The gray market lens has the same SKU and manufacturers number as the US version - just $35 cheaper. They are identical lenses. Click on the question mark beside the 'Imported' and it will take you to B&H policies. The warranty is identical to the OEM warranty except that you would send it back to B&H instead of having the option of sending it to a Nikon service center. I would expect that if buying a lens from a reputable company like B&H you would send it to B&H anyway.

This whole Nikon 'no service for gray market' business is just a scare tactic to keep the profits flowing through Nikon USA. The sooner Nikon faithful wake up to this and protest the better.

Still if you are prepared to spend an extra $35 plus $11 shipping for a $300 lens just for peace of mind go ahead and do it. I don't know why you would expect to need warranty service on a 50mm prime lens. If you had to send it back to B&H for warranty service they would probably just send you a new one anyway.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/find/HelpCenter/Policies.jsp#greyMarket

I stand corrected. It was Xerox. I knew it was a Rochester NY based company, but didn't know the GUI was developed in Palo Alto.

Kodak also invented the graphic user interface (GUI) for computers but had no vision and didn't pay attention to it. Steve Jobbs got a demonstration from one of the researchers, saw the potential ad gave birth to Apple which in turn was copied by Microsoft to create Windows.

Nikon has just gone out of business in Brazil

With a population of over 200 million and a GDP of nearly $1.8 Trillion, that's a pretty big market to loose.

https://www.dpreview.com/news/4726313125/nikon-will-shut-down-all-sales-operations-in-brazil-at-the-end-of-2017

Thanks. I think the smaller the sensor relative to the lens image circle the better. I'll try my Oly lens on my A6000 and see if it works better.

Hasselblad has puts its celebrated name to some ill advised ventures in recent years. The Hasselblad Lunar was a reconstituted Sony NEX-7 with a weird wooden grip and a six or seven times mark-up in price. The travesty was repeated with the the Stellar which was a wood gripped Sony RX100. Hasselblad also put their name on the more recent True Zoom Moto Mod clip-on smart phone lens. A change in management has promised to stop these gimmicks and to refocus on serious equipment.

Thanks for the info on the Samyang which is available in a Sony e-mount. I wasn't aware of its existance. I researched it a bit and found this review on the Rokinon version on Youtube. Unfortunately, it wasn't very encouraging.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLk4L9b7Dw4

I just recently got a Fotodiox shift adapter (no tilt) to adapt my legacy Olympus OM lenses to my Sony A7Rii. I expect to use it for perspective control and keystone correction in architectural detail / cityscape type shots. At $100 it seemed like a small investment compared to the price of a tilt shift lens, especially since there are no native Sony t/s lenses yet. I am just getting used to it. It's not as easy as it sounds. I am finding that when I get the verticals straight, I have to deal with some barrel distortion in the horizontals. I'm sure the IQ will never match a dedicated t/s lens, but good enough for experimenting.

#2

Don't confuse 'gray market' with counterfeit. Nikon products are Nikon products. 'Gray market' Nikons are identical to 'official' Nikons. It is just about territory and which branch of Nikon gets the profit and which branch has to carry the burden of the warranty. There may be some slight differences, such as the type of plug on the battery charger or the language in the manual or the menus, but they are essentially the same product made by the same company and usually made in the same factory. Your 'official' US purchased Nikon would be gray market in Brazil. Maybe, this is a good thing for US dealers since the only option for Brazilians to purchase Nikons will be to import from another country.

Slea Head (pronounces SLAY) at the western end of the Dingle Peninsula in Co. Kerry is one of my favorite spots in Ireland. The rugged headland juts its jaw out in defiance of the fierce Atlantic Ocean. Despite the hardships of this tough environment, the headland has been inhabited since earliest times as evidenced by the many stone beehive huts or ‘clochans’, some dating back 4,000 years. In medieval times, monks and scribes sought out it’s solitude in search of a simple, penitent life. The area is a ‘Gaeltacht’ where Irish Gaelic is still the everyday language and is the last living vestige of the great Celtic culture that once reigned across Europe from Spain to Turkey. The hardy people eked out a subsistence living from the rocky ground and fishing the seas in their home made currach boats which were little more than hide covered baskets. In Dingle, currachs are called ‘naomhogs’ meaning ‘little saint’, no doubt because the intrepid sailors realized they were venturing against the cruel Atlantic with no more than a wing and a prayer. (You can see a couple of naomhogs pulled up on the picture of Dunquin Harbor.)

The wind was incredible the day I was there. They were getting the tail end of one of the devastating hurricanes that tore through the Caribbean Islands this summer. It was all I could do to just stand up.

Comments and feedback greatly appreciated. Feel free to share your stories or memories of Dingle. Thanks for looking.

(Download)


(Download)


(Download)


(Download)


(Download)


(Download)


(Download)


(Download)

If you need some comforting see my post re Nikon pulling out of Brazil and China.
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-495733-1.html

Nikon has announced it is pulling out of Brazil. Nikon equipment won't even be available by e-commerce except through gray market which as we know, Nikon will not service. Existing Nikon owners are only being given a vague commitment to service in the future. With a population of over 200 million and a GDP of nearly $1.8 Trillion, that's a pretty big market to withdraw from.
https://www.dpreview.com/news/4726313125/nikon-will-shut-down-all-sales-operations-in-brazil-at-the-end-of-2017

Nikon is also closing it manufacturing facility in China due to the rise of smartphones. The facility also manufactures lenses for its dslr's.
https://www.dpreview.com/news/4134887749/nikon-shuts-down-camera-factory-in-china-blames-the-rise-of-smartphones.

Hmmmm !

You forgot a few:
29 asking 'Why do you think you need a new light bulb. What can the one you have not do?'
18 saying 'We need more information on the type of light you want to turn on'.
33 advising 'Don't buy a gray market light bulb. Nikon will never repair it'.
16 advising ' Go to a good light bulb store and handle all of the light bulbs'.
12 saying 'Its not the light bulb that counts - it is the person at the switch'.
52 recommending to buy used or reconditioned light bulbs.
12 warning that mirrorless light bulbs are the future.
16 claiming that good shades are more important than good light bulbs.

Great pictures. Great web site too. Thanks for posting.