Would you buy a grey market Nikon camera or lens?

haring

Have you ever bought a grey market Nikon camera or lens? Currently all my Nikon stuff is USA not grey market. The price difference is close to $1000 between a grey market Nikon D4s and its USA Nikon counterpart. It is just too tempting....

Did you have any problems servicing your grey market camera or lens? Did you find a third party service center after Nikon had refused fixing it? Are those third party service centers reliable? Are they more expensive than the Nikon USA Service center?

I just want to find out whether it is worth it to save $1000 now and service a grey market product in the USA.

Thanks so much!

ian408

Ask yourself how often you had to send your USA lenses in for service. Second, if you buy from Adorama, B&H, or other reputable supplier, you'll send it there for repair and they'll deal with anything warranty related.

I have and I'd do it again.

TonyCooper

I have, and would so again. It's the source, not that it passed thru nikon USA that's
Important to me. If it's from b&h, adorama, or my local camera store I have complete
Confidence. If it's some other web source, then no.

pathfinder

I'm with Tony! Would I consider a grey market Nikon item from B&H or Adorama? - yes, I certainly would (if I were ever to leave Canon Land ). My local camera shop does not carry grey market Nikon gear that i am aware of.

Would I buy grey market items from anyone else on the web - nope, not now, not ever!

ziggy53

A useful compromise is to purchase a gray/grey market camera from a reputable source and then purchase an extended, third-party warranty from the same source.

Matthew Saville

Usually the savings is just $50 or so, in which case my answer would be a resounding NO WAY! It's just not worth it, considering that Nikon USA refuses to service grey market items, even if you're willing to pay, AND considering that Nikon has stopped selling repair parts to many third-party repair shops. So your options are becoming more and more limited. Even if you get an aftermarket warranty, you might be waiting 1-2 months for a repair because of parts.

So yeah, don't do it. Not unless there's a considerable savings involved, and you're absolutely hard up for cash yet somehow can't afford to wait a little longer and save up a little more. Because in the long run, having that USA warranty is REALLY good...

(As someone who has been buying and breaking both new and used Nikon gear for 10+ years now...)

=Matt=

GraphyFotoz

Now after reading this I'm a lil worried.
Got in a hurry and bought a D5300 from a ebay Store front.
Good price NIB with Kit Lens

But it says this.....

Condition: New:brand-new, unused, unopened, undamaged item in its original packaging (where packaging is applicable). Packaging should be the same as what is found in a retail store, unless the item is handmade or was packaged by the manufacturer in non-retail packaging, such as an unprinted box or plastic bag. See the seller's listing for full details.

Warranty: YES. Imported model. 1 year USA warranty by seller

Seller Warranty Coverage: 1yr Parts & 90 day Labor Warranty by seller

Warranty Provider: Authorized Professional via seller

Packaging: May come in a kit box with lens removed

Manual: May come in CD or Hard Copy format

Hope like hell I didn't make a mistake!
Should I be worried.......for the most part I read old posts that say no

Seller has 99.9% Pos Feedback out of 10650

Can we revisit this for a bit to put my mind at ease?

GraphyFotoz

This is the store I bought from.

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Deals_All_Year

Someone in another forum said if a store is rated well at this ResellerRatings they are ok to deal with.

ziggy53

GraphyFotoz wrote: »

This is the store I bought from.

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Deals_All_Year

Someone in another forum said if a store is rated well at this ResellerRatings they are ok to deal with.

"Deals All Year" was formerly "Ryther Camera". They changed their name because Ryther Camera got a bunch of bad reviews, probably deservedly so. Notice how "Deals All Year" only has 6 customer reviews?

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Ryther_Camera

https://www.google.com/#q=Deals+All+Year+Ryther+Camera

GraphyFotoz

AKKKKKKKK
Hope they were just bought by someone else or some thing!
They have really good ebay feedback and nothing real bad at that ResellerRatings.

New owners.....new leaf? I'm hoping!

time2smile

if the camera meets your current needs, all is good, don't lose sleep over it. Whats done is done...
I personally would not buy grey, to many good deals on manufacturer refurbished bodies out there.
I wish you luck with it, and hope you kill the shutter before you have any other issue with it.
But in the future, be leery of "seller refurbished' or "seller warranty" for peace of mind. Unless its from one of the big sellers, mentioned above.
I also heard you won't be able to update firmware on gray market items, or you may have to send it back to the seller to update.

Good Luck

GraphyFotoz

I just did the Update for Distortion Control Data version 2 and it worked.

from [L] 2.000 to [L] 2.005

So then mine isn't "Grey"?