O.T. Dollar versus Euro

SR
Posted By
Schraven_Robert
Dec 18, 2003
Views
204
Replies
13
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Closed
With the way the Dollar is heading downwards in value against the Euro buying camera equipment in the US becomes all of a sudden attractive.
I understand that some risks are involved in doing this, such as the warrantee, and the different voltage of the battery charger; 120 versus 220 Volts. Would that be all or is there more?

Looking forward to hear more reasons why I should not buy a DSLR in the US at a discount of around 25 to 30%.
Or is it Amazon here I come?

Robert
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Leen_Koper
Dec 18, 2003
I agree with you. I’ve seen software bundles advertised for US $179 (about 135 euro) and for sale in Europe for 199 euro.
Importing cameras and other equipment might cause warranty problems; US cameras etc. usually have different names (Canon EOS = Rebel, Epson 2100 = 2200) and sometimes slightly different features.

Moreover, I would advise you to check the customs website. In the Netherlands: <http://www.douane.nl>

The price difference might be less than expected.

Leen
R
Ray
Dec 19, 2003
The following is not an affirmation, it’s rather a question : Is there some kind of lockout mechanism to keep a US equipment functionning with non-US accessories, like videogame consoles? Would a European lens work on a non European camera?

Ray
SR
Schraven_Robert
Dec 19, 2003
Leen,
If I were to buy a Canon rebel via Amazon.com then customs wouldn’t bother would they?

Ray,
I see your point, but when it is cheaper to streamline production processes globally to save costs I don’t believe that producers would even consider variations of their products just to avoid for instance Europeans buying goods in the US and vice versa. If I am correct most of the products are made in China anyway and exported from there to other parts of the world.
I see more a danger that producers are forced to stick to national rules and customs like warrantee’s or differences in power. For instance it makes no sense to buy a TV in the UK for use in Europe as Europe seems to use a different frequency. As a result you don’t have sound with a British tv when used in Europe and so forth. This now mainly applies for cheaper TV’s. More expensive ones have a switch at the back that allows you to adapt your tv settings to local circumstances.

Robert
LK
Leen_Koper
Dec 19, 2003
Ray, there is no difference in optics. No problems.
Robert, sometimes multinationals prefer to produce under different names -and sometimes different features- to be able to sell at a different price policy on other continents.

Leen
AT
Andrew_Turek
Dec 19, 2003
When I bought my first DVD player in June 2002 I wanted a multi-region job and had no trouble finding one from a small independent retailer who explained that the region setting was simply an internal code which could be changed with the remote if you knew how–and he did. The machines were identical all over the world. To prove his point, the one he sold me had a Continental-Europe plug and he provided me with an adapter for the chunky UK mains socket. In practice there would be a different version for 110v AC countries such as the US but you can buy plug-ins to step down (or up) the voltage for very little.

And when I bought my camera this year (a Canon) the charger came with power leads for pretty well anywhere and of course an AC supply which could cope with 110 or 220 volts wiothout even changing a switch, as is usual with laptops these days.
SR
Schraven_Robert
Dec 19, 2003
Andrew,

Need the address of your supplier. Sounds like a decent guy. 🙂

Jokes aside, do you think this applies like a general matter. The reason I am asking is that I am contemplating to get my DSLR and tripod, may be even soft ware via Amazon as the Dollar/Euro rate is in my favour.
So far the response to this thread was kind of meagre as I suspect cross-buying (How’s that for a new word?) probably occurs less than thought or it does happen but no problems of sort occur.

Robert
RR
Raymond Robillard
Dec 19, 2003
Robert, this happens a lot, but not many people around here do it.

Point your browser on www.dpreview.com for information on buying a camera from another country. You’ll hear (or is that read) plenty of comments on the subject.

Ray
SR
Schraven_Robert
Dec 19, 2003
Raymond,

Thank you for your advice. I will post it on dpreview.

