Nikon D 7500. Hope this wasn't a mistake: My camera arrived a day after I ordered it from B & H. The manual was entirely in Chinese which I don't read. I called B & H Saturday after...

MaryFran Loc: Front Royal, VA

My camera arrived a day after I ordered it from B & H. The manual was entirely in Chinese which I don't read. I called B & H Saturday after putting the camera together and trying to set it up on my own to ask for an English manual. They don't make them any more. Turns out that the camera I got is a gray market item which is marketed for the Asian market. This is not specified on their website and the salesman who sold it to me didn't mention it. All he said was that I couldn't get a Nikon warranty for it. Since I never buy warranties anyway, that didn't raise any red flag for me. I suppose it should have. The salesman I got this time said that many of the regular cameras and gray market ones are produced in the same factory. Perhaps my purchase has the same quality as those made for the U.S. Hope I don't come to regret this purchase in the future. I can't afford another camera in a few years.

ORpilot Loc: Prineville, Or

Return it... It's a gray market camera. There is no regular factory warranty. Besides that, it is old technology. It came on the market in 2017. Would you by a 2017 car or TV unless it was dirt cheep?

rangel28

So a gray market just means that if something goes wrong with the camera Nikon will not repair it. The quality should be the same as a camera built for the U.S. market. The good news is that Nikon cameras are usually very dependable and well built and it will probably not need to be serviced. User manuals and latest firmware is available for download on Nikon's website, and searching in Google will give you results of videos available on YouTube regarding setting up the D7500 right out of the box.

https://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/products/352/D7500.html

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

What you decide to do is up to you. You got a lower price by buying a grey market. It was made in the same factory as all D7500s. The only difference is the serial number assigned was a range not intended for sale in the US market. Manuals haven't been printed now for a few years. Go to the www.nikonusa.com site and find the support page for your D7500 and download the 358-page Users Manual in PDF form in English.

BebuLamar

MaryFran wrote:

My camera arrived a day after I ordered it from B ... (show quote)

How much you paid for it?

BebuLamar

I think this is the one.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1333060-GREY/nikon_nikon_d7500_dslr_camera.html/overview?ap=y&ap=y&smp=ba_f1_lar&smp=y&lsft=BI%3A514&gclid=Cj0KCQjwk7ugBhDIARIsAGuvgPYNwFi4SIEHJNM1zPDsyHBxLcyK_2sLpwEk-MowQuZX6n-iSS0-boAaAuM6EALw_wcB
I couldn't find where it said "gray" or "Import" but I am quite sure it's a gray market because it only has B&H Warranty only.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

BebuLamar wrote:

I think this is the one.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1333060-GREY/nikon_nikon_d7500_dslr_camera.html/overview?ap=y&ap=y&smp=ba_f1_lar&smp=y&lsft=BI%3A514&gclid=Cj0KCQjwk7ugBhDIARIsAGuvgPYNwFi4SIEHJNM1zPDsyHBxLcyK_2sLpwEk-MowQuZX6n-iSS0-boAaAuM6EALw_wcB
I couldn't find where it said "gray" or "Import" but I am quite sure it's a gray market because it only has B&H Warranty only.

It says B&H warranty only.
That is shouting grey market very loudly and clearly.
Hard to miss.

BebuLamar

Architect1776 wrote:

It says B&H warranty only.
That is shouting grey market very loudly and clearly.
Hard to miss.

But it should say either gray or import. B&H used to say "import". Now they don't say anything. I think it's quite deceptive in my opinion.

jackpinoh Loc: Kettering, OH 45419

Return it!

BebuLamar

Now that I see B&H is selling both the gray and USA cameras for the same price except that the USA version is not in stock. I think the OP should return it.

alvin3232 Loc: Houston, TX

Return it!
If you ever have an issue that would a big problem down the road.

Al

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

MaryFran wrote:

My camera arrived a day after I ordered it from B ... (show quote)

While I understand the risks associated with gray market products, I think this is less of an earth-ending problem than most seem to want to make it. B&H has proven themselves to me as a stable, honorable organization. Since you have a one year warranty with them, any initial problems should be well-covered. While the D7500 is still a current model, Nikon has a new support model that provides for even paid repairs for their products for a much shorter period than we've come to be accustomed to. (Turns out that everyone but Pentax follows it now...supporting only the current and one previous model. Turns out it's one of the things that we have to thank Sony for.) So any support down the road is eventually likely to be just as big a problem for US products as for gray market goods.

My recommendation would be to download the manual as Paul has suggested, give the camera a good, thorough shakedown cruise, and (if everything seems OK, have lots of fun with it. While it's still current, it may be a good while before more US models are produced.

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

BebuLamar wrote:

I think this is the one.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1333060-GREY/nikon_nikon_d7500_dslr_camera.html/overview?ap=y&ap=y&smp=ba_f1_lar&smp=y&lsft=BI%3A514&gclid=Cj0KCQjwk7ugBhDIARIsAGuvgPYNwFi4SIEHJNM1zPDsyHBxLcyK_2sLpwEk-MowQuZX6n-iSS0-boAaAuM6EALw_wcB
I couldn't find where it said "gray" or "Import" but I am quite sure it's a gray market because it only has B&H Warranty only.

This one shows a 3 year manufacturer's warranty. It may not be the one OP bought. If not and the same price, return and get USA one.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

BebuLamar wrote:

But it should say either gray or import. B&H used to say "import". Now they don't say anything. I think it's quite deceptive in my opinion.

Ok, I easily understand the term of only B&H warranty.
Guess many don't understand that phrase.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

PHRubin wrote:

This one shows a 3 year manufacturer's warranty. It may not be the one OP bought. If not and the same price, return and get USA one.

At this point a USA version might be hard to come by as manufacturing priority is leaning towards new/Z products over 6 year old products.
Most manufacturers seem to struggle to deliver new products. So a 6 year old product likely doesn't have high priority unless it is in super demand.
Tough on all of us at this point in time.