USA service of Gray-Market lenses

[dmin-99]

If the title of this posting is misleading I'm sorry, but I needed some kind of header. In a post of several weeks ago Michael Klayman of Schneider Optics was taken to task for Schneider USA's refusal to honor Schneider's "worldwide" warranty. As far as I know only Canon will honor that warranty in the USA for their equipment - so Schneider is not alone. From what I understand Schneider USA is solely self-supporting. They are required to buy their lenses from Schneider Germany at the same prices as the European distributors must pay. But unlike the European distributors they receive no support in marketing or advertising the products - it comes out of their pockets. I'm not defending their practices in any way, since I buy all of my lenses directly from Europe I've obviously weighed the cost/benefit and made my decision. But it should not go unsaid as to some of the contributing factors involved in the disparate pricing. I remember when Einrich(sp?) Optical imported Nikon gear in the 70's and we were charged prices which were double those that were paid in Japan - this was probably the beginning of the "parallel import" business. Today Schneider USA and Mamiya USA are just the most visible practicioners of this higher pricing - but ultimately the manufacturer is to blame. If they would establish a worldwide advertising budget, and support their products in the USA, I expect that much of this pricing differential would disappear. If I am in error on these points, and someone has more accurate information, please contribute to this post. Also of interest is the shrinking market of LF gear. Even though the volume goes down many of the fixed overhead costs do not. I've included serial numbers from Schneider's site. Note the drop from 500,000 units per year from 1957-1965 vs. the ~30,000 units per year now. Seems that LF gear is rapidly following Buggy Whips.

 

<p>

<pre>

Serial Number Date

5,000,000 February 1957

6,000,000 May 1959

7,000,000 February 1961

8,000,000 March 1963

8,500,000 February 1964

9,000,000 February 1965

9,500,000 September 1965

 

<p>

 

14,540,000 January 1995

14,560,000 April 1995

14,590,000 January 1996

14,600,000 April 1996

14,620,000 November 1996

14,730,000 April 2000

</pre>

[michael_kadillak3]

"Blame" is a pretty harsh word for corporate decisions making and the

associated world of global economics. Schneider knows exactly what

they are doing and if their USA counterpart can't meet thier

financial objectives, maybe they need new leadership and a new

marketing strategy. For a start (when in troubled economic times -

its get back to basics) how about if they initiated a policy to

charge a reasonable fee to repair any non-USA warranty Schneider lens

and started to treat customers like they wanted to stay in business

in the USA? Ironically, I have seen companies turn away business

because they have overpriced labor costs and would rather grind away

at marginal profitability hoping that next year will be better than

bite the bullet and get lean to compete. And the economy is very weak

and probably getting weaker before it gets better that will force

Schneiders hand shortly. If Schneider USA counterpart closed their

doors, it would spawn a whole new breed of independent service

providers that would fill the void admirably and life will go on.

 

<p>

 

I think that you answered your own question. Get your buggy whip

while you can.

[michael_briggs2]

I don't see the "Lifetime Limited Warranty" offered by Schneider as

being particularly valuable. First of all, if a LF lens and shutter

perform correctly upon testing just after purchase, the probability of

some sort of failure is very low. The most likely item to develop a

problem is the shutter and any competent camera repair person should

be able to fix a Copal shutter. Once I purchased a grey-market lens

that had a problem upon arrival--the speed setting ring of the Copal

shutter was extremely stiff and difficult to turn. I returned the

lens to the retailer and received a replacement.

 

<p>

 

Second, the Schneider "Lifetime Limited Warranty" is pretty limited.

Free repair is for "any lens which is found to be defective in

material or workmanship" and excludes "misuse, abuse, alteration,

negligence or accident". Decades ago the cement between optical

elements would sometimes fail. This is probably less likely now, and

it doesn't seem like much else of the lens, as distinct from the

shutter, is likely to fail. Further, the warranty on the shutter is

only for one year. This is by far the most likely part to need work

after a few decades and the warranty won't apply to it--so much for a

"lifetime" warranty.

 

<p>

 

The quotations are from the warranty card I received several years ago

with a Schneider USA distributed lens.

[dmin-99]

Mike - Why do you think Schneider USA has a "Lifetime Warranty"? It's

because it doesn't cost them anything! :-) Maybe "Pet Rocks" would be

a hot item again if they were marketed with "Lifetime Warranties". I

could imagine being told "Sorry the warranty no longer applies - your

rock has expired". Monty Python could have done something with that.

[david_munson]

Eric Idle: "And now for something completely different- a pet rock

with a lifetime warranty. Please note that the warranty does not

apply if your rock is from the cretaceous or earlier, quarried

overseas, or if you chose not to wear pants on every other tuesday of

the month, barring accidental purchase of a dead parrot."

[jonathan brewer]

Reminds me of when I bought this used car a long time ago. When

I was about to drive it away, I asked the guy if the air conditioning

worked. He said,'hey it works great, just don't turn it on when it

gets hot'.