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  4. Smart to buy grey market lens with $400 off MSRP?

Smart to buy grey market lens with $400 off MSRP?


4 years 1 month ago #677924 by Dan Lindgren
Hello,

I'm new here and kind of new to photography too.  I bought my D810 used, and picked up a 35mm and 50mm used too.  These don't have warranties, but I saved some money buying them.  I'm looking at some zoom lenses and noticed some, you can save upwards of $400 off MSRP if you buy something that is disclosed as 'grey market'.  Now as I understand from Google searches, these are lenses from overseas that won't have a warranty.  So basically the same as buying used, except these are supposed to be new.  Right?  

Any negatives besides that?  
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4 years 1 month ago #677925 by John Landolfi
You may not be able to have it serviced at an authorized repair place, should you need it.
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4 years 1 month ago #677930 by MYoung
+1 if you ever want to sell it, most will prefer USA models.  
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4 years 1 month ago #677933 by effron
"So basically the same as buying used, except these are supposed to be new.  Right?  "

Right, just not warranted.....
Why so serious?
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4 years 1 month ago #677946 by CanonKid
Personally I would go with the warranty just to have the peace of mind.
Canon 7D, 15-85mm, 18-55mm, 70-200mm, 100mm Macro, Sigma 120-300mm, Speedlite 430EX II

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4 years 1 month ago #677948 by Piechura

John Landolfi wrote: You may not be able to have it serviced at an authorized repair place, should you need it.

Surely that can't be true? Otherwise by the same logic, if you bought a lens overseas, they'd also refuse to repair that. And given that photographers are by definition moving around a lot, that'd be a massive customer service oversight.
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4 years 1 month ago #677955 by Shadowfixer1

Piechura wrote:

John Landolfi wrote: You may not be able to have it serviced at an authorized repair place, should you need it.

Surely that can't be true? Otherwise by the same logic, if you bought a lens overseas, they'd also refuse to repair that. And given that photographers are by definition moving around a lot, that'd be a massive customer service oversight.

It is true. The one thing is you can always send it back to the manufacturer in Japan to be repaired. They will honor the warranty there.
www.betterphoto.com/?ramshots
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4 years 1 month ago #677957 by effron
There are other repair facilities in country that will work on gray market gear, but it will cost the owner and the real issue is getting parts. I think Nikon stopped selling to non approved shops. 
Like stated above, buy a USA lens, they carry FIVE year warranties!
Why so serious?
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4 years 1 month ago #677962 by Nikon Shooter
There are two was to justify grey market purchases
and they are linked together.
1, the deal is too good to ignore and
2, you can swallow the lost in case of malfunction.

As I consider my purchases as tool investments, I
have never gone that way.
Light is free… capturing it is not!
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4 years 1 month ago #677979 by Dan Lindgren
Well another good reason for signing up here and posting this question.  

Hmmmm.  

First, let me say thank you to you all for the answers.  

Next have you bought any grey market stuff?  
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4 years 1 month ago #677982 by Nikon Shooter
Yes, twice.

The first were two macro lenses I purchased in the US
because the dollar was very low, sales taxes too high
and Nikon distributor Anglophoto's appetite waaaaaay
out of proportions. Things went bad when one of the len-
ses hit the ground and they refused to repair it unless I
paid their exorbitant estimations… I was young then.

The second time I got a 200mm ƒ2 in Scotland. That guy
did not see the ground ever and I was given the afternoon
to try it. 24h for the E6 and I was back to the shop to take
it off their hands at a fantastic price. Since then, I got me
right tool.
Light is free… capturing it is not!
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4 years 1 month ago #678032 by Frost Photography
Completely depends on your risk tolerance.  If you buy and never need to use the warranty, You rolled the dice and made a good move.  If you ever need the warranty even once for something minor with out it, that smart move turns into a dum dum move really fa$t.  
"The quickest way to make money at photography is to sell your camera."
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4 years 1 month ago #678036 by fmw
Almost right.  It won't have a U.S. warranty.  It will still have a manufacturer's warranty but you would likely have to ship the camera to country of origin for service.  I used to use Nikon equipment.  Every product I bought (and there was a ton of it) was either used, refurbished or gray market.  The one time I needed warranty work I had to send an F5 camera to Japan.  The turnaround was about 2 week.

I encourage the purchase of gray market.
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4 years 1 month ago #678091 by Ben Vanderbilt
Not worth the discount, go with the USA version
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4 years 1 month ago #678214 by Prago
+1 on having the warranty.  Saving $400 wouldn't be enough savings for me to be interested.  
SWM into chainsaws and hockey masks seeks like-minded SWF. No weirdos, please
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