It’s been a bit of a touristy day today - we’ve spent most of it shopping around for camera gear, and we’ve been all over the city from Stanley Street on Hong Kong Island to Mong Kok on the mainland.

Shopping for photo equipment in HK can be a bit hit or miss, and if you’re really, really unlucky you could end up getting royally ripped off*. Bargaining with shopkeepers can be a difficult if it’s something you’re not used to, so the second best thing you can do is shop around - we were quoted anywhere between 4000 - 4800 HK$ for the same item just by doing this, and got what I felt was a good price compared to the UK.

Finding what you want can be a bit of a nightmare as well; there are no photography-specific stores, but more general electronics stores with photo supplies (think Dixons without the customer service policy and you’ll be close). Mainstream camera bodies, lenses and filters seem to be quite easy to find, but finding anything more exotic or specialist will be a bit of a challenge. This can be made even worse by the late afternoon Mong-Kok crowd, who seem to have an insatiable appetite for electronics goods of all kinds and come out in droves after the stores open at 1pm.

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* Watch out for unscrupulous sorts who use a warranty as part of the bargaining process (everything brand new should come with one), and always make sure you get what you’re buying. I’ve heard stories on the web about how the old “bait and switch” technique is in wide adoption in some of the more “entrepreneurial” establishments.