Buying of Lens from oversea

Wai · 13th July 2002

Anyone have any experience to share?

I saw this lens selling in US at US$150 + US$15 shipping, whereas in Singapore, the same lens is selling S$650!!!

of cos, if u buy in Singapore, the lens will be cover by warranty, but when the price is twice as much, i will rather take the risk and buy from US.

Are there any 3rd party lens that comes with International warranty?

eg. Tamron, Tokina & Sigma?

SNAG · 13th July 2002

Well, if I'm not wrong, Nikon has international warranty.
But do make sure that the dealer that you are dealing with is a Nikon Dealer...

Try not to be tempted by the low prices...
Some shops are cheats in a sense that they charge your CC, but they do bait and switch techniques.

PS: Mind if you reveal the shop and the lenses that you are buying?

chaotic · 13th July 2002

Please beware that there are some camera shop websites on the internet that are not trustworthy. It's just like many of us don't buy from places in Far East or Lucky Plaza.

Do check www.resellerratings.com for an idea of reliability of online merchant.

Wai · 13th July 2002

Thanks for the link, i will go check it out first...

any online shop to recommend? This is my first online purchase, so i better do more Homework first...

sulhan · 13th July 2002

Hi there,

I think.....its up to your choice. I personally thinks that buying lenses in the US, and immediately come back to Singapore, you will have the risk of no service support - no worldwide warranty coverage. In the US, there are grey markets where things are sold like those in Mustafa - less price with no warranty.

One good thing in the US is that, if you buys a lens, you have all your rights to return it if you really have problems with it or If the lens does not perform to your expectation.

My experiences:

1) Bought a teleconverter for my digital camera - The sales person literally said this...GO AHEAD AND HAVE IT SIR, YOU MAY RETURN IT IF YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEMS OR HAVE ANY DISSATISFACTION WITH THE RESULTS.

I got the lens and over the weekend used it and was not that happy with the result(Super vignetting and fringing) - I showed the sales person the image a week later and requested a refund - A refund was made NO Questions Asked.

2) Bought another lens for my SLR and returned it after using it for a week. Dust was found on the inner glass element. He refunded me the money as there isn't anymore in stock.

(NOTE to ALL: Some lens which may have rains of dust. Cannot be seen when new as it actually falls off the internal sections of the lens (e.g. aperture mechanism) when we store our lens vertically in the camera bag - Note most lens packaging are horizontal. Hence any dust/s which may be in the lens may not be "out-of-the-hole".) - Tips from some salesperson in the US.

thats from me...

One more last thing......some US based web have a ONLINE CHAT -ENQUIRY. These people on the other side may not be experienced or have 100% knowledge of the things you want - My experience.....was asking about the USD$99 Sigma 24-70mm lens shown on their website - but the online people dont even know if its the newer HF Petal hood HF type or the older one without the internal Helical focus(HF)....Bummer!!!

regards,
me

13th July 2002	#1
Wai Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: South Pole with Penguins Posts: 5,132	Buying of Lens from oversea Anyone have any experience to share? I saw this lens selling in US at US$150 + US$15 shipping, whereas in Singapore, the same lens is selling S$650!!! of cos, if u buy in Singapore, the lens will be cover by warranty, but when the price is twice as much, i will rather take the risk and buy from US. Are there any 3rd party lens that comes with International warranty? eg. Tamron, Tokina & Sigma? __________________ We are HDD of PC & FT are MB add to storage; so PC never hangs with enormous storage capacity - LKY

13th July 2002	#4
Wai Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: South Pole with Penguins Posts: 5,132	Thanks for the link, i will go check it out first... any online shop to recommend? This is my first online purchase, so i better do more Homework first... __________________ We are HDD of PC & FT are MB add to storage; so PC never hangs with enormous storage capacity - LKY

13th July 2002	#5
sulhan Advertiser Join Date: May 2002 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 4,051	...My opinion..... Hi there, I think.....its up to your choice. I personally thinks that buying lenses in the US, and immediately come back to Singapore, you will have the risk of no service support - no worldwide warranty coverage. In the US, there are grey markets where things are sold like those in Mustafa - less price with no warranty. One good thing in the US is that, if you buys a lens, you have all your rights to return it if you really have problems with it or If the lens does not perform to your expectation. My experiences: 1) Bought a teleconverter for my digital camera - The sales person literally said this...GO AHEAD AND HAVE IT SIR, YOU MAY RETURN IT IF YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEMS OR HAVE ANY DISSATISFACTION WITH THE RESULTS. I got the lens and over the weekend used it and was not that happy with the result(Super vignetting and fringing) - I showed the sales person the image a week later and requested a refund - A refund was made NO Questions Asked. 2) Bought another lens for my SLR and returned it after using it for a week. Dust was found on the inner glass element. He refunded me the money as there isn't anymore in stock. (NOTE to ALL: Some lens which may have rains of dust. Cannot be seen when new as it actually falls off the internal sections of the lens (e.g. aperture mechanism) when we store our lens vertically in the camera bag - Note most lens packaging are horizontal. Hence any dust/s which may be in the lens may not be "out-of-the-hole".) - Tips from some salesperson in the US. thats from me... One more last thing......some US based web have a ONLINE CHAT -ENQUIRY. These people on the other side may not be experienced or have 100% knowledge of the things you want - My experience.....was asking about the USD$99 Sigma 24-70mm lens shown on their website - but the online people dont even know if its the newer HF Petal hood HF type or the older one without the internal Helical focus(HF)....Bummer!!! regards, me Last edited by sulhan; 13th July 2002 at 12:15 PM.

13th July 2002	#2
SNAG Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 1,410	Well, if I'm not wrong, Nikon has international warranty. But do make sure that the dealer that you are dealing with is a Nikon Dealer... Try not to be tempted by the low prices... Some shops are cheats in a sense that they charge your CC, but they do bait and switch techniques. PS: Mind if you reveal the shop and the lenses that you are buying?

13th July 2002	#3
chaotic Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 738	Please beware that there are some camera shop websites on the internet that are not trustworthy. It's just like many of us don't buy from places in Far East or Lucky Plaza. Do check www.resellerratings.com for an idea of reliability of online merchant.