Buying Sony camera in Osaka / Nagoya

Hi folks,

I'm planning to buy Sony A6500 camera in Osaka. I've read on other forum's posts a few websites I could check such as Yodobashi.com and kakaku.com.

However, I'm unsure about ordering online and whether I can get English menu or not. It seems many people on forums say thay Sony cameras are all in Japanese language and it's hard to find the one in English menu.

Do you have any experience with buying Sony cameras in Japan? And were you able to change the menu to English?

Simply said almost all Sony and Panasonic cameras sold in Japan,for Japan market, the menu only come in Japanese language ONLY. You cannot change it.
Canon, Olympus, Fujifilm have options for language change.

However, if you can find the 'International' version or it mentioned come with English menu, then it is possible. Those are normally sell at Duty/Tax Free shops that deal with international tourist or big electronic shops.

So check it yourself before you buy or ask the shop assistant for confirmation.

Why do you want to buy it in Japan anyway? It's very probably not going to be cheaper.

NOT "A/a".

"α(Alpha)" series is.

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sony_%CE%B1&oldid=752824188

I live in New Zealand and the Sony A6500 is about $600 cheaper in Japan. Though the lack of English menu and warranty does concern me. I will take your advise and check it directly when I go there soon. Much appreciated.

You can check out the sony centre in Osaka/Nagoya, they have a torist section for oversea model, the current oversea models does not have your model, closest model is the 6300, but it's best to check directly for upto date information and product they have available.


〒460-0008 名古屋市中区栄3-3-21 セントライズ栄

Sony Store Nagoya

Located by the south side of the Maruei Department Store, outside Exit 8 of the SakaeChika underground shopping mall at Sakae Station on the Nagoya Municipal Subway.


〒530-0001 大阪市北区梅田2-2-22 ハービスエント 4F

Sony Store Osaka

Located on the fourth floor of the HERBIS ENT building, within a 5-minute walk of both the Osaka and Umeda stations.

I like to add, oversea models sold in japan all have english menu and warranty, but make sure you ask them for the warranty certificate if it does not come in the box, otherwise you still won't get warranty service.

For warranty you need to have it done here, or contact them here.

NEW ZEALAND
Sony New Zealand Ltd.
Local Toll-Free: 0800-SonyNZ (766969)
http://www.sony.co.nz

More information.

http://www.sony.jp/products/overseas/contents/info.html

Wow, there r super useful. Thank you very much kms! Just in time for my visit to Nagoya today too.

For future readers, I've asked Yodobashi & Bic Camera in Osaka & Kyoto and can confirm that Sony A6500 does not have an international / tourist version yet. The A6300 does but at a much higher cost.

Panasonic on the other hand has followed other brand lead and their GX7 Mk II has four languages including English.

The lenses and cameras in these shops are about the same price as in New Zealand but they are running special Christmas / New Year discounts varying between 5-7%.

And if you buy a set of items you can bargain with the staff too.

For more expensive lenses, you can save between $150 - $500.

Again thank you for the awesome info.