catfish252

eBay has new imported(gray market) Nikon 24-120mm f/4G VR lens for sale for $649 that's half price, B&H has the imported lens for $1296. I know nothing about this eBay store but he has a 99.5% rating and has sold almost 60,000 items. He has sold about 80 of the lenses. Comes with seller 1 year warranty. Very tempting but I don't know anything about this store. Buyer beware folks.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/141448160706?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Nikon 24-120mm f/4G VR

ValliPride Loc: Lost in Florida

Watch with the warranty ? That may be at their store only? Gray markets you must be careful with. Just like refurbished. Warranties. Get it printed with the return policy

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

It looks like they've sold a lot of those lenses. The price is obviously very good, and they say it has a one-year warranty. Technically, the only drawback is the total lack of support from Nikon, but that might not matter.

However, I see that the seller is located in Brooklyn, NY, and area noted for sleezy camera stores. Not everything in Brooklyn is bad. I was born there.

http://donwiss.com/pictures/BrooklynStores/

On the plus side, they have sold lots of items and have a good rating. Those figures come from ebay, not the seller. Also, you have the backing of ebay and PayPal. If I wanted this lens, and I didn't care about Nikon support (I don't), I'd go for it.

EDIT: They offer the Square Trade warranty for $89 for 3 years. ST has a good reputation, and $30/year is a good price. On the other hand, I haven't needed a lens warranty in over forty years of shooting.

catfish252

It is very tempting and is a much better lens than the 24-85mm VR that came with my D610, need to give this some thought.

catfish252

GetItDigital is #94 on your list -- just a very small warehouse not the type of place you imagine when buying something like a Nikon lens.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Nor have I needed a lens warranty since 1968!

Warranties are based on FUD — fear, uncertainty, and doubt. Here's the trick I use:

If I'm buying an Apple notebook computer, I buy the extended warranty, because my history with them tells me it is always worth having. I've had four Mac notebooks, and all of them required service. But all of them lasted at least five years, too!

If I buy anything else, I decline all extended warranties, and set the cost of the warranty aside in my OWN savings account. That's my protection!

If a gray market item from a reputable manufacturer is available at a substantially discounted price, I read the dealer's warranty carefully. If those terms are convenient enough for the situation, I buy gray market, and if it's a personal purchase, I put the savings into my account. If it's a company purchase, we take the risk of paying for repairs.

I have bought nine gray market lenses over the years. None of them has ever needed warranty service. Two of them needed service after a decade or more, to tighten focus mechanisms and replace lubricants.

Reasonable warranties are rare. Reasonable, sensible extended warranties are even rarer. But if you understand that life is full of risks, and take steps to mitigate those risks (i.e.; setting aside a risk abatement pool of funds and protecting your equipment in great cases or carrying bags), you can come out ahead of the game.

It's like "life" insurance. What are you really insuring? YOUR INCOME, that your family would rely on in the event of your demise. If you have a pool of savings large enough to provide an interest income stream equivalent to your salary, you don't need insurance, or a job! While few are lucky enough to have that much in reserves, early retirement is a workable strategy to strive for.

If I have a savings account called "service", when something breaks, the repair is paid for. There's a similar concept in business — the depreciation account. Write down the value of a capital item each year, and put that into an account for replacement at the end of the depreciation period.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Very good advice.

catfish252

I agree that is a very good plan, may need to incorporate some of those plans into my plan. Thanks for sharing that Burk

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Thank Consumer Reports. They outlined this strategy several decades ago.

catfish252

Sorry -- I didn't mean to call you by your partial last name Bill, I didn't read you signature. Who ever thunk the plan up did good

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

They have good advice.