my camera gray market? - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

01/14/2004 11:32:31 AM · #1

so my brother told me last night, he had gone to a local camera shop prior to christmas to buy me some filters i had asked for.

the guy at the shop asked what camera i had, and told my brother he didn't sell filters for it, and that i had gotten a gray market camera, that wouldnt be covered under warranty... he then proceeded to question my brother about lots of things he had no clue about because its my camera.

i am not sure what name he used for the camera, but imagine it was 300d. i told my brother to tell the shop that i purchased the camera at Best Buy, with an extended service plan, and that if it did break, and Best Buy told me it wasnt covered, it may just be the day Hell freezes over..

i am wondering -w/o the shop guy seeing the camera, how he would have any clue about whether its a grey market camera or not. it also strikes me as funny that the shop didn't carry commonplace 58mm lense filters... any thoughts?

soup

Konador

Canon EOS-500D Rebel T1i

01/14/2004 11:38:22 AM · #2

If it says 300D then I think that means it's been imported from Europe, as it's called the Digital Rebel in the States. Perhaps they count the import being grey market?

jmsetzler

Sony Alpha a6000

Sony 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 E-mount

01/14/2004 11:38:47 AM · #3

Best Buy does not sell gray market stuff. Whether or not it's gray market has no effect on filter usage. Sounds like your local camera shop is just an idiot :)

wkmen

Olympus SP-570 UZ

01/14/2004 11:43:06 AM · #4

I can't beleive you have a gray market camera from Best Buy, nor that the camera shop guy knew that it was gray market by your brother's description.

I ran into a similar attitude at the local camera dealer's place last summer. I told him I was interested in upgrading from my 2-MP Olympus, and all he could do was bad-mouth 2-MP cameras, Olympus as a company, and make fun of the fact that I bought the C-700 on a whim at Office Depot. Needless to say, I did't buy from them when I did upgrade.

Some - maybe a small percentage - of these "locals" are jealous of the discounts available on the internet, and of the sales figures of the big stores like WalMart, Circuit City and Best Buy, and they shoot themselves in the foot with a chauvinistic attitude when a customer finally does come to them. I would recommend trying another local store, until you find one you're comfortable talking to, and they can service your filter needs, and sometimes even your printing needs, too.

01/14/2004 11:44:24 AM · #5

well, not my local shop, its down in CT..

and thats what i thought, the camera emblem is REBEL

i'm not worried about it, because even if it was grey market - they WOULD fix it.

kind found the story funny - and advised my brother shop elsewhere if possible.

Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VR DG IF-ED

01/14/2004 11:49:32 AM · #6

on this subject i went a bought a 75-300mm lense the other night, told them i needed canons EF mount, and had my camera there, i mounted the demo model, checked it out, told the girl i wanted it, paid the $200 for that a skylight filter, get home, she put a Nikon mount in the bag...

back to the shop i go only to find they dont have any of the EF mounts in stock. UGH on the cmaera shop issue. ended up buying the canon 75-300mm over the sigma, and think i will use it for a week or so call them up see if they have sigma in stock, and go back return the canon and buy the sigma- although the canon lense takes nice photos... so i may keep it.... the sigma has a 1:2 macro option that the canon lacks. but i think i'd rather get a real macro lense down the road a bit...

Pedro

Nikon D200

01/14/2004 11:53:47 AM · #7

Originally posted by Konador:

If it says 300D then I think that means it's been imported from Europe, as it's called the Digital Rebel in the States. Perhaps they count the import being grey market?

It's 300D in Canada too, and since Best Buy owns a retailer in Canada (Future Shop) I would suspect they get access to both inventories. On a high demand item like the Rebel, they'd swap back and forth without hesitation.

Pedro

I read an article in which they kept referring to it as a D300, and that the name was to one-up the Nikon D100. Haven't seen anything like this since tho.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

01/14/2004 03:22:40 PM · #8

the Rebel is only available in the US and Canada i think.

300d & Kiss elsewhere

mariomel

Canon EOS-5D

01/14/2004 04:55:00 PM · #9

Originally posted by soup:

back to the shop i go only to find they dont have any of the EF mounts in stock. UGH on the cmaera shop issue. ended up buying the canon 75-300mm over the sigma, and think i will use it for a week or so call them up see if they have sigma in stock, and go back return the canon and buy the sigma- although the canon lense takes nice photos... so i may keep it.... the sigma has a 1:2 macro option that the canon lacks. but i think i'd rather get a real macro lense down the road a bit...

I was strongly recommended on getting the Sigma over the Canon. The sigma features Apochromatic glass, and tests show that the picture quality is superior. I have a friend that has the Canon,m and build quality seems much better on the Sigma. It IS much heavier though.

Hope this helps.

In Montreal, they call it the Rebel. Not the 300D.

Sony 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 E-mount

01/14/2004 05:55:04 PM · #10

yeah, basically i got PO'd at them, as they were kind of rude, and figured i would at least take A lense back with me...

there is a 30 day return/exchange policy - so i figure i'll take advantage of it, and them for that matter.

the sigma is heavier, and the fact it comes with a lens hood makes think you need to use it. how is the 1:2 macro option on the sigma?>

you sure the canon doesnt have the apochromatic glass in it?
picture quality seems to be pretty good, although i havent had a ton of chances to use it yet. i did take a few with the aperture wide open, and full zoom with no distortion to speak of...

thanks for the info...

soup

jmsetzler

Sony Alpha a6000

01/14/2004 05:59:10 PM · #11

Some of these stories here highlight the reasons I like to mail order my camera stuff from B&H. The local camera shops I have dealt with usually have about one person who knows what is going on and that person is never around because he/she has staffed the store with part time minimum wage help. The staff you talk to at B&H know what they are doing.

