Canadian Cameras: Are cameras originally sold in Canada considered gray market?

bobforman Loc: Anacortes, Washington State

Are cameras originally sold in Canada considered gray market?

jeff1234 Loc: Kirkland, WA

They are by Nikon for warranty work. I had a Z9 brick during a firmware update. They told me to send it to California. They took two weeks to tell me they would only fix it for $5oo+ and then I had to send it to Canada. Canada Nikon doesn't accept calls from the US. The camera store had to mediate.

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jeff1234 wrote:

They are by Nikon for warranty work. I had a Z9 brick during a firmware update. They told me to send it to California. They took two weeks to tell me they would only fix it for $5oo+ and then I had to send it to Canada. Canada Nikon doesn't accept calls from the US. The camera store had to mediate.

Thaz not very Canadian of them :-(

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

bobforman wrote:

Are cameras originally sold in Canada considered gray market?

Canon's sold in US or Canada have a limited warranty good in both countries.
Being in Southern California, I don't know how it works in Canada. They do have a service center in Brampton, Ontario.
For me, there is a warranty center about a 30-minute drive by freeway (non-rush hour) from me. I drop off and pick up in person. That way the tech and I can discuss just exactly what is going on. In one case, I was there less than 20 minutes and left with my camera. The tech already knew that a firmware update had changed the defaults on some settings. Reset them to mine and off I went.

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

jeff1234 wrote:

They are by Nikon for warranty work. I had a Z9 brick during a firmware update. They told me to send it to California. They took two weeks to tell me they would only fix it for $5oo+ and then I had to send it to Canada. Canada Nikon doesn't accept calls from the US. The camera store had to mediate.

Gray market can be a problem.

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billnikon wrote:

Gray market can be a problem.

You pay less and you get what you pay for.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

bobforman wrote:

Are cameras originally sold in Canada considered gray market?

Not to Canadians ...

To the rest of the world, yes.

Housty Loc: Ontario

CHG_CANON wrote:

Not to Canadians ...

To the rest of the world, yes.

Not true, I have business on both sides of the border and a heavy Nikon And Sony user. We get service either side. The reason for confusion is that each country has different warranty laws also to prevent cross border shopping and thus protect their dealers.

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

User ID wrote:

You pay less and you get what you pay for.

Warranties can be a problem. Read what the OP went through. If you don't have a problem with the camera, it's OK, but if you do, then it can be an issue.
I always buy Nikon USA

gouldopfl

It isn't just there. I had a friend who went to Japan and accidentally dropped his main camera. He had to replace it to finish the job. Got back to the US and found out he had no warranty. Just a crappy way to treat customers.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

gouldopfl wrote:

It isn't just there. I had a friend who went to Japan and accidentally dropped his main camera. He had to replace it to finish the job. Got back to the US and found out he had no warranty. Just a crappy way to treat customers.

Welcome to interchangeable lens cameras, circa 2024.

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

gouldopfl wrote:

It isn't just there. I had a friend who went to Japan and accidentally dropped his main camera. He had to replace it to finish the job. Got back to the US and found out he had no warranty. Just a crappy way to treat customers.

No, it is not a crappy way to treat customers. LET THE BUYER BEWARE. Nikon Japan will warranty that camera, he just has to send it to Japan for Warranty service.
If he was doing a photo job in Japan, if he had to, as you say, FINISH THE JOB, he was probably a PRO, he would have known that buying a camera in Japan meant he had to have warranty service in Japan.
I do not buy your story. Sounds made up. Probably is. Yet another talking head here at UHH

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

gouldopfl wrote:

It isn't just there. I had a friend who went to Japan and accidentally dropped his main camera. He had to replace it to finish the job. Got back to the US and found out he had no warranty. Just a crappy way to treat customers.

While in Vietnam with the Army I went to Tokyo on R&R with some friends, one of them had a guide to 35mm cameras his family had sent him that recommended a particular brand and model. Two of us bought one. When I got out of the Army the warranty still had a year to go. But because it was bought in Japan, it had to be mailed there for warranty service. Luckily, I found a US branch of a repair company that did contract work for that brand, and they just listed my camera as being worked on in their Japanese shop. So I didn't get it free but paid them a small fee for the work, only about 25% of the normal service fee. And just a hair under the cost of shipping it to Japan and back.