Blurryeyed Loc: NC Mountains.

This is why it matters, pulled directly from Tamron's US website.....

"Tamron USA, Inc. will not repair and/or service any product that is not an officially imported product and sold through an Authorized Tamron USA Dealer. In other words, there will be no authorized repair service under any circumstance for gray market products, including but not limited to any available firmware updates. Due to the proprietary technology incorporated in Tamron lenses, specific factory calibrated equipment is required to service many of our lenses and therefore Tamron USA, Inc. does not authorize any third party service center to repair and/or service Tamron products. Tamron USA, Inc. maintains a 3-day turnaround for all Tamron USA products sent in for service.

Furthermore, third party warranties are not serviced through Tamron USA, Inc. and are therefore invalid in that they are not able to offer service for these lenses for the reasons stated above. Only Tamron USA lenses purchased from an Tamron Authorized USA Dealer come with a 6 Year USA Factory Warranty (see http://www.tamron-usa.com/support/warranty_statement.pdf ), the only warranty that is valid for service in the USA.

VERIFY AUTHENTICITY OF YOUR PRODUCT:

You can check the authenticity of the product you have or plan to purchase by locating the silver hologram Tamron Authorized USA Dealer/Six-Year Warranty logo sticker on top of the lens box and/or by completing the Tamron Online Warranty Registration. You may also call Tamron at 1-800-827-8880 to verify the serial number. Register your new lens purchase now and verify it is a Tamron USA product and not gray market. GO >>

For Important Notice About Lenses with Altered Serial Numbers"

Then Sigma also has its policy...…. What amounts to a $250 penalty should you require service.

"Gray Market
As of January 1, 2017, any product that is not imported by the Sigma Corporation of America or purchased from an unauthorized Sigma USA Dealer will not be serviced under warranty regardless of the service required. The Sigma Corporation of America Service department will service these products for a minimum $250 charge in addition to the required parts and labor charges at the owner's expense. Important Information regarding Gray Market Sigma Products"

nadelewitz Loc: Ithaca NY

"Gray market" doesn't just affect warranty repairability. A camera or lens can be factory-serviced outside of warranty, of course at a price.
But a manufacturer can refuse to service gray-market gear altogether. THEY can tell by serial number. How YOU can tell when buying something, I don't know.

Bill P

In the case of grey market things, a company can apply onerous surcharges to work on things, or in the case of Nikon, not work on it at all. And parts? As I understand it, Nikon has throttled down on the supply of parts to independent repair shops.

Iwouldn't worry about buyinh old MF lenses, they;re reliable and easy for a qualified repairman towork on, but in the caseof today's electronically complex lenses, repair could be impossible. For camera bodies, fuggaboutit.

So, purchase Grey if you are willing to consider it disposable.

chrissybabe Loc: New Zealand

I think that I could be correct in saying that Apple must have shares in camera and lens manufacturers.
I notice that getting warranty repairs and servicing done is being tied down very tightly. As supply becomes more universal repairing is becoming harder thus making everything almost expendable (and you find me the manufacturer who is unhappy with that).
In a world where resources will be drying up every effort should be made to extend the life of something instead of throwing it away. You are seeing the results of rampant capitalism and the US does it the best.

If you want to leave a legacy for your grandchildren then buy up some old dump sites because they will be the only sources of material left once we have stripped the rest of the planet. And forget anything that comes from oil because they don't have dump sites (in quantity) for old oil.
Actually be thankful that you live now where you are only the cause of the problems and not later when you have to suffer from the results.

leeinalex Loc: CA

wow, thank you for the many responses and points of views. the information is very helpful.

Thomas902 Loc: Washington DC

funny how on one has mentioned that many older Nikkor serial numbers are prefixed with US to indicate country it was marketed for... Case in point I have an AF 28-105mm 1:3.5-4.5D which has a serial number of US 474XXX... It is an awesome optic purchased used from B&H Used Sales department... superb acuity...

That said, I've purchased two AF 105mm f/2.8D micro Nikkors from KEH many years ago before folks discovered how fabulous they are... B&H is now selling these lens used for more than twice what I paid for them... the strange thing here was one had a US serial number the other didn't... After extensive testing the "gray market" lens clearly out preformed the US market one... so I sold the US serial number lens and kept the "gray market" version... yes there are "Sample Variations" so testing against another identical lens is something I learned from assisting commercial shooters in my market... Those here who are paranoid about having their Nikkor's service need to get their head around the sad truth that even Nikon USA service can be hit or miss... I sent my AF 80-200mm f/2.8D in for auto focus issues three times... even sent images denoting the issue... Nikon USA was unable to get this lens to focus correctly across it's entire range... either I could have sharp images from 80 to 135mm or sharp images from 150 to 200mm... They stated that they had brought the lens into "factory specs" yet I could continue to duplicate the AF problem on my D3 and two D3x's... I ended up selling it back to B&H for a HUGE loss... so much for getting stellar results from Nikon Services in NY... However they did a fantastic job on refurbusing my AF-S 200-400mm f/4 IF ED VR and it has worked absolutely flawless for over six years now... Kudos to Nikon Service USA for that amazing job... it was well worth the effort to have them service this amazing sports lens...

Hope this helps... and I purchase nearly all my kit either refurbished or used... I have to work hard to generate a revenue stream so purchasing new isn't an option... this has worked well for me, however your experience may be different... I've had some awesome commercial shooters as mentors who taught me how to buy used Nikon gear... I'm forever deeply in their depth... wishing all well on their journey....

topcat Loc: Alameda, CA

I have purchased many lenses on eBay and even one on Craig's list and the only problem that I have had was once the description was wrong, and the seller took it back.