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Posted by Doug Clifford on July 16, 2001 at 03:13:38:
In Reply to: Re: Grey market lenses posted by ken on June 21, 2001 at 15:21:33:
: : Is there anything wrong with purchases grey market lenses, or will that have an effect on the camera's performance, or worse damage the camera? Is there any way to look at the product and see if it is or not, or do you take the seller's word for it?
Grey market or gray market merchandise are cameras and lenses which were originally manufactured and destined for sale in other countries (such as countries in Europe and South America.) The cameras/lenses for some reason became distressed merchandise (sometimes because the intended recipient couldn't pay for the shipment and sometimes because the buyer intentionally plans to divert some of the cameras to the United States.) The merchandise is bought by a US mail order dealer, and sold without a US warranty. This means the equipment can often be sold for substantially lower prices than identical models properly imported into the US by authorized distributors. Although the equipment usually comes with an international warranty, this can mean that if the camera or lens fails during the warranty period, you will have to either (1) pay for the repairs, or (2) ship the camera back to the manufacturer for repairs (think Japan!)
As long as the seller advises beforehand the item you want to buy is "grey market" there is nothing wrong with grey market merchandise. Be aware of the warranty problem however. Also be aware that sometimes there are slight differences in the same model of camera intended for another country. For example, many camera models carry different model numbers and names in the European market than those intended for the US market. One of the reasons camera manufacturers use different model names for different markets is to make it easy to identify whether a camera brought in for warranty repair is grey market merchandise or not. It has been reported elsewhere on the web that two manufacturers, Nikon and Canon, refuse to perform warranty repairs in the United States on grey market cameras and lenses, unless the owner can demonstrably prove he bought the camera while abroad.
There is no truth whatsoever to the lie told by some mail order camera dealers that grey market cameras are made from inferior materials and the lenses are plastic.
The single most important thing about grey market cameras and lenses is your choice of retailer. The sad fact is there are dishonest mail order camera stores. Both dishonest and honest merchants sell grey market cameras. To identify honest camera retailers, I encourage you to visit photo.net and study the thousands of consumer experiences reported. It becomes quickly apparent which dealers have high levels of consumer satisfaction and which dealers repeatedly take advantage of customers. Go here and pick "Camera Shops" http://www.photo.net/neighbor/opc?category_id=0
Some mail order advertisements get your attention with an incredibly low price for a camera you have been thinking about buying. This is often the tip-off that the camera is a grey-market version.
Some retailers won't touch grey market merchandise (Samy's Camera for one) because of the downside for the consumer should a camera or lens fail while under the international warranty. The importation of grey market merchandise also has negative impact on the sale of the higher priced same model cameras with US warranty.
The United Kingdom also has grey market activity.
Grey market film is also sold by some mail order dealers. We would have great reluctance in purchasing grey market film because of the storage and transportation variables which may lower the quality of film reimported from another country.
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