imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Buying from a US seller of high repute / warranty is your safest route.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

I once rented an RB for a wedding - that thing BEAT me to death ! Horrendous mirror slap vibration and noise ! - not to mention the WEIGHT....6X7 SLRs are really a bad idea....

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

I'm sorry, when I say Minoltaflex I MEAN Autocord ! ! They can be two different things .....

A. T.

Okay, thanks for that. I looked very closely at the photos of the few Autocords that I have viewed on eBay. There is a gentleman from Japan who has a store that features old vintage cameras. I watched his video on YouTube and he mentioned that issue with the focus lever breaking and that it could become stiff from a lack of lubrication and how to address that. He also mentioned the fabric cover that has a tendency of coming off. I sent him an email to see if he had any Autocords for sale although I didn't see any on his store website.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

It can also become "stiff" if it has been dropped and the mechanism bent ....

A. T.

Yep, I read about that.

Seabastes

A Yashica 120 would do a fine job at a reasonable price.

clint f. Loc: Priest Lake Idaho, Spokane Wa

Grey market isn’t a problem unless you need a warranty repair. None of the camera being discussed has a warranty beyond what the seller offers. Vintage cameras I’d worry more about parts availability.

Peteso Loc: Blacks Hills

Are you assuming that grey market cameras are operationally and physically comparable to the non-grey market cameras? If so, do you know what gives rise to grey market cameras and how can a buyer be sure that he is receiving the equivalent of a non-grey market camera?

dbrugger25 Loc: Raleigh, NC

Are you implying that a seller would lie about the origin of photography equipment? YES. SOME WOULD. Or they would just "forget to mention there is no warranty".

I would rather pay more and buy from a highly reputable retailer than take a chance with a second tier source. Photo gear is complex and intricate and highly technical. Why take chances? When you buy any product from a reliable source, part of what you pay for is the assurance that, if anything is defective, the dealer and the manufacturer will repair or replace it for a specified period of time.

clint f. Loc: Priest Lake Idaho, Spokane Wa

The subject of the post was about buying a medium format TLR. they are no longer produced new as far as I know. Everything I’ve read would indicate the new gray market cameras are the same as USA models but that some distributors (eg; Nikon USA) won’t repair cameras that they didn’t import. I’ve never seen anything that indicates the non US models are different in any functional way. I’m pretty sure that they don’t have 1 assembly line for US models and one for the rest of the world. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

Peteso Loc: Blacks Hills

My concern is this sounds like speculation. I will return to something similar to my last question. If the gray market cameras are equivalent to their mainstream brand names, then why are/were they made? This last post suggests that they are even made on the same assembly line. Absent a reliable explanation, this makes no sense to me. Perhaps more importantly, getting back to some of the original questions, why would somebody want to buy a gray market camera if they can get the “real” thing, all other things being equal? I am not asking these questions for opinions, rationale, or speculation. I have been involved in UHH long enough to know that we may have participants that actually have the answers that make sense.

clint f. Loc: Priest Lake Idaho, Spokane Wa

The decision by Nikon USA is a business decision. The business makes its income by selling you a camera. If somebody else sells you the camera they don’t get the income. In order to protect their income they have a carrot/stick proposition. Buy from us and we offer a warranty as the carrot. Buy from an overseas supplier our stick is that you have to send it overseas to fix it. Remember when you bought your camera and had to decide which language to utilize? If the USA models were different than offshore you wouldn’t need that. If you can show me an example of differences other than model naming I will be shocked.
So why are grey market cheaper? A number of reason like exchange rates, volume discounts, lower profit margin expectations. I bought my Canon F-1 in the early 70’s from Universal Suppliers in Hong Kong. Paid a little less than US model but at that time a few $$ made a difference. If memory serves it was about $411.00 with shipping for a Pro grade 35mm SLR and 50mm f:1.8. All mechanical and tough as a tank. Not much to break. Now a semi pro grade camera with lens is north of $4,000 and while very robust there is a lot that can go wrong. The warranty is very valuable now and only the buyer can decide if the risk of buying gray market non US warranty vs warranty with a little extra in the price, is worth the peace of mind.

Amaize

I am selling a Hasselblad 500C, with Zeiss 2.8, 80mm lens. I purchased the camera brand new in mid- 1970s, and since purchased it has never been used. Thus this is a brand new Hasselblad in brand new condition. If interested, please email me :
amaizn_blu@yahoo.com
Thanks !
Ken

clint f. Loc: Priest Lake Idaho, Spokane Wa

Why didn’t you use it? It is a spectacular piece of mechanical technology. If I had the$$$.