kamikaze1213
Active member
Jan_Crittenden said:
Isn't this just a matter of firmware though?
How To Identify A USA & Greymarket Camera
- Thread starter Jeff B
- Start date
Isn't this just a matter of firmware though?
Jan_Crittenden
Veteran
Hi,
It is a matter of firmware but I am wondering whether the internal id is a question to the firmware upgrade. Then if it is it would mean that the Japanese cameras would need to get their upgrade from the Japanese site. It isn't a huge thing but it is something that might make the upgrade a little confusing. We will know soon enough as the upgrade for 16GB cards will be available soon.
Best,
Jan
It is a matter of firmware but I am wondering whether the internal id is a question to the firmware upgrade. Then if it is it would mean that the Japanese cameras would need to get their upgrade from the Japanese site. It isn't a huge thing but it is something that might make the upgrade a little confusing. We will know soon enough as the upgrade for 16GB cards will be available soon.
Best,
Jan
What I was told is that gray market is cheaper because of differences in sale taxes and profit margins between countries. Gray market are normally brought from countries where the sales taxes are not as high as in the States or Europe and where the manufacturers don’t make as much profit on the cameras because the local lower economy of that particular country won’t allow it. So they have to sell it for less money in that country or not sell it at all because otherwise people wouldn’t be able to afford. The manufacturers then have to make up for that by selling the cameras at higher cost in developed countries and compensate for the loss in the under developed countries. So the majority of the profit comes from developed countries because they can afford to pay more. That’s why manufacturers make huge efforts to put gray market down trying to make gray market come across as something worse than it actually is, almost like it is immoral or illegal. Because when you buy gray market they lose money. They need you to pay what lower economies can’t and help them to recoup their investments and make profit.
Now don’t quote me on that. That’s just what I have been told.
But in fact, it’s called gray market instead of black market for a reason. It’s not illegal. The talk that gray market cameras are stolen is bogus. It’s just part of the “propaganda”. The only thing you really lose is local warranty. But you don’t lose local support. If you pay for it, manufacturers will service your equipment just the same.Immoral? Well, it’s up to you if you want to pay the bigger share of manufacturing the camera or not. But in the end you are just not supporting your local market. If you think that’s immoral, not buying from your local dealer and buying online from B&H is just as immoral then. It’s just up to you to make the decision.
Now don’t quote me on that. That’s just what I have been told.
But in fact, it’s called gray market instead of black market for a reason. It’s not illegal. The talk that gray market cameras are stolen is bogus. It’s just part of the “propaganda”. The only thing you really lose is local warranty. But you don’t lose local support. If you pay for it, manufacturers will service your equipment just the same.Immoral? Well, it’s up to you if you want to pay the bigger share of manufacturing the camera or not. But in the end you are just not supporting your local market. If you think that’s immoral, not buying from your local dealer and buying online from B&H is just as immoral then. It’s just up to you to make the decision.
