Travel Day 1006 – Kathmandu, NEPAL
Of course it happened again: no matter how much I hoped that this time around everything would be different, my camera broke again…
Useless fancy Camera Shops in Thamel
I actually lost track of my overall count, but this must have been the 9th camera that I went through while travelling. Not only was the purchase of new cameras becoming a regular travel expense for me, but also the trouble of finding a decent replacement camera, ideally with matching batteries, was quite an annoying event while on the road. Plus a lot of times I found myself in rural places that simply had no camera shops available at all…
While I my cameras got lost, stolen or most of the times simply broken, I usually bought the cheapest replacement possible, knowing that it wouldn’t last forever anyway. But this time around before I left for my trip, I had decided to invest a little more money and purchase a better quality and hopefully more reliable Canon camera. The better quality of the photos seemed definitely worth the investment and the solid brick feel in my pocket suggested lasting durability, but only 6 months into my trip the camera had a complete shut down due to a lens error…
Dodgy Camera Repair Shops on New Road
Even if the camera didn’t turn on any more and retract the lens, I still wasn’t ready to give up on it, mainly because of the good photos it could take and because I had spent more money on it. Being in Kathmandu, a capital city, a camera repair seemed quite possible, even if I knew that it wouldn’t be as easy as it would have been in Bangkok or in Singapore. So I looked around in Thamel and walked into the first camera store that I came across but when I saw how they touched the open lens just while holding my camera, I thanked them for their effort and walked off…
The next shop in Thamel seemed more competent. They gave me a proper receipt and told me that by tomorrow they could tell my how much a repair would cost. When I came back the next day, unfortunately the news was that it wasn’t possible to repair my camera, but the shop owner selflessly offered me to purchase a brand new camera from him. I walked off again, figuring that the Thamel shops were not the right place for an actual repair…
Canon Primax – Hidden but the Real Deal
After lots of asking around, I first went into a bazaar, a rather shopping mall like structure, but to no avail and then finally I came across New Road. Actually every single local person seemed to know New Road as the camera Mekka, but to me all the so-called “Repair Shops” looked a little bit dodgy. I had really hoped for a real shop with storefront window and official looking employees, but being left with no choice, I finally walked into one of the places and left mu camera with them…
The shop owner had told me 2000 rupees for the repair and I should call in two days. When I called, there seemed to be a problem and the price went up to 4000 rupees. Two days later I walked into the shop to check on my camera and now they were missing a part they needed and it would probably cost 6000 rupees. They asked again to call back in two days time, which I did, but by then the price was at 9000 rupees due to further complications. At this point I decided to pick up my camera and walk off for the third time…
Primax Service Center in Kathmandu
Finally, after feeling frustrated for a couple of days more while thinking that I might need to give up on my camera entirely, I learned that there was actually an official Canon repair shop in Kathmandu. All the places I had been to before must have forgotten to mention that there was an actual Canon, Primax Service Center, coincidentally also located on New Road. Unfortunately the Canon Sevice Center was hidden away and located on the upper floor, but they managed to professionally repair my camera within one single day, with original Canon parts and for 3500 rupees only…
So, if you are ever in need of a camera repair in Kathmandu and you are lucky enough to own a Canon, ditch the fancy Thamel shops, ditch the dodgy repair shops on the streets and go straight to the real deal: the Canon Primax Service Center on New Road. It only cost me about two weeks to learn that…
Thank you so much for this post Dennis! My camera died last week during a trip in the Gobi Desert, and I came across your post when googling for repair places after arriving in Nepal. The repair only took half a day and cost 1,000 rupees – and saved me buying a new camera for the rest of my trip. Cheers and happy travels!
Hi Belinda,
Thank you so much for your positive response. I am very glad to learn that the post could help you to get your camera back in shape quickly and cheaply. If you could benefit from my experience, at least it feels that digging though all the camera repair shops in Kathmandu wasn’t a complete waste waste of time after all… : )
Safe travels and enjoy your time in Nepal,
Dennis
I do have Tamron 70-300- Macro Zoom Lens using at Canon EOS 550d, sometime i got error Lens Connection Eror, Is there any Possibility to repair this Lens…
Please DO reply Thank You…
Hi Balram,
Unfortunately I am not sure how to answer your question. Maybe it would be good if you could contact the recommended camera repair shop in Kathmandu.
Best of luck,
Dennis
Thanks you so much! I was looking around today and felt hopeless, thought I’d have to take it home and fix it there. Thanks to you, now I don’t have to worry about taking pictures using my iPhone for my remaining time here in Kathmandu. Cheers!
Hi Jenny,
Thank you for your reply. It’s great to hear that my post could help you to repair your camera and that you are able again to take nice photos for the rest of your trip.
Enjoy Kathmandu,
Dennis
Sorry for the trouble you have had to repair your camera, in kathmandu.And because of that I got a chance to knew we have a Canon Repair shop in Kathmandu. Thanks for finding it for us.
Hi Jungsman,
No worries about the trouble. I am very glad when my efforts could help you to find a decent camera repair shop in Kathmandu. Hopefully it won’t be necessary to use it too often…
Hi – do you remember if they sell Canon camera batteries? In Kathmandu now and need a new one, and would prefer the genuine article.
That is a good question Kathie and to be honest I am not sure if they were selling camera batteries as well. But it might be worth a try if you are looking for the real-deal and are in Kathmandu already, otherwise down on the same street you will find the dodgy shops for some matching replacement ones. In case of desperation, just get two cheap ones as they usually work just as well, they only need to be charged sooner than the Canon one’s…
Thank You!..
Of course Ram, hopefully you managed to get your camera repaired as well in Kathmandu…
Greeting,sir
I ave a olynpus camera and unfirtunatily i had broke its screen.Will it repair in ur shop? em too worried .
Hello Manny,
Sorry to hear about your camera! You probably won’t be able to repair your Olympus camera in a Canon shop, but maybe any other store on New Road or in Thamel can help you. Best of luck with your repair…
My canon IXUS 160camera fell down,n its one part of lens outer part has gone deep inside…it say lens error,it will automatically shot down….all thing is gud expect lens had nt been opened.
How much it cost n can I have a contact number,it would b easy