B&H import/USA

[michael.luczkow]

quick question before I buy, what's the difference (besides 20 bucks) between the USA and import versions of virtually all lenses on B&H?

[michael.luczkow]

and yes, i read the link on the site but.... what do you guys order and why?

[Jack W.]

If you buy grey, you have to send the item back to B&H for warranty repairs if needed.
For the small difference in price, I buy USA. I'd rather have Canon do any repairs if needed.
Jack

[charlesu]

Buy the USA and save the trouble.

[DSMITH131]

spend the extra bucks its worth it if you ever have to have repairs or service

[Kinger]

Well seeing that you do not live in the US (live in Japan) I would buy the import version since the US version has to be serviced in the US. Then I would find out all the import fees to ship it from New York to Japan, and see if it is even worth it compared to buying locally in Japan.

[michael.luczkow]

well it's definitly cheaper than Japan. a 20D body goes for 1600-1750 bucks :-) all the canon stuff is way cheaper in the states, and the nikon stuff is about the same. but yeah... what's 20 bucks when you've over a grand anyway.. thanks for the help guys.

[Kinger]

But I still say buy grey market not US. So you can have it serviced locally in Japan and not have to send it back to the US for service.

[robertwgross]

I make that decision based on the type of camera product. If it is something complicated, or something that warranty service is a very real possibility (like a camera body), then I will generally pick the USA-warranty item. However, if it is something relatively foolproof (almost like a brick), then I will generally pick the "import" item. During my stay in the Canon camp, I've never had to get any warranty repair on anything Canon (and only one post-warranty Canon lens).

---Bob Gross---