It depends what product. But generally, no.
A couple of times I have bought Nikon lenses which turned out to (apparently) be grey market imports, and they had serial numbers of the form US1234567. But I don't fully understand that: I believe that Nikon only have one global sequence of serial numbers for each type of lens (eg see
here). Maybe US1234567 would have been 1234567 if it had been sold anywhere else in the world, and they tacked the US on to it to denote the market for which it was intended. Maybe. I don't know.
On the other hand it seems that Nikon have used a regional coding for camera serial numbers - see
here - but it may be difficult to interpret and possibly unreliable.
I'm fairly sure that Canon do not use regional coding for serial numbers, and I believe that Sigma and Tamron don't either. I have no knowledge of the practices of other brands.
Not quite. Mail Boxes Etc just rent out mailboxes. It's a convenient service if, say, you're running a business from home but don't want to publish your home address too widely. (I did exactly that when I initially set up Lenses For Hire and was running it from home.) These two brands both have the same MBE address, therefore they are the same company or at least run by the same person. But that doesn't imply any deeper connection with MBE.
Stewart,thanks for your time and the education. i'm looking for a Canon body,but thanks for taking the time to explain a little about Nikon. I'm going to ask chris in a mo if Canon shared with him just how they know his body was grey,my knowledge of Canon codes is small I know there used to be a date code and which factory they were made at,but little else. But essentially Chris's post says there is somethiing in a Canon code,that canon can read and tell them which market that camera was destined for Thanks also for the knowledge shared about MBE,I had no understanding at all of this matter.
What does their terms and conditions say? Have you also checked out their Memo and Arts on companies house?
I'm struggling to see your point that is being made? Your original post is stating that you want to avoid a grey import if possible, but the only different on products is the supply chain.
Grey imports are not inferior in any way. There is not a separate factory where all the "grey" imports are made. Canon are not renowned for having a high number of defective products and they are obliged to honour any warranty under UK law, as is the supplier and the SoGA.
I used to work for the European distributor for Iwata, we couldn't compete with the grey import market on price, we were only able to offer an extended UK warranty that the manufacturer didn't stand by, only us (because we had the technicians and stock to facilitate on our own).
I have bought goods from Panamoz and they have been amazing, i've had no issues personally and when selling my 7Dii they transferred the remaining warranty to the new owner. One friend who did have a defective body was covered by the canon warranty, but Panamoz said that if canon didn't honour it, they would step in.
In such a litigious world, it would be very bad for business, both for canon or any 3rd party seller not to maintain a correct and proper conduct on after sales.
Stu,I have no idea what is meant by Memo and Arts,within company house,I have looked at the link provided by Peter B,but not delved further bar ckicking on everything I could. Stu I know very little about this type of thing company house,bla de bla, I have a base awareness not nowt else
Mate i'm not really trying to make a point,i'm trying to learn. I've basically got three options,buy grey buy "proper/genuine" UK stock or buy secondhand. Stu i'm saving (probably), for a 1DxII. I understand there is no difference in the grey product and the one Canon destined for the UK market, I just don't understand how to ID one,but Canon do according to Chris
If I find I cannot afford new UK stock then really my second option is secondhand. But with this camera being so expensive and the grey price being nearly £2000 cheeper bar a couple of hundred pounds I'm finding secondhand grey imports can be more expensive than a brand new grey item with maybe 3 years of warranty. So if I bought
second hand I'd most definitely like to avoid grey imports in that market as it just seems sense less to buy a secondhand grey body,that could be more expensive than a brand new grey camera body.
Stu the only point is my two questions,I'm deliberately trying to stay clear of all the cobblers BS call it what ya like that grey market threads throw up. But if I don't know something I'll always ask and I simply am unsure how to ID a
second hand grey or how to read that canon code like canon can.
Yes - they do. I wanted to register a 1dx2 body bought from HK onto my CPS - and by serial number they informed me it wasn't UK stock, and so didn't qualify for UK service, but could be added manually to my account on request.
Chris can you tell me how they,Canon, could ID that your 1DXii was a grey market body please?? If that info is not forth coming ,then I could end up with a second hand grey body, were you able to enter that into CPS,you post doesn't completely confirm that,forgive me asking. bro
9/10 times if you ring a retailer and ask two simple questions you get your answer as to where their stock comes from.
1/ Do you have this item in stock (usually no if grey)
2/ How long will it take to get it (if grey usually 5-7 days, if UK usually 1-2 days)
Pete cheers for this,i'm actually tempted to knock on a door if i'm totally honest,i'm around 40mins away from Procamera,cheers for the help though, I'm not there yet financially,tis a lot of graft when you earn by the meter,but i'm closing on it ,so starting to dig for info on the subject. Your questions are noted mate thank you!!
What difference would you see between a grey import in your hand and an 'official' import in your hand?
I was going to go with Chris here, none.
....................but of course he's already told us,a slightly different serial number can mean something different leastways, to Canon. "Digital.".................... what i'm after is that difference you and I cannot see, but Canon can ,according to the above post by Chris
Lads, across the board to each and every one of you thanks for your time and efforts to help me along. Maybe I'll never be able to sort out a second hand grey from a genuine UK second hand body bar the obvious receipt of sale,which let's face it with a camera body relatively recent and very expensive should be very doable. Pro camera seems best to have a chat with huh
. But it has to be worth asking. Frankly if Stewart R.......... a pro running a business......... might have ended up with something possibly grey,then however silly I might look , honestly I 've got no chance of avoiding that senario !!!!!
As always I'm shattered,if I missed anyone my humble apologies
Ta muchly lads
stu
