Is their ny difference in Buying a Grey Market Canon Lens to that of a USA warrantied Canon Lens? I know that price is a difference but what about quality?

-- Tony (awebb3296@aol.com), February 26, 2002

Answers

Be very careful with the L series lenses as they have poor resale value if they're gray. You may spot an official USA import by its white color.

-- Puppy Face (doggieface@aol.com), February 26, 2002.

Does this apply to Canon's black lenses?

Will I be better off buying a silvery coloured lens?

-- Julian Loke (elan7e-owner@yahoogroups.com), February 26, 2002.

"Be very careful with the L series lenses as they have poor resale value if they're gray. You may spot an official USA import by its white color. "

excuse me, but that's completely false. they don't have poor resale value and the color has NOTHING to do with it. there are a few, few minor exceptions to this, and none of them include the L-lens series. there are a few japanese lenses that are silver, etc. and the US versions being black.

there's no way of knowing the difference between an import and a US lens. canon doesn't care, either.

was that a joke, puppy? or were you serious?

-- m. lohninger (anavrin@mac.com), February 26, 2002.

B&H in NYC have a A HREF="http:// www01.bhphotovideo.com/default.sph/FrameWork.class?FNC= GetPage__Aindex_html___page=GreyMarketStatic.html">page on the subject that may be of interest.

Of course, they're hardly a disinterested party, but they do have a reputation as being a fairly reliable retailer.

-- NK Guy (tela@tela.bc.ca), February 26, 2002.

Sigh. My apologies for mangling the HTML there. You can copy and paste the URL to access it - just remove the spurious space character after the http:// bit.

-- NK Guy (tela@tela.bc.ca), February 26, 2002.

I have bought all my Canon lenses and bodies grey market. There have been no problems becuase of it. This includeds four primes and one L lens.

-- Chris Gillis (chris@photogenica.net), February 27, 2002.

Sorry, I've seen this topic discussed so many times on this forum (and every other Canon form) I thought it needed a little humor!

-- Puppy Face (doggieface@aol.com), February 27, 2002.

i thought so... well, i wasn't sure. you sounded so sure of yourself, and it sounded like something someone would actually belief.

now if you said all gray market lenses are grey in color...

-- m. lohninger (anavrin@mac.com), February 27, 2002.

I save money by buying my lenses grey from B&H Photo. B&H gives me a one-year store warranty (I don't buy the extra warranty), which I figure is good enough. Canon equipment is good and can be trusted not to break. I also figure that after a year if I haven't made enough money with the lens to have paid for it then I'm in big trouble anyway!

As you will see in some of the other posts, USA and grey are the exact same equipment. The terms are warranty/import designations, not product specifications.

-- Preston Merchant (merchant@speakeasy.org), February 27, 2002.

Just about everything I have is grey market except for the EOS bodies and a couple of lenses that only cost $20-$30 more for the USA warranty. Quality differences? Sure, like Canon sells seconds? Or anybody else for that matter? The only thing you miss is a warranty card in the box.

-- Lee (Leemarthakiri@sport.rr.com), February 27, 2002.

The only thing you miss is a warranty card in the box.

Incorrect. All of my gray market items have included an empty warranty card.

-- Colin Miller (miller.photos@att.net), February 28, 2002.

NONE of my Canon grey market equipment has a warranty card. ALL of my official USA Canon equipment came with warranty cards. If you've got a warranty, it's officially imported. Where do you buy your grey equipment?

-- Lee (Leemarthakiri@sport.rr.com), March 02, 2002.

I love reading these debates... .

Couple of years ago, I was looking for an EOS 3 and called some of those favorite shops up in NYC that advertise unbelievably low prices. Yes, I got the song and dance about "do you want the Japanese version or the ones Canon assembles in Malaysia out of plastic"? And this was also the same tripe when looking for a Canon 100-300 zoom later (which I ended up purchasing from CameraWorld). So, I called Canon USA in Los Angeles and asked. Their response was interesting. For those who were never really sure, Canon makes all lens (all lens, to repeat) the same everywhere, as far as quality goes. Yes, there are slight variations between country models, especially in cameras (Japan generally gets neat features we don't). The other fascinating comment was, the 'official' at Canon said they would honor a warranty in the US if a valid purchase invoice showing a US based company and the lens/camera description was provided. So, my understanding was, buy an import from B&H, Adorama, etc. and use the invoice as proof of purchase within the 1 year time frame.

Haven't had to try this so far. All my Canon's seem to wait many, many years before they need service! And my L lens are kind of off-white beige... wonder if that means that weren't meant for use here in America?!

-- Keith Quigley (keithq@yahoo.com), March 10, 2002.