Travel Photography - Camera Broken - Where to Buy? Spain, Cologne Airport, Tokyo?

I'm in the beginning of a RTW trip and my new Canon S100 suddenly has a recurring blank screen when powered on (it still takes photos). Since I'm on the road, there's not much chance of getting it serviced by Canon.

I'm in Barcelona for a few days then transiting through Cologne on my way to Croatia/Bosnia and then on to Tokyo.

Does anyone have thoughts on which destination will have substantially better or worse prices?

Tokyo would be cheapest. I bought my camera from Tokyo, but it's best to go with a local to help negotiating the price. Cologne or Barcelona is not bad too, if you can claim back the taxes (if you are not a citizen of the EU).

Tokyo would be cheapest. I bought my camera from Tokyo, but it's best to go with a local to help negotiating the price. Cologne or Barcelona is not bad too, if you can claim back the taxes (if you are not a citizen of the EU).

Thanks for the advice.

It's a bit painful to buy another brand new camera just a month after this one.

Is there any way to check approximate prices in Tokyo?

Do you think it would be better to try to buy one at the airport in the duty free?

Here's one of the Duty Free shops in Narita
http://www.fasola.jp/en/item/av_digital.html

S100 at Yodobashi http://www.yodobashi.com/%E3%82%AD%E3%83%A4%E3%83%8E%E3%83%B3-PowerShot-S100-BK-%E3%83%91%E3%83%AF%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B7%E3%83%A7%E3%8 3%83%E3%83%88-%E3%83%96%E3%83%A9%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF/pd/100000001001447222/
I think a camera would be eligible for 5% cash back when you present your passport.


S100 at Amazon.co.jp http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%83%87%E3%82%B8%E3%82%BF%E3%83%AB%E3%82%AB%E3%8 3%A1%E3%83%A9-PowerShot-PSS100-BK-3-0%E5%9E%8BTFT%E6%B6%B2%E6%99%B6%E3%82%AB%E3%83%A9% E3%83%BC%E3%83%A2%E3%83%8B%E3%82%BF%E3%83%BC/dp/B0065FYHBW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333057293&sr=8-1
Note the long ship time.

Check with your credit card to see if it is covered and what they can do for you. Maybe you can ship it to the service center from abroad or have it repaired in Tokyo http://photojpn.org/news/2010/04/canon-service-centers-in-japan/ if you ship it ahead.
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1019&message=18311653&changemode=1

Lastly, Bhphoto will ship internationally. Be sure to compare exchange rates vs US price + shipping to see if that is cheaper.

In my experience, electronics is never cheaper in the airport duty-free shops (in Europe, don't know about Japan). You are much better off buying in the city and requesting tax refund when leaving the country.
What is cheaper in the duty-free shops is alcohol, cigarettes and perfume.

I get the the impression that the newest models are typically released in Japan. You will be truly ahead of the Jones's.

With exchange rates, I find most Japanese discount prices not really discounted that much or comes out higher. For higher end prosumer cameras, you really won't find many (if any) models not sold outside of Japan. They might get stuff earlier, but not by much. However, some cameras for the Japanese market don't have English menus. Gotta be careful there.

Since Barcelona is your 1st destination and that you'd probably want to get your pics for the entire trip, I'd try searching for something there as the euro is relatively cheaper.

Agree with Braindrain. Despite many trips to Japan and loving the place, I cannot recommend you make camera/lens purchases there. With the high exchange rate, you will lose out to prices in NA or Europe. Another point is that most electronics purchased in Japan will carry Japan-specific warranty. If something goes wrong back home, you would likely have to send it to Japan for repair.