View Full Version : European vs. US cameras
Bendixen
5th of May 2004 (Wed), 02:51
Having checked out prices it appears that SLR cameras are less expensive in the states due to exchanges rates.
Does anyone know if there are any differences between European and US cameras? (e.g. on TVs and VCRs there's a difference)
Anything I, as a European (Denmark), should be aware of buying a camera in the states :?:
vvizard
5th of May 2004 (Wed), 03:41
I ordered my 10D from itbutikken.no (The Norwegian part of the Danish website ITbutikken.dk) to Norway. At the time I bought it (autumn last year) it costed me a little less than the 10D's are sold for in Norway/Denmark/Sweden today.. So I timed my purchase good =) The 10D at last, let you choose between PAL or NTSC for TV-output, so there should be no problem at all. But do you earn much by buying from USA? I've compared some prices, and found that cameras themself got the prices pushed really hard in Norway, so after delivery and import-taxes, I won't earn much on importing from the US. At least not enough to justify the resulting cripple of warranty it would result in. Lenses and accessories though are quite a different case when it comes to price-differences in Scandinavia and the US, so expensive lenses I rather import from bhphotovideo.com
nucki
5th of May 2004 (Wed), 04:20
Having checked out prices it appears that SLR cameras are less expensive in the states due to exchanges rates.
Does anyone know if there are any differences between European and US cameras? (e.g. on TVs and VCRs there's a difference)
Anything I, as a European (Denmark), should be aware of buying a camera in the states :?:
If you buy in the USA be sure to buy a usa product, not an imported (grey marked) because of warranty. If you buy the US version, you should be able to go to any canon department in the world without problems. if you buy the grey marked ones, wich are a little bit cheaper, then you have to send it to the shop where you have bought it, they will send it to canon, then back to the shop and after weeks you got it back...
there shouldnt be any other differents. exept flashes, the US versions might be in american units (inch), grey marked are usually in metric units.
bought nearly all of my lenses in the US, no problem at all....
best regards
Peter
CoolToolGuy
5th of May 2004 (Wed), 05:47
The US versions will have electrical goodies (chargers, adapters, etc) made for the USA (110 volt, 60 Hz). Depending on the product, it may be adaptable or switchable to what you have in your country, but you may need to consider that, and what it will take to get what you need. The extra cost could dry up the savings.
JoeTampa
5th of May 2004 (Wed), 06:20
The chargers I own for my 10D (the original charger and the dual-battery charger) both take 110/240v. You will, of course, require an adapter. The original one worked quite well in London last week.
xuxu1
5th of May 2004 (Wed), 09:42
If you buy in the USA be sure to buy a usa product, not an imported (grey marked) because of warranty. If you buy the US version, you should be able to go to any canon department in the world without problems. if you buy the grey marked ones, wich are a little bit cheaper, then you have to send it to the shop where you have bought it, they will send it to canon, then back to the shop and after weeks you got it back...
there shouldnt be any other differents. exept flashes, the US versions might be in american units (inch), grey marked are usually in metric units.
bought nearly all of my lenses in the US, no problem at all....
best regards
Peter
Hi Peter!
YOU HAVE PM !
Regards
Ed
nucki
6th of May 2004 (Thu), 01:56
If you buy in the USA be sure to buy a usa product, not an imported (grey marked) because of warranty. If you buy the US version, you should be able to go to any canon department in the world without problems. if you buy the grey marked ones, wich are a little bit cheaper, then you have to send it to the shop where you have bought it, they will send it to canon, then back to the shop and after weeks you got it back...
there shouldnt be any other differents. exept flashes, the US versions might be in american units (inch), grey marked are usually in metric units.
bought nearly all of my lenses in the US, no problem at all....
best regards
Peter
Hi Peter!
YOU HAVE PM !
Regards
Ed
you have mail!
DaveG
6th of May 2004 (Thu), 06:57
Having checked out prices it appears that SLR cameras are less expensive in the states due to exchanges rates.
Does anyone know if there are any differences between European and US cameras? (e.g. on TVs and VCRs there's a difference)
Anything I, as a European (Denmark), should be aware of buying a camera in the states :?:
If you buy in the USA be sure to buy a usa product, not an imported (grey marked) because of warranty. If you buy the US version, you should be able to go to any canon department in the world without problems. if you buy the grey marked ones, wich are a little bit cheaper, then you have to send it to the shop where you have bought it, they will send it to canon, then back to the shop and after weeks you got it back...
there shouldnt be any other differents. exept flashes, the US versions might be in american units (inch), grey marked are usually in metric units.
bought nearly all of my lenses in the US, no problem at all....
best regards
Peter
Not true. Canon Canada has made it clear that they will NOT service any
American-purchased gear under warrantee.
Now getting Canon service in the US is what a USA version buys you, just like a
Canon Canada purchase buys for me up here. And think about this: The non
USA Canon comes from somewhere and it's perfectly legal. It's not stolen, all
duties - if needed - are properly accounted for, and it has a Canon warrantee
from the country of original import.
Now why wouldn't THAT warrantee be good in "any Canon department in the
world [and] without problems." Why would the USA warrantee be worldwide
but the (for example) UK one be void?
