Photo Companies Have Tons of Great Merch, But They Won’t Sell It To You

Japan routinely gets a lot of cool, exclusive photography-related merch. For example, Ricoh’s limited-edition camera straps made from seats salvaged from a retired train car surely made photographers elsewhere green with jealous rage. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Everyone could have access to cool photo-related gear.

The impetus for this story is that Nikon Japan got a new set of camera and lens-themed accessories and clothes, as reported by DC.Watch. In Japan, photographers can purchase things like hand towels with optical designs on them, bottle holders shaped like a Nikon Zf, lens diagram t-shirts, and a fantastic tote bag that shows how the Zf took inspiration from the legendary FM2 film camera.

Nikon

Nikon

All the items and more are cool, reasonably priced, and great ways for photographers to show off their love for Nikon. So naturally, a quick jaunt to Nikon USA’s online store, a great place to buy Nikon equipment, was in order. But alas, there’s no merchandise section at all.

It isn’t that Nikon USA doesn’t have merch, by the way, as the company definitely does. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. I even have a Nikon-branded rain jacket kicking around. But there is no way for customers to purchase it directly from Nikon, and that’s a real shame.

Fujifilm

OM System

If the solution to this problem is not obvious, one only needs to pop over to Fujifilm USA’s website to see how it looks to overcome such regional photo merch disparities. While the selection is not robust, it is a real quality-over-quantity situation. OM System also has a solid range of items, including shirts, hoodies, and accessories. Leica is probably the king of merch, but it’d be fine if other companies didn’t follow suit with $640 teddy bears.

But it’s not just Nikon that could stand to step up its game. Canon USA’s online store has a place to buy apparel, there just isn’t anything available right now. Sony isn’t hawking Alpha-related merch, though it does sell plenty of PlayStation-branded items elsewhere. Alpha could get the same treatment. Panasonic has made some great Lumix-branded items over the years, although so far as I am aware, they’ve never been available to the public.

Obviously, photo companies should dedicate the bulk of their resources to developing new cameras and lenses. Further, I’m describing a “first-world problem.” Nobody needs more shirts or tote bags, certainly not me.

However, photographers care about their gear, they typically like the company that makes their equipment, and there’s nothing wrong with showing off with a cool shirt, hat, or bag. In a world of cheap lens-themed coffee mugs that nearly every photographer has received as a Christmas gift at least once, there is so much space left for some unique, fashion-forward merch.

It just feels strange that for an industry that harbors such strong brand loyalty, the brands in the market aren’t universally leaning into that fanaticism. Even if they had to go the Kodak route and partner with other brands to get their names on shirts and sweaters, anything would be better than the situation we’re in right now.

Image creditsNikon, Fujifilm, and OM System