Camera & Electronics Stores in Chennai

Hi All-

I'm a serious photographer (have shot professionally) and a gadget freak to boot (they often go hand in hand). What is Chennai's biggest and best camera store and are there any big electronics stores?

Thanks,
Mike

Biggest is probably Camera Citi (I think its spelt that way, not sure) on Cathedral Road. Pretty big, box-shifting sort of place is my guess (only been in there once).

There are smaller shops around, for instance, in Spencer Plaza. Also some gadget shops there too.

I really don't know the best for serious camera talk. Watch out for grey imports; can be good bargains, but be aware of the implications of no manufacturer's guarantee.

Whilst you will find many gadgets here, what we lack is the choice that I would have been used to in London.

Thanks Nick-H. I actually went to Camera Citi over the weekend. If it's the same one...there is a huge billboard announcing it's the largest camera showroom but it's a deception. It's ridiculously small. I went to a couple in Spencer Plaza that were bigger (by a few square feet) and better.

It pains me not to have the selection in electronics...but then again it'll keep me out of trouble!

... I seem to remember that half of Camera Citi is a foreign exchange counter? Do post the names of the ones you prefer.

What's interesting is that the billboard makes it look like the place is huge but it's only a tiny corner of the building. Yes there is a Western Union next to it, among other things. Today I'm going to check out a place called Photocraft Cameras which is in Velachery. Based on the web site, it looks pretty good.

http://www.photocraftcameras.com/

It was fairly big when I called in there: rectangle, with two camera counters and FX on the right. I think they've got another shop somewhere.

That Velachery place looks interesting, but websites always make a place look good!

www.camerciti.com looks good, but no pic of the showroom...

I saw the same thing, with Western Union on the right but one small area for the camera store straight past that. Basically there was a small counter in front of me and a small counter on either side so the shop camera shop portion surrounds you. It was a tight space, about enough room for 10-12 people in there.

I wonder if I missed some other camera counter section?

the serious camera shops are not the Airconditioned type places like camaera citi, they are small vendors on wallajah road. they have a much higher density of cameras per sqft than any of the other shops. they also work a lot on "per order" basis - you order the camera you need and they will get it for you. Display pieces are passe!


i dont think there are any serious gadget stores like circuit city or radioshack. you can spend a day loitoring around in spencer plaza looking through all the shops. however, it will help if you know what you are looking for. in chennai you get almost everything - but its spread across the city!

There is a road called ellis road ,that is just behind VGP on mount road .

You can get all the cameras ,lenses etc from that street .

The best guy out there is Rathna Photo store . But the owner is a SNOB . May be he would be much more pleased to have customers who can pay in dollars .

P.S - I am not a trader , but i kind of buy stuff from that place .

If you want to pickup the latest gadgets then you have to visit the brands exclusive showrooms, India does not have shops like Best Buy where you can checkout the latest gadgets under one roof.

http://www.sony.co.in/section/retailshops
http://www.canon.co.in/CanonImageLounge.asp
http://www.nikon.co.in/distributors.php

Let me know if you are looking for anything specific then I can make some suggestions.

A sweet reminder - no buying and selling via IM ....