Flip side...

You do need to know what you want before you discuss it with a salesperson from any online vendor. Sales people are good at selling you something you may not want or need :)

Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0L USM

01/14/2004 06:06:45 PM · #12

double flip side

returning things is easier and cheaper locally than online
plus you can bring in your gear, and try stuff out...

i feel guilty doing that, then purchasing elsewhere

there is actually one person who does know what they are talking about at this particular shop, who was quite helpful the previous day.

the owner on the other hand didnt seem to care about wasting an hour of my time... seeing as the sigma is 62mm, and the canon 58mm i asked if ( on good faith ) he would give me the right skylite filter pending i bring the other back to him.. ( since it was of no use ) no can do, got to keep my inventory correct. so i said, how caome when i called 20 minutes ago - you had the lense i needed here, and now you dont if you keep such tight grips on the inventory?

no response to speak of from him...

BTW - this is Ritz camera i am referring too, and they have quite an online shop going. so its a B&H type of company. i believe B&H has a local walk in store in PA, is it?

and also the filters get expensive, having a 62mm sigma, and a 58mm canon 18-55mm is incentive to keep the new 58mm canon...

nborton

Canon EOS-1D Mark II

01/14/2004 06:47:13 PM · #13

Ritz camera has no idea what they are talking about half of the time. there are two where i am, and both of them don't have a clue. i never mess with them anymore. i have gone into both stores before asking for a cable release for the 10d. one guy said they had them but were out, and the other said they didn't have them ever. the best part is they were standing right next to each other when they said this. they never seem to have anything worthwile as far as i have come to experience.

i'm with setz on this issue, and always seem to buy from B&H. their catalog is pretty good too.

ellamay

Canon EOS-1D Mark II

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS

01/14/2004 07:06:06 PM · #14

Best buy and future shop are owned by the same places, they should honor both cameras at both places, recently I bought my parents a cybershot in canada with an extended warentee I told sales people the cam was going to states, they said no problem that the best buys there would honor the warantee.
Perhaps canada is better but we have 3 very very good local stores, all of whom are willing to exchange and refund, and give lots of free advice when needed. Sorry that you all live in such an unfriendly customer service market....

01/14/2004 07:07:54 PM · #15

300D to the person that doesn't know anything about camera sounds like a higher model then 10D. Like most luxury cars now a days the higher the number the better. Give it a familiar nickname and people will remember the camera.

Every time I hear EOS I think about the non-digital SLR "Rebel". I think it was all those Andre Agassi commericals that played during tennis and other sporting events.

01/14/2004 07:15:39 PM · #16

EOS agassi, yes yes - too many of those ads
but if you say 300d in the states apparantly they threaten you ;}

there anren't too many local camera places here that sell canon, or any decent stuff. ritz has the best selection, and as mentioned above touchy feely, and also when you pay in cash, the internet just doesn't cut it sometimes...

01/14/2004 07:17:24 PM · #17

Unfortunately electronics and other retail stores usually have clerks that rotate in the store and you usually don't find people that are experts in what they sell.

If you educate yourself ,do some research before you buy, you won't have any problems.

I used to work at a retail store in the electronics dept. and because of the shortage of staffing I was required to work the baby dept. I didn't know anything about it so I had to do research and talk to parents. Took a bit of time but I became comfortable selling baby items.

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

01/14/2004 07:18:45 PM · #18

thats where the internet is so usefull when you pay in cash ;}

dr rick

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

01/14/2004 09:03:12 PM · #19

I went to my local Best Buy last month and asked if they carried the Canon EOS-300D. The salesman replied that that model wasn't available in the U.S. yet, just in Europe. So I went to Fry's, and the salesman there understood what I wanted and sold me a Digital Rebel. (But even he didn't know everything; he told me that it came with a 32 Mb memory card. I guess most cameras do.)

Shelley

Nikon D200

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED

01/14/2004 11:11:00 PM · #20

The Canon 300D is the European version of the Rebel. It is very strange that a Best Buy would carry it in the US. The main problem is that it has to be sent back to Europe to be fixed under warranty. I can't imagine a Best buy not honoring that. You guys shouldn't always knock the local camera store. I work at one...have no ownership...don't even work on commission, but it is small and everyone there is a shooter, and most knowledgeable. We always show people how to work their cameras, and even have classes in just about every aspect of photography. I am sure there are a lot of other places out there in other locations. I do think we may be unique in our area, but they do something right because we are always busy and have a really amazing loyal base of customers. The main thing is to find someplace you can go back to with questions and help after you buy your stuff. You can't do that on the internet

Rooster

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

Sigma 28-105mm f/2.8-4.0 Aspherical for Canon

01/14/2004 11:44:57 PM · #21

what does grey market mean?

Sigma 28-105mm f/2.8-4.0 Aspherical for Canon

01/14/2004 11:57:53 PM · #22

Originally posted by Rooster:

what does grey market mean?

An import item that your country doesn't carry or has different name. Sometimes a discontinued item from another country that wasn't made for your home country. Warranty is usually no good because there's no support for it. Buyer beware.

Example is like buying a Canon IXUS camera in the U.S. There's no such thing unless you import it. In the U.S it's called Canon ELPH. Different name but same item.

Message edited by author 2004-01-15 00:04:44.

Rooster

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

01/15/2004 12:11:04 AM · #23

thanks faidoi! That's wierd that you would be able to buy it in one country if it wouldnt be supported there.