Are they legal? what is the difference between a camera bought in a legal distributor against gray market? what do they mean of "columbian warranty?" thanks for the help.|||Philippines? Nikon.
Columbia is one of the authorized distributors of Nikon in the country. This means that they are one of the few licensed by Nikon, Japan to sell Nikon cameras to the country. They do sell not only through their stores but through other outlets they supply.
Buying a Nikon from another distributor makes it a gray market camera. It doesn't matter if you bought it from another authorized Nikon distributor in Singapore or Japan. It is still gray market. Legal has no bearing. All stores are legal. All cameras are original. It's just their distributing system policy. We can't argue with them about that.
Columbia's warranty effectively tells you that you are their first priority if your camera needs servicing. If you have a gray market camera, they can still accept it for servicing but you will be their last priority and you will have to pay more for service and parts. Last time I heard, Columbia does not accept gray market cameras anymore.
If you have international warranty, you will have to pay for the camera's air fare to the International Service Center of Nikon abroad. I think they pay for the trip back but I'm not sure.
If you don't like getting your Nikon from Columbia, you can try the other Authorized Nikon Distributor in the country. Camerahaus. http://camerahaus.com/
Sure there are other sellers, especially from sulit,com and ebay.ph that offer much, much lower prices than Camerahaus or Columbia. The problem will be servicing and later than sooner, your camera will need it. It is highly advisable to get your Nikon from either of the two.
There is a way to get a huge discount from Camerahaus. If you dig deep enough at http://digitalphotographer.com.ph/ you will find the contact number of the owner. You will have to be a member of DPP first and you must follow their rules, especially the real name as username part. Look for "spam price". Considering the price of the Pentax K-x if you walk-in to the store, I got mine at a lower price of the body only with the lens given practically free with all accessories included using the method described at that DPP thread. How's that for a bargain?|||Legal? Yes, but you would have to send the camera to a non-official repair facility if you want to get it repaired in the US, etc., under warrantee. Nikon is notorious for this: if you want your "gray market" camera repaired under warrantee you will probably have to send it overseas for repairs. For some things this might be worth it but if you want your camera back sooner when you need your camera repaired spend the extra money and get "USA" market cameras ONLY. B%26amp;H Photo sells some stuff that is "gray market" that they warrantee themselves so it really does depend on the item as to whether or not its worth it. Sometimes the availability dictates that you don't have a choice and sometimes there is no price difference at all - in that case go with the NON gray market.|||Gray market products are legal, but were made for another market - probably Columbia in your example. You can get a good deal and the products are legal to be sold here, but the instructions may be in another language and the warranty may or may not be valid in this country.|||A gray market product means it is one which is generally sold in and warrantied by a division of the company in a different sales market. For example, I live in the US and can purchase a camera sold through a US distributor and warrantied here in the US. Or, online I could purchase a gray market camera which might be warrantied in Japan, or in the case you ask about, Columbia. This is perfectly legal, but it means for product support or to use the warranty, you will need to contact the Colombian division of the camera company.
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