Help!! I think I got a "grey camera"

[Kim Brownlee]

Just got my camera and started taking it out of the box, looking for the manuel and warranty card; found the manuel tossed on top, and it was in English, Spanish and French, BUT no sign of a warranty card. Started looking at the camera for a serial # and although I found it, everything around it is in Japanese. Is this the camera made only for use in Japan?? Or can I still use it? (I do have the manuel.) I registered the serial # with Canon online. Am I going to hear back that I can't get the warranty?

[Brandon Freeman]

EDIT: I think my original post accidentally broke the rules. Sorry.

[Floris van Eck]

Sounds like you got a grey market model. You should also have a warranty card. Where did you buy it? I would bring it back.

[Bruce James]

I think if you got the 'Manuel' you probably got the Spanish version.

(sorry, I'll get me coat)

[Kim Brownlee]

Originally Posted by Bruce James

I think if you got the 'Manuel' you probably got the Spanish version.

(sorry, I'll get me coat)

Sorry, that was my daughter's ex! Force of habit!

[Kim Brownlee]

After playing around with the camera and seeing messages displayed in Japanese, I was getting worried that I might have to return it or miss important messages, but I stumbled onto the "choose language" option, (I just happened to see the bubble with words inside it, like in cartoons) and tried it. Now everything is in English!

[Joe Batt]

I bought a grey market xl-h1. And it was, like yours shipped with the menu in japanese by default. Good news...It's the exact same camera. Bad news...If you paid the price for an american distribution model your screwed because you don't get the warranty. I did it to save two grand in cost and bought a four hundred dollar mac warranty. in the end you get a longer lasting warranty and save a little money.

[Dave Gosley]

I think Bruce has been reading the register - or subscribes to it....

[Dave Gosley]

Originally Posted by Joe Batt

I bought a grey market xl-h1. And it was, like yours shipped with the menu in japanese by default. Good news...It's the exact same camera. Bad news...If you paid the price for an american distribution model your screwed because you don't get the warranty. I did it to save two grand in cost and bought a four hundred dollar mac warranty. in the end you get a longer lasting warranty and save a little money.

Hi Joe, what's a mac warranty please?

[Kim Brownlee]

I paid $6987. Before I bought, I asked several questions; was in an American model or import, they said American. I asked if it included the lens, they said yes, it was the full kit. (It was all there;) I asked if it included the 1 year US warranty and they said yes. (It showed on the bill and I registered w Canon online and got an email from them thanking me for registering my product with them. Haven't heard anything else. I asked the price and they said $6219 including tax & shipping. It ended up being $6987 and when I asked why they said insurance, at which point my daughter got on the phone & said she ships with UPS daily and there's no way it wouldn't be more than $100 for tax, shipping AND insurance. They then told her that it was a processing fee. So, although they were completely deceitful and underhanded about the price and it not being an import, I figured I was still getting it cheaper than I could find anywhere else anyway.

So... I guess I need to find about that mac warranty!!

[Robert M Wright]

You might want to keep a close eye on the credit card account you used to pay for the camera, just in case all of a sudden you start making purchases you don't have a clue about.

[Chris Hurd]

Originally Posted by Kim Brownlee

...they said $6219 including tax & shipping. It ended up being $6987... there's no way it wouldn't be more than $100 for tax, shipping AND insurance. They then [said] it was a processing fee. So, although they were completely deceitful and underhanded about the price and it not being an import, I figured I was still getting it cheaper than I could find anywhere else anyway.

This is exactly why I started accepting site sponsorship from fully authorized dealers. "Getting it cheaper" is appealing to the American mentality, and that's the trick these grey-market outfits use to get you to buy from them. In the long run, you'll pay more money then you would have by simply buying from an above-board authorized dealer. Now you're going to spend more on a Mack warranty and when you're through, you'll have spent more than you would have through one of our site sponsors.

The good dealers -- that is, our sponsors -- make hardly any money from camera sales. Their margins, how they can afford to make a living in this business, is in non-camera items (tripods, etc.). Because they won't break the rules and refuse to compromise their ethics, these dealers constantly lose business to the grey-market slime, which is strongly fueled by the "get it cheaper" mentality that a lot of buyers have. I'd really like to break that concept, and that's part of what this site is all about.

The camera purchase is money you spend once, and it's either a business expense where you're going to make this money back, or it's a luxury item where the money doesn't matter as much as having the item. Either way, a low-ball price is just the wrong way to shop. As long as you're not paying over MSRP, you're getting a good deal. Unfortunately, the way most grey-market low-ballers work, by the time you're done you'll have spent more than MSRP.

In conclusion (I like to have the last word on these topics) please do yourself and your bank account a favor and buy your gear through our fully authorized dealers which sponsor this site, making DV Info Net available to you: http://www.dvinfo.net/sponsors