Robert
SS
Susan_S.
Dec 20, 2003
Personally I wouldn’t buy in the US from Australia, despite the large savings available, for anything that would be likely to require warranty service. The Canon US warranty is not valid overseas – you would have to bear the cost (and risks) of returning to the US in the event of a problem. Australian customs also will impose charges…if the parcels are honestly labelled by the seller that is. I don’t know what the arrangements in Holland are for customs.

I have bought more robust, lower value items (books) from Amazon US. I’d also consider stuff like tripods and filters which are more likely to survive transit in one piece – but the savings are not generally big enough to make them worthwhile. But I am highly risk averse. if you are more of a risk taker than I am you might come to a different conclusin – the US prices are very tempting!

Susan S.
SR
Schraven_Robert
Dec 20, 2003
Susan,

I am not much of a risk taker myself. So far I have only bought books and CD’s via the internet. There was nothing wrong with these items when they arrived. But then again how much can go wrong with something like a book? In some cases the package itself was pretty mangled.

I am more worried about your remark regarding non-validity of US warranties and the camera breaking down in Holland. You state that a camera bought in the US cannot/will not be repaired in Holland.
I wonder about that. Would the parts not be the same?

Is it not the case that a warrant only applies the first year or so and that after that you will have to fork out money for all repairs neccessary, anyway? If that is so, then you will find that you have to assess the risk of getting a camera already damaged in the factory or underways or that it breaks down in the first year. If you take out the factory damage (slim chance) and breaking down in the first year (possibly equally a slim chance of that) then the biggest risk is damage occurring during transport. Or am I forgetting something?

Robert
SS
Susan_S.
Dec 20, 2003
Robert – the parts are the same, but as Canon distributors are split into different regions, it means dealing with a different company – they simply don’t cover the warranty of a product bought elsewhere. (I checked on this for Canon Australia as I wanted to buy one in the US while I was there – it’s also true for Minolta in Australia, as I wanted to buy a camera that they don’t distribute to this region, and they wouldn’t provide any support here).

The canon forums on dpreview are naturally going to attract people who are having problems with their cameras – but there do seem to be a significant number of people posting there who have to return a camera for repair or replacement- with the assembly and manufacture of such complicated equipment there are always going to be a (hopefully small!) percentage that fail out of the box in the first few months of ownership. What percentage it is, I don’t know…but for an expensive item like a DSLR I would not want to take that risk.

Susan S.
SR
Schraven_Robert
Dec 20, 2003
Susan,

I just went over to DPreview and as it turns out a polish guy posted a thread like this. He quickly got a few replies. There is something like an international warranty and companies like amazon allow you a 30 day return on their products. That should minimise the risk of having bought a bad camera abroad considerably.

Robert
JW
JP White
Dec 20, 2003
wrote:

With the way the Dollar is heading downwards in value against the Euro
buying camera equipment in the US becomes all of a sudden attractive.
I understand that some risks are involved in doing this, such as the
warrantee, and the different voltage of the battery charger; 120 versus 220 Volts. Would that be all or is there more?

I’ve used a US bought Nikon in the UK and don’t remember any issues with the charger when I went on trip last year. Can’t remember if it adjusted voltage automatically or if I used an voltage converter. Either way it’s no big deal; it works!! I’m sure a replacement charger is inexpensive locally bought anyhow.

Warranty. The warranty issue is only relevant during the warranty period. DUH! So the ‘risk’ you take isn’t that much of a big deal IMO. Most warranties are only for a year for US supplied cameras, 90 days in some cases. Warranties typically aren’t as generous as the European equivalents. Getting a DOA unit is however a hassle, just imagine getting charged customs duty twice!! The camera will be identical, so getting repairs outside of the warranty will be the same for a US or locally bought camera.

The biggest problem you will find is avoiding customs duties that may well wipe out your savings and potentially delay delivery by weeks/months if there is an issue with customs. Best time to do this is NOW when customs are overloaded with gifts being mailed into the country, your package may go unnoticed. Worst time for getting caught for duties? Right after Christmas

JP

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