Camera Labs

I've been kicking around the idea of a new lens and looking aat B&H to support cameralabs. When I search a lens 2 will come up, one will say Imported and one will say USA and the USA will cost more than the import version, what's up with that?

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Mike "The Squirrel"
Canon 550D | Canon EF 35mm 1:2 | Canon 50 f/1.8 II | Sigma 18-125mm DC OS | Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD | Canon 430EX II
Military Issued Canon 40D | Canon 55-250mm IS

Well your warranty will be a=affected if you're living in the US and have a grey market or imported lens.

When I bought from them I was shipping overseas anyway, so I went for a non US market lens, saving $200.

I think you could run the risk on the lens, but it's more of a risk on certain models. For example, my purchase was an 85mm prime lens - i.e. no zoom, no VR and a lens built for a long time with high build quality

Canon's camera bodies and non L lenses have country specific warranties. If you need a warranty repair then it must be sent back to the country/region of origin.

L lenses have an international warranty and will be repaired under warranty anywhere.

Some people (mainly Americans) think that the USA version will be superior to the rest of the world model (grey market) when in reality all the lenses come from the same batch in the same factory in Japan.

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Canon EOS 400D, EF-S 18-55mm, EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM, EF 50mm f/1.8 MK I, EF-S 10-22mm, EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM, EF 28mm f/1.8, EF 85mm f/1.8
Canon 430EX II, Manfrotto 055CXPRO3, Arca Swiss P0
Panasonic GF3, Panasonic 20mm f/1.7, Olympus 45mm f/1.8

MY FLICKR!

I don't know about the USA, but it's worth to do a little investigation into warranties if you want to buy grey market.

Over here in Holland the warranty on every product sold must be supplied by the seller of the product, regardless what policy the manufacturer has. So if a seller supplies a grey market product, it's the sellers problem solving any defects that fall with in the warranty. If Nikon Holland doesn't accept the lens because it's a grey import model the supplier still has to give the warranty to it's buyer.

I know the USA has different laws about consumer protection, but it's worth reading up on them. Because if B&H is the party that must supply the warranty by USA law, there is no reason not to buy grey market.

Maybe it's worth emailing B&H about how they resolve the warranty on grey market models.

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www.pimvandevelde.com

That's good info to know and that clears up something else I was kinda guessing at, what is gray market. Now I understand

Thanks!!

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Mike "The Squirrel"
Canon 550D | Canon EF 35mm 1:2 | Canon 50 f/1.8 II | Sigma 18-125mm DC OS | Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD | Canon 430EX II
Military Issued Canon 40D | Canon 55-250mm IS

PS - thanks for supporting the site Mike!