abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

I recently bought a Sigma lens from Digitalrev in Hong Kong about a lot of research and thought. In saving $250, I knowingly and willingly took the risk of service problems. For every good outcome, you will hear the opposite. You have to decide for yourself.

If you have a small budget, do as some have suggested, look for used. You can find some real bargains. Even consider eBay and take your chances. If you buy new, consider buying the body only and the lens from someone like Sigma or Tamron. They are making lenses comparable in optical quality to Canon and Nikon. The look and feel as well as the autofocus response may vary but look at the reviews.

oberuwe Loc: Willowbrook,IL

Here are my 2 cents...
It is quite simple, I can speak out of experience, I purchased the so called grey market products several times, it is the exact same product however imported through a, well (grey) channel, the products (Nikon and Canon since I purchased them) are made at the same place (mainly China) BUT without warranty card and subsequently no warranty, I purchased as high as a D600 from Nikon, sorry cant beat the savings, since the 2 main manufacturers make a very good product the likelihood they fail in the first year is very remote, but it can happen!
If you buy Nikon grey market you are out of luck, Canon will repair, I bin through more than 25 body's and never ever had a bad one. Now back to the simple, if you can live with the risk of not having warranty (financially be able to replace the body, the D600 is maybe a stretch for most people) then buy grey market, if you have to depend on the camera and cannot risk the financial loss then DON'T do it!
I Canons case you could chance the repair cost if the grey market price is well under the "normal" price.
I purchased 5 cameras this way and never had an issue, with some exceptions, I never keep body's longer than a year maybe 2 so the grey market makes sense to me, since the value loss is quite high in the used resale market, the grey market makes up for some losses.

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

Re your signature: waterboarding would be a waste of water. All he would say is if you like my answer you can keep it.

GeneB Loc: Chattanooga Tennessee

There are other options to purchase. There are a lot of good quality cameras to be purchased that do not carry the Nikon name. I will not mention brands because that leads to unwanted debate. Look at your budget and then decides on a price range and look for the cameras that fit you budget but you already knew that didn't you. I use something other than Nikon and Cannon and am happy with what I have. I did not spend the amount of money that most Nikon and Cannon users tend to spend. I am not a pro photographer and do not need the equipment they use, do you need that, if so spend more money. I too am retired and need to be careful about spending.

Mark7829 Loc: Calfornia

Nikon USA will NOT service imported or grey market cameras or lenses. OUCH! I will not buy imported or grey. All cameras and lenses will require service at some point. And in the future, I am going to sell that camera and lens. An imported or grey market item no longer has the same resale value.

Mark7829 Loc: Calfornia

The Nikon D600 was and is flawed. Nikon is repairing at no cost with the D610. The camera sold originally at $2,000. Imagine not being able to repair. I am not willing to take that risk.

All cameras will need service. Since you keep your camera for only a year or two, I can see why you never had a problem. It is unfair to characterize grey market as problem free because your experience in having items serviced is quite limited. I purchased a D800E for $3500. I am not looking to replace it in a year or two, and likely others are not as well.

oberuwe Loc: Willowbrook,IL

[quote=Mark7829]The Nikon D600 was and is flawed. Nikon is repairing at no cost with the D610. The camera sold originally at $2,000. Imagine not being able to repair. I am not willing to take that risk.

Well, not all of them I guess I was lucky, never had an issue!
Still using it......

oberuwe Loc: Willowbrook,IL

Not suggesting anybody should go grey market has nothing to with being unfair, it asked if somebody had experience with it, it need to be personal preference since I am in the fortunate position to buy any camera I want, had the D800 sold after 8 weeks, sucked, the Canon 5d MARKIII way better.

RKL349 Loc: Connecticut

Welcome back. The Nikon D7000 is a great camera, but finding some that are new is getting harder and harder, especially when you want something that is warranted by Nikon. Cameta Camera has some Nikon Factory refurbished D7000's from a USA body only, at $619, including all the necessary accessories (battery, charger, connecting wires, manuals, body cap, etc) to some kits they sell with Nikon lenses up to, depending upon the package, $1200+/-. I personally have not used Cameta, but others on UHH have and I have seen strong recommendations about them. My experiences are only with B&H and Adorama, and they have been nothing but positive. B&H customer service is excellent and they do respond to email within 24-36 hours.
Some say factory refurbished cameras are better than new because, in this case, Nikon factory trained technicians have gone over the camera thoroughly, and repaired or checked every aspect of the camera. I would recommend you check the Cameta website and I think you would be happy, but you can also query others on this site about their experiences. My rule of thumb is, if the deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is. I got my new D7000 at B&H a few weeks ago for $699 but they are sold out, and I understand why, as that was a great price. I seem to recall that you were starting out in DSLR, so maybe one of the kits sold by Cameta would be a good starting choice for you, then you can add the lenses you will need that fits your budget and shooting requirements, but at least this will get you started. Good luck and let us know what you decide and how the experience was. One last thought, if you google the name of the website you are looking at, and type in customer complaints, it will usually tell the story, especially about those sites that quote really low prices for Nikon, Canon, Pentax, Sony, etc.

Mark7829 Loc: Calfornia

I so pleased you can afford any camera you want but how does that enhance your credibility? And if you can afford any camera you want, why buy grey? Since you found that the D800 sucked and bought another is good for you, but how does that play into the question at hand? It doesn't. Since you only keep cameras for a short time (as stated), you really don't have enough experience to make a comment on the issue of grey market cameras. And since you often change cameras indicates some dissatisfaction and likely it is not the equipment but a personal reflection on your lack of ability. Good photographers can shoot with just about anything.

I think there should be another forum for arrogance. You would fit right in.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

Let me see if I have all this straight. You have the D600 and love it, HAD the D800 and hated it, and the 5d3 is better but you've never had one? What is it about these comments that lacks any credibility at all?

problem child Loc: Kingman AZ

Stick with the AE1

orvisk

I bought a nikon D90 in december 2009 from Canada. It is considered an import and is identical to the USA. The only difference is that the box has a "C" printed next to the bar code and the US one has a "U" printed there. Also- the serial number is canadian. I used the Nikon service center in Morton Grove to do yearly inspection and firmware update and they did not hesitate to honor the warranty. After 29615 shutter clicks it still performs flawlessly. I bought it because the exchange rate in Canada was favorable to the dollar. I now have it for sale and the lenses as I jumped to FX. Also-B&H and other companies have their own in-house warranties for imports in case something goes wrong.

Bill Emmett Loc: Bow, New Hampshire

I have been round and round on this exact subject. I'm not familiar with Nikon product, since I shoot Canon. Here is my thoughts about Canon. A warranty on a new product is just a bet. Canon builds a camera, printer, lenses, and other products, that are warrantied for only one year. These products are given a once over during production, and after production. The units are then boxed and shipped all over the world. During shipping and handling every box is shuffled along. Then it may sit on a shelf for a year or so. Along comes USA consumer and finally buys the product, takes it home, unpacks it and starts to use the product. Now, for the bet. Canon bets when you get this product home, and start to use it, it will work as designed for one year. With "gray market goods" you have to send the warrantied items back to the country of origin for warranty service. So, if your new camera was built for sale in Holland, Germany, or other than the USA, you must ship the camera to the service center in the country the warranty is for. Now, that is for only warranty service, you can send it to a local, non-Canon repair service and PAY for the repairs.

Elliern Loc: Myrtle Beach, SC

The OP is a recent new member. He/she posted the question and has not responded since. Not sure if it is legitimate post or not. Just find it intersting how often that happens.