photography.
As DPReview is all about digital photography, it made sense to hunt down some actual camera stores. I arrived in Hong Kong, the perfect place to find one, and began my search in a dense and bustling central shopping district called Mong Kok.
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Just outside the camera store mall, as you look toward the first visible intersection. iPhone 17 Pro Max | F1.8 | 1/1812 sec | ISO 100 |
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Another general view of the area outside the camera store mall. The mall entrance is kitty corner across the street. iPhone 17 Pro Max | F1.8 | 1/1812 sec | ISO 100 |
The closest analogy we have in the United States is in select parts of downtown New York and, to a lesser extent, in Chicago, complete with labyrinthine subway networks (though they’re much cleaner and more modern in most Asian cities, from my experience). Take a stroll around SoHo in New York, increase the density further by 2-3x or so in storefronts, rearrange it a bit haphazardly with crowded alleyways of street vendors and random staircases leading to unknown places, and you have what I am about to show you today.
“Hidden among the storefronts shown above is one of the largest camera ‘malls’ in all of China.”
This arrangement is at its peak in Hong Kong’s central business districts. Hidden among the storefronts shown above is one of the largest camera ‘malls’ in all of China. I was actually fooled by the first store I came across on the main level. I walked up, and admit, I was a bit disappointed, saying to myself, “This is it? My community is not going to be very impressed.” I then heard a baby cry behind me. I turned my head, and there was a non-assuming escalator up to what felt like some sort of attic storage space.
It was no attic storage space.
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An escalator leading up to the second floor of the camera store mall. You can see some of the shops to the right. iPhone 17 Pro Max | F1.8 | 1/100 sec | ISO 250 |
What’s interesting about China (and many eastern Asian cities) is that stores aren’t spread out and megalithic like your typical United States suburban Walmart or Target. Parking spaces are at a premium, if they exist at all, and storefronts are often obscured by other storefronts. You may even need to go through someone else’s store to get to an entirely separate small shop in the back. It’s not at all clear where you entered from, and more often than not, it’s an obscure exit somewhere else that you leave from.
Since space is at a premium, shops must compete for attention and ease of access on every single level. What you see in the photos below was replicated across multiple interconnected coordinators on five different levels (possibly more, as I didn’t have time to explore it all, and of course, the path up to the next level is somewhere else entirely).
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The camera store mall had a labyrinthine, hall-like nature. Here is one such hallway with a shop sign indicating an entrance to the left. iPhone 17 Pro Max | F1.8 | 1/555 sec | ISO 100 |
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One of the more interesting hallway displays to promote the associated camera store. iPhone 17 Pro Max | F1.8 | 1/100 sec | ISO 64 |
Nearly every modern camera brand, and then some, were present, with the notable exception of OM System. I walked into the next shop and asked the clerk if they had any OM-1’s around. He looked up, his eyes widening for a brief moment as he realized I wasn’t his typical customer, and asked me in quite fluent English, “Would you care for a Leica or Kodak?”, as he had no OMs. I got him to eventually point me down a corridor that led to more shops (and more corridors), but no OM cameras in sight.
“Especially in places like this camera mall, they will bargain down to the bottom of the barrel if it means your business.”
Business competition is fierce in China. There are many boba tea shops, hair stylists, and taxi drivers (I paid just $0.53 USD for a 10-minute trip across town in a mainland city a few days after this trip to Hong Kong). They don’t want to send you to the next shop that sells nearly the same equipment as their own. Especially in places like this camera mall, they will bargain down to the bottom of the barrel if it means your business.
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A camera store in the mall. iPhone 17 Pro Max | F1.8 | 1/235 sec | ISO 80 |
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A camera store in the mall. iPhone 17 Pro Max | F1.8 | 1/100 sec | ISO 125 |
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A camera store in the mall. iPhone 7 Pro Max | F1.8 | 1/121 sec | ISO 64 |
I nearly ended up buying a Fujifilm X100VI, which was in abundance at several shops. Not only is it a compact camera, perfect for my immediate needs, but it’s simply gorgeous. (The OM-1 Mark II and 12-100mm lens is an amazing camera, but it’s somewhat bulky for my fast-and-furious travels). I love how Fujifilm has built a sleek, metallic retro design and would love to own one just for the sake of it. I’m in the area for the next few days, so I suppose there’s still time to change my mind…
I hope you enjoyed this brief glimpse into the Chinese camera store scene, and would love to know what you think of the experience in the comments below.