Importing US Canon EOS 20D

[server_girl]

Hi,

I'm hoping my friend who is travelling to the States soon will purchase an EOS 20D for me in duty free.

From previous posts I gather the warranty could be an issue? Are the any other issues that anyone is aware of. From what I can tell the cameras are the exact same, obviously I will need a US power adapter for recharging etc..

Any help appreciated.

Cheers
Gail (Dublin)

[weemannie]

Hi Gail

I bought mine from the US and was assured that it was an International Warranty. (time will tell if that's true :D ).
Its fine and even came with a UK adapter.
Good luck

Trevor

[PaulB]

The generally accepted position is that Canon UK will honour warranties on lenses bought anywhere but will NOT honour warranties on digital bodies bought from other than UK sourced stock, and will treat any repairs 'to be paid for'.
I suggest that you check directly with them before importing a DSLR from the States - especially as your friend may get stung for VAT on entering the UK anyway.
Just noticed that you're in Eire - don't know about the VAT but doesn't Canon UK do all the warranty work for Eire? If so the warranty situation would still apply.

[ssim]

When I was looking for my 1dMKII I called Canon Canada and they said that on the pro level camera they would not honor the warranty for a camera imported from the US. The 20D falls into the prosumer area and may be categorized differently for warranty work. If you are overly concerned about this I would just give Canon a quick call.

[server_girl]

hi - thanks for responses.

yes, the same applies when bringing into Ireland it would be liable to import tax.

Presumably you could pay to have it shipped back to US for warranty, I'll get her to check it out before buying!

[Bruce Watson]

When I was looking for my 1dMKII I called Canon Canada and they said that on the pro level camera they would not honor the warranty for a camera imported from the US. The 20D falls into the prosumer area and may be categorized differently for warranty work. If you are overly concerned about this I would just give Canon a quick call.

My 10D was bought mail order from the US and came with USA/Canada warranty card.

For European country, maybe check with a big retailer like B&H and see if they know. Perhaps if bought from them, they handle the warranty with Canon if it is returned to them?

[KennyG]

Trevor, quite simply they lied to you. The warranty is not valid here. Canon UK has been called many times to verify this issue and if you buy from the US, you will not get any warranty support from Canon UK, as simple as that.

That being the case, assess if the savings you make are worth the risk of having to send your camera back to the US, via the vendor, and wait many weeks for a repair, which may not be right first time as many here will attest to. Lenses are not an issue as they are warranted.

The grass is not always greener on the other side of the hill.

[malla1962]

hi - thanks for responses.

yes, the same applies when bringing into Ireland it would be liable to import tax.

Presumably you could pay to have it shipped back to US for warranty, I'll get her to check it out before buying!
why not look at 7dayshop.com they are good prices,a us camera body warranty will be no use over here but if you buy a usa lens not gray import the warranty is good.allso if you do go for a usa body you could allways get a mack extended international warrenty there quite
cheap.

[rab]

If only life were simple! I've bought a 10D & 20D in the past year from the US via ebay - no customs duty on either of them. The 10D had a Mack warranty included and developed a fault after about six months. Although the camera was still under the Canon US warranty MACK repaired it without question but it was a laborious exercise. You would not believe the hoops I had to go through with so many forms to fill in and so many automated email responses that lead me nowhere. The repair was about £163 but Mack paid me £130 and never gave me a reason as to why I was short changed. I've taken out a D&G warranty on the 20D which was more expensive but they were brilliant with the two repairs I had done previously on a Nikon 880 Coolpix - Nikon were not so good taking about a month to complete each repair. D&G even paid the postage!

I recently sold the 10D and a 75-300IS lens which both had a Mack warranty and it was a real struggle to transfer the warranties to the new owners and cost a fortune in phone calls - don't tell my boss!

My dealings with the 7dayshop have also left me feeling cold. I recently purchased the 20D grip from them which was instock at the time I ordered online. Six and a half weeks came and went before it arrived.

My experience is to go for the cheaper option if you can avoid the customs - but you can never be sure with them. Like life itself it's just a gamble.

[martcol]

I bought my 1D mk II in Bangkok - no international warranty. Took the risk. So-far-so-good! The store did say they would help me out and liase with Canon if I had problems which was slightly reassuring. Did I believe them? My camera is perfect in every way - maybe the photographer should get checked over but I don't htink that was covered anyway!

Martin

[Andy_T]

Gail,

what's the price for the 20D you expect to pay?

The cheapest price in Germany for the 20D is about EUR 1250 from a reputable online seller. I assume that many of these are also willing to ship to Ireland, and you would be on the safe side as far as VAT and duties are concerned.

Dewmuw (Damian, UK) recently looked into the issue of ordering a 20D from Germany, I wonder what came out of it.
I think he was looking at www.digitalpear.de .

I'd be really wary of buying a complex high dollar item like a 20D in a duty free shop ... what happens if it has issues?
Can you take it back to the shop the next day or even send it back within the 14 day grace period you have when buying online? I assume not.

Best regards,
Andy

[quickben]

I bought a G5 from the US, via eBay, about 18 months ago. About 4 months later it developed a fault which, basically, stopped the use of the view-finder. I rang Canon UK and asked if they could repair it. They said they could, and would even do it under warranty !!

It took about two weeks, and I didn't pay a penny.

However, the G5 is a pro-sumer digicam. NOT a dSLR.

Canon UK may only do small, inexpensive repairs on US models. Not big, expensive ones.

Hope this helps.

Gary.

[tim]

I talked to Canon NZ, they will repair lenses bought from anywhere under warranty, but not camera bodies. It could vary country to country, so call them in your country first, plus write down the date, time, and who you speak too. Writing that stuff down is a good thing to do for every business you call, actually.