Electronics in St. Petersburg, Russia

September 10, 2012 5:05 AM

I messed up my travel packing, and I now need to buy a charger for a Canon S95 camera battery in St. Petersburg, Russia. Is there any place where I could get one for a reasonable price? I'm staying downtown.
posted by Jakey to Travel & Transportation around St. Petersburg, Russian Federation (4 answers total)

I don't know St Petersburg well, but I'm sure that somewhere there's at least one semi-organized location where people sell random electronic stuff in little kiosks, off tables, or even on the ground. Maybe in one of big metro stations or pedestrian underpasses. It won't be original equipment, but it'll do in a pinch. The S95 takes NB-6L Li-Ion batteries; take one with you to test it. Ask a tech-savvy Russian to tell you where and ideally go with you so you don't get ripped off.
posted by RandlePatrickMcMurphy at 5:27 AM on September 10, 2012

Best answer: The Gostiny Dvor along Nevskiy Prospekt has a bunch of camera stores on the ground floor, NW corner. This was a few years ago but I doubt things have changed dramatically as there were about 15-20 small camera shops.
posted by suedehead at 6:28 AM on September 10, 2012

Best answer: This is the sort of thing that is often left in hotel rooms. Ask your concierge, or stop in at one of the large international hotels and ask there.
posted by cosmac at 7:15 AM on September 10, 2012

What cosmac said. I arrived Sao Paolo without a charger for my Panasonic LX5 camera. The concierge at the Porto Bay Hotel — a superb hotel, BTW — sorted it out in less than half an hour, for about US$10.
posted by quidividi at 5:11 AM on September 11, 2012