billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

An act of a desperate company.

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

The seller is selling a great new camera that THEY purchased used? I wouldn't buy such a camera no matter what. Either it's stolen or a bad camera. And if you try sending a stolen camera in for a repair you will not get it back!

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

This is not an answer to your inquiry, but it is related. I purchase my Canon equipment (new) only if it is USA and sold by a Canon authorized dealer. I may be paying a few more dollars, but it is trivial compared to the purchase price. It's my preference and gives me peace of mind.
Mark

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

Canon is right, both cameras were made at the same factory to the same standards and only the US warranty makes them different when it comes to service under warranty.
Nikon will not repair a gray market camera and I am not sure if it will supply parts for such camera although I am sure there are other repair stations that will do the repairs.
Buying new I would prefer a full warranty camera but buying used and if the price is reasonable I would not say no to a gray market product. Others will not agree with me.

BebuLamar

Now let say if the camera is a US and with warranty and is new just bought 1 month ago. Okay if he buy it does the warranty transfer? I don't know about Canon policy but Nikon doesn't allow you to transfer remaining warranty to new owner.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Actually, Nikon will repair gray market now... same as Canon... No warranty, so you'll have to pay for any repairs on gray market items, unless the store you bought the item from has their own warranty program. In that case, the store will probably farm out the repairs to a shop, and that's where there may be a problem with Nikon. In the US, other than a few mostly cosmetic items, Nikon will no longer sell spare parts outside their own small circle of about 20 "authorized repairers"... so a repair may be impossible without going through one of those shops. according to Nikon, the reason they are limiting sale of replacement parts is to insure the quality of repairs (and supposedly not so they can control the pricing of repair work). Canon, on the other hand, will sell parts to anyone with a credit card and a shipping address. So you can have done no Canon at virtually any repair shop in the country, assuming they have the necessary tools and knowledge.

Refurbished are another matter. It used to be that Canon distributed and sold their refurbs via several of their largest retailers. But for the last several years Canon USA has been selling those directly via their website, so there are virtually no refurbished Canon items to be found elsewhere now. However, refurbished bought direct from Canon have the same factory warranty as new.

Nikon USA has just recently started selling refurbs directly from their website, but only offers 90 day factory warranty on them. You can still find Nikon refurbs in various retailers, where they are usually treated same as used, with shorter "store" warranties.

Most of the bigger and better used equipment dealers also offer at least a 90 day "store" warranty on used gear.

In the US warranties on camera gear do not transfer if an item is resold. It also has nothing to do with mailing in the warranty card (which is hardly needed anymore). In many cases, your purchase is registered at the time of sale, by the retailer. You also can register it online at the manufacturer's website. For warranty repairs, you may need to provide proof of purchase with a receipt. An exception might be a gift, where the original purchaser actually isn't the ultimate "owner" of the item.

Warranties, repairs and such are sometimes legislated and regulated differently in other countries... For example I noticed the 2 year Korean warranty. That might be the minimum allowable under the law there. Another example, there are so-called "lemon laws" in throughout the US which say that manufacturers must replace or refund (purchase back) a large ticket item that has been highly problematic (search online for details, if interested).

BebuLamar

Or the seller is lying which is most likely.
There are many reasons but he doesn't tell you the truth.

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

If he has not registered the warranty with Canon, it will transfer.
Mark

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

I was on the USA Canon website today looking for a manual and this item caught my eye: What is Grey Market

It won't answer every Canon-specific grey market question, but it does come straight from the source ...

papa Loc: Rio Dell, CA

Only you can decide what a U.S. warranty is worth to you. If it were me buying a new Canon,
I'd the return/refund window (standard 30 days) and if they're charging a restock for defective item; which they certainly should not. My reasoning is that electronics show defects/ failure immediately or very soon and I know that all Canon cameras come from the same factories and their failure rate is minute. Sooo, chew on that if you're one of the, "I'd never buy those GRAY market items" wizards. I say, make your dollar count and CYA.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

It simply won't make any difference if the camera is a year old already. It would be out of warranty and you'd have to pay for repairs. So go for it if it's a good deal. The only time I'd be concerned is if the camera were brand new. You'd want that US warranty simply because sometimes there are defects that will usually come to the surface the first year.

If it were a Nikon, I wouldn't buy a grey market unit no matter what because the US repair or service centers won't work on them even if you are willing to pay. You can still get them repaired by non Nikon camera repair centers but if it were a major repair I'd be a bit worried.

Not sure about Canon cameras if they are within the first year if the warranty is transferable or not. I know that the extended warranties from certain camera stores are transferable like from Samy's Camera here in So. Cal.

MidnightManiac

Canon Camera Bodies and lenses appear to be made in the same factory, weather gray market or USA. Is there a difference except for the price? Repairs will cost you, but after a year you would pay anyway. Canon will repair gray market items and that's a fact, as Nikon will not, recently sent a lens back to Canon for repair and found out it was gray market, they repaired it as if I bought it in the USA for a fee same as a 3 year old lens bought here. Many here believe in USA only, which is fine but its all made in the same factory, same quality. I have sent very few items back to Canon for repair. Sold ALL my Nikon gear mostly because of their lens line up. Canon to me is better especially because of lenses gray market or USA. L glass is the best.

Ed Walker Loc: Eclectic, Alabama U.S.A.

Canon should be able to tell by the serial number.

Cookie223 Loc: New Jersey

I'm only repeating what Canon told me. The 21 has to be in parenthesis (21) and in front of the SN. I too am in total agreement about the US non US warranty BS.

BudsOwl Loc: Upstate NY and New England