Jim_T
6th of May 2004 (Thu), 08:53
Not true. Canon Canada has made it clear that they will NOT service any
American-purchased gear under warrantee.
Strange.. The Waranty cards that comes with Canadian sold products bear the names Canon USA Inc and Canon Canada..
In the 'fine print' on the warranty card, it states... "The Limited warranty set forth below is given by Canon USA Inc and Canon Canada Inc..."
The only regional condition is as follows.... " when purchased for use in the USA or Canada "
The warranty information DOESN'T mention anything about WHERE the camera is purchased.
Canon products (Cameras and lenses) sold in Canada are warantied for use in the US.. I wonder if anyone has a warranty card from a US bought camera or lens that can say if the reverse is true ?
Further on this.. It appears that if a camera or lens is NOT purchased for use in The US or Canada, then the limited warranty doesn't apply..
I think another problem might arise because of the name differences.. If you show up at a European warranty center with a camera with Digital Rebel printed on it, there might be problems.. In Europe, they have 300D printed on them... It's not hard at all to tell it was purchased abroad..
FWIW.. Here is a photo of one of my Canadian warranty cards:
http://members.shaw.ca/jamestownsend/warranty.jpg
DaveG
6th of May 2004 (Thu), 09:11
Not true. Canon Canada has made it clear that they will NOT service any
American-purchased gear under warrantee.
Strange.. The Waranty cards that comes with Canadian sold products bear the names Canon USA Inc and Canon Canada..
In the 'fine print' on the warranty card, it states... "The Limited warranty set forth below is given by Canon USA Inc and Canon Canada Inc..."
The only regional condition is as follows.... " when purchased for use in the USA or Canada "
The warranty information DOESN'T mention anything about WHERE the camera is purchased.
Canon products (Cameras and lenses) sold in Canada are warantied for use in the US.. I wonder if anyone has a warranty card from a US bought camera or lens that can say if the reverse is true ?
Further on this.. It appears that if a camera or lens is NOT purchased for use in The US or Canada, then the limited warranty doesn't apply..
I think another problem might arise because of the name differences.. If you show up at a European warranty center with a camera with Digital Rebel printed on it, there might be problems.. In Europe, they have 300D printed on them... It's not hard at all to tell it was purchased abroad..
FWIW.. Here is a photo of one of my Canadian warranty cards:
http://members.shaw.ca/jamestownsend/warranty.jpg
I was told by Canon Canada that when I submit a product for warrantee repair a copy of the sales receipt must be with it. If the sales receipt indicates that it was purchased in the US then they won't do warantee service on it and "suggest" that I send it to the US.
Now maybe someone is lying and Canon Canada will do warrantee repairs. It could be an honest mistake by the wrong person at CC, or a ploy to make see some value in buying up here. Or it's true and they will not do the repair. All I know is that's what I was told by Canon Canada.
drisley
6th of May 2004 (Thu), 09:24
...
Andy_T
6th of May 2004 (Thu), 09:28
I was told by Canon Canada that when I submit a product for warrantee repair a copy of the sales receipt must be with it. If the sales receipt indicates that it was purchased in the US then they won't do warantee service on it and "suggest" that I send it to the US.
Now maybe someone is lying and Canon Canada will do warrantee repairs. It could be an honest mistake by the wrong person at CC, or a ploy to make see some value in buying up here. Or it's true and they will not do the repair. All I know is that's what I was told by Canon Canada.
Does that mean that if you buy a second hand Canon lens with warranty certificate, they will not service it?
This does not sound too good to me ....
Best regards,
Andy
DaveG
6th of May 2004 (Thu), 09:32
I was told by Canon Canada that when I submit a product for warrantee repair a copy of the sales receipt must be with it. If the sales receipt indicates that it was purchased in the US then they won't do warantee service on it and "suggest" that I send it to the US.
Now maybe someone is lying and Canon Canada will do warrantee repairs. It could be an honest mistake by the wrong person at CC, or a ploy to make see some value in buying up here. Or it's true and they will not do the repair. All I know is that's what I was told by Canon Canada.
Does that mean that if you buy a second hand Canon lens with warranty certificate, they will not service it?
This does not sound too good to me ....
Best regards,
Andy
Yup.
drisley
6th of May 2004 (Thu), 09:50
When I contacted Canon Canada, by email and phone, they assured me both times that any Canon product bought in the US with a US warranty IS covered by warranty in Canada (hence the double us/can warranty card).
Otherwise, I would not have bought my 2 lenses from the states.
Yes, when you buy Canon products from the US, they have a double warranty card for BOTH Canon USA and Canon Canada.
Here is a picture of my warranty card for my 85mm lens purchased in the US.
http://www.sharpnsmart.com/temporary/warranty.jpg
Also, if you read the back of the warranty card, it says:
The Limited Warranty set forth below is given by Canon USA Inc, in the US and Canon Canada Inc in Canada (herein referred to collectively as Canon) with respect to the Canon Binoculars and Photo Lens Products packaged with this Limited Warranty and identified by model number on this Limited Warranty Card when purchased and used in the US or Canada.
xuxu1
7th of May 2004 (Fri), 08:58
you have mail!
Thanks Peter! Read it and sent a reply!
Kind Regards
Ed
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