A and N Photography: US versus gray market warranty camera lenses

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The economics of buying US versus grey market (import) lenses
February 28, 2006

Introduction
There is recurring discussion on the web about whether to purchase a US or a so-called gray warranty market lens. To add some clarity to the discussion, I will use Nikon (Nikkor) lens retail prices from a reputable retailer, B&H Photo in this case, for this comparison. I am not taking rebates into account as rebates are not offered for grey market lenses and thus make a regular retail price comparison less clear.

What is the difference between the two types of warranties? The primary difference is the price. An import (gray market) lens will be an average of 12% less expensive than US retail lenses. The secondary difference is a gray market lens cannot be sent to Nikon for warranty repair. You will have to send your lens to your retailer (B&H Photo in this example) and have them make the repair. Also, Nikon does offer 5-year extended warranties for many of its US lenses at no additional cost. I sent my Nikon 80-400mm in for service two years after I bought it and it only cost me shipping, not the new lens replacement cost of $1,430. Warranty repair is a real consideration.

Mack warranty service contracts are also available, bought in addition to import lenses. However, purchasing a gray market lens and a Mack warranty is more expensive than buying a US retail lens. Also, complications with service increase when buying third party warranties. Thus, I will not consider the Mack warranty in the comparison.

Comparison
To provide a realistic scenario, this comparison uses my entire lens stock as of 2005. This is the analysis that I went through when I first began purchasing lenses. Table 1 shows the cost savings of gray market over US prices when purchasing several lenses.

Lens	USA Price	Imported Price	Dollar Difference	Percent Price Difference
20mm f2.8	$484.95	$439.95	$45.00	9.3%
24mm f2.8	$299.95	$279.95	$20.00	6.7%
35mm f2	$304.95	$259.95	$45.00	14.8%
50mm f1.8	$104.95	$94.95	$10.00	9.5%
18-35mm f3.5-4.5D	$494.95	$419.95	$75.00	15.2%
70-300mm f4.0-5.6ED	$309.95	$279.95	$30.00	9.7%
80-400 f4.5-5.6	$1429.95	$1249.95	$180.00	12.6%
Total	$3429.65	$3024.65	$405.00	11.8%

Table 1. Price difference between US and Import lenses

Analysis
From what I have read from postings online over the past couple of years, it has been suggested that a lens less than $300 is considered "disposable". This is because the potential cost of repair can equal or exceed the new lens purchase price. Consider the cost just to bring a lens in for repair will be $60 to start and then add in labor and parts at additional cost. For inexpensive lenses like the 50mm f1.8 lens, the repair cost could easily exceed the cost of a brand new lens. For more expensive lenses, gray market versus US is a more difficult decision. My experience with a warranty repair on my Nikon 80-400mm made the US retail purchase decision a good choice. An out of warranty repair will cut the gray market savings in half.

Table 1 does not include a high-speed, expensive lens such as the 35mm f1.4, 85mm f1.4 or 17-35mm f2.8 which ship with a 5-year extended factory warranty. With expensive lenses, the US versus gray market savings will be higher. However, lenses you did purchase will not be under factory warranty and one out-of-warranty repairs will negate the savings between the US and gray market versions.

You have to look at how many lenses you think you'll purchase new. I decided that I was always going to purchase new lenses for the warranty. If buying used is for you, consider that most lenses on online auction sites only sell for 10-30% less than new. That is a good discount but you have to consider the quality of a used lens and how much abuse, water, dust or fungus it has been exposed to.

In the end, piece of mind equals the difference in cost. The gray and US lenses are from the same factory, the same product line, the same design and yet one is more expensive because the US includes the factory warranty. Over 4 years of ownership, that's $100 per year, not a big deal considering the money most photographers spend on equipment. $100 is less than the cost of one 16x24 Exhibition print from West Coast Imaging.

Conclusion
I look at the price difference today and still conclude that it was a better choice to purchase US retail rather than gray market. One factory warranty repair convinced me of that as an out-of-warranty repair was half the savings listed in Table 1. I have the piece of mind to know my lenses will be repaired by the factory well into the future.

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