We have been talking about Umit & Son here at least twice. I have understood that he is just as much displaying his own equipment and films and selling candy as he is selling films. I will be in London in July for a few days, and I would love to go there. But he is on the other side of the city, and there is no subway there so it will take me a full hour to ride there from the hotel with subway and then bus. My wife and son is not interested at all and there is nothing else around we want to see. I could choose to go there myself if I really want to, though. I know it will be interesting no matter if I buy something or not as it is a famous place and there is not many places in the world left like this, but I would preferably end up buying at least a digest or two.

So the question is: How much is he actually selling? Could I expect yo buy something at all, or would it mostly be to take a look at a famous place?

I honestly don't know anyone here who has visited his shop. Maybe Tyler has but visits us here very infrequently nowadays I notice.

When I was last in London, I came close but the only time I was anywhere near his district was when we were making our way back to Euston for the trip back home. This was on a Sunday so his shop was closed unfortunately.
When i'm next in the Capital, I will try and plan better.

Eivind,I visited Umit in February there is a piece about it under the dealer section.
It's not the easiest of shops to find but if you have time on your hands there is plenty to see on the way,we walked around the area as well as going to the shop there is always plenty to see in London.
As to buying well as I said I my previous post each to his own on this one.📽📽

Sorry Gwyn, I'd completely forgotten about your own visit there earlier ithis year until you pointed it out again here.
For those interested in Gwyn's visit there and his own thoughts and experiences from his outing, here is a reminder of that visit...

Umit & Son

Yep that is Umit !!!

Thanks for all the input and links! I hope I will find a time to go there when I am in London! Not many other opportunities like this other places.

Classic Home Cinema would have given you what you're seeking from a visit to an actual film shop I'm certain Eivind.

It's also conveniently located close to a nice little seaside resort for your young family.

The only issue is, it's one hell of a distance away even by rail to attempt to do it in a one day round trip from London.
It's not impossible, but you'd waste almost a complete day of your visit just traveling there and back again and that may become tiresome for your young family.

I know, Andrew :-) It would have been very nice, but it is just a bit too far away unless I could spend a whole day as you say. Maybe sometime I can go there with other collectors from Norway that go there each year.

How many Super 8mm collectors do you have there in Norway roughly Eivind?

I don't seem to recall seeing too many on the forums over the years.
How many make the trip to Phil's establishment once a year?

If you search at Cine Real,as seen in Umit's receipt,all your doubts will go away !!!!!

Cine Real

I guess there are somewhere between 2 and 4 each year going there. They are not going to any forum as far as I know, but several use Facebook to some degree. There are many more in the club, but a lot of the members are elderly people and not too regular on Facebook, forums or other meeting places. Maybe Mats have been to CHC?

He has, as well as Terje Dakene, Per Egil Røed I think. Kurt Jensen and Jan Andresen usually go. Hope my wife soon gets her Norwegian passport, I want her beside me when traveling.

Elvind, Umit & Son is a short walk from Hackney Central station. No need to get on a bus, there are regular trains from King's Cross.

Umit is an absolute character and very welcoming. In fact, I will go back to his shop based on his friendly disposition alone. However, I might qualify that with the fact that even Umit himself would admit his collection is not what it was. He does have a number of mouth-watering full length 16mm features on the shelf, but he will quickly tell you they are for rental or his own screenings. I did come away with a 16mm Castle Films cut down of High Plains Drifter in B/W earlier this year but I was pretty sure I'd nabbed one of the few jewels in the crown. That said, he does get new titles in, but I would suggest that you don't allow your expectations to get too inflated!

I will need to look more into this. Train sounds very nice as it is easier to get off the right place :-) I would still need to ride three trains to get there from the hotel which, according to Google Maps, would mean 45 minutes. The trains are fast, but the changes are not. London is a big city to navigate in for a Norwegian :-)

Have to totally agree with Martin,I think my expectations of the shop were not Unfortunatley matched by what I found.
I think I expected something along the lines of Derrans / classic .I suspect in years gone by Umits shop was up there with the best of them but times are changing.
I'm still glad I went though.

Eivind if you have time to spare one exhibition I can recommend is the Bond in Motion at Covent Garden one of the best 007 collections ,well worth a visit if you are at a loose end.If you and family like 007 maybe worth a look.📽📽

I checked the travel time for CHC. It would take around 8 hours. I was a lot closer when I was in York two years ago :-)