Can gray market or USA be determined from Serial Number

[tpernal]

Hi: I am looking at a Nikon 1.4 afs teleconverter on eBay.

The owner can not confirm US or Gray.

I guess with a used piece, it's actually irrelavant.

Any opinions on this???

The Serial number is 214891.

thanks for your help

[ShunCheung]

You cannot tell, but for a teleconverter, it does not really matter. Very little can go wrong with a TC and in case it does, a lot of people can fix it.

[juanjo_viagran]

http://www.photosynthesis.co.nz/nikon/serialno.html#TC

 

those numbers may help.

[jose_angel]

My latter USA lenses have an "US" mark near the number. Don`t know if it means USA market.

[Michael R Freeman]

Only Nikon USA can tell (by searching their database), and they will not give you this information over the phone or via email. Others have tried and been stonewalled.

 

As Shun noted, it's irrelevant anyway, or at least it should be. The *only* difference between the US and Gray versions is the paperwork that accompanied the TC when new. Any warranties are non-transferable, and there is very little that can go wrong with a TC. The only moving parts are a couple of simple levers, and barring a complete electronic failure of the EPROM chip, I don't see what other faults caused by manufacturing defects could potentially arise that weren't obvious right out of the box when brand new.

[Michael R Freeman]

*Some* Nikon lenses have a 'US' preceding the s/n. These are official Nikon USA lenses. Many Nikon lenses do not have a 'US' preceding the s/n. *Some* of these are also official Nikon USA lenses.

 

The 'US" prefix confirms a lens is Nikon USA. The lack of a 'US' prefix does not exclude the lens as Nikon USA. I have seen a lot TC-14E(II) teleconverters offered on eBay. I could be wrong, but I don't recall ever see a 'US' prefix on any of them, so this may very well be one part of the product line that is not specifically marked after import.

[nsfbr]

For what it's worth, I *never* buy gray market lenses, but I broke my own rule when I just bought a gray market TC-14E teleconverter from B&H. I saved ~$100 and got the comfort of buying it from a reputable source. If your ebay TC isn't much less that the imported version at B&H, you may want to reconsider the sale, but not for the USA vs Import reason. If it is still less, and you are comfortable with the seller, I wouldn't let the gray market concern scare you off.

[tpernal]

Thanks for all the sincere answers re: the teleconverter question I posted. I now feel I can proceed in an

informed manner.

[ShunCheung]

I am not sure this strategy applices to eBay bidding, but if the owner cannot prove that it is a non-gray lens, assume

that it is gray and use that as an excuse to negotiate the price down.

 

Personally, if I buy a new TC, I by far prefer gray ones because of the lower prices.

 

Contrary to the common believe about warranties, my experience is that lenses don't need warranty repairs very

often. Exactly 1 out of my 30 Nikon lenses ever requried warranty repair, but my statistics are somewhat skewed

since I don't buy those plastic-mount lenses. The real issue is that Nikon USA will never fix a gray lens. Thererfore, if

your gray VR lens requires service 10 years down the road, it can be an issue. It is not a major issue if it is a $200

cheap lens, but if your 500mm/f4 AF-S VR cannot be repaired 10 years later, it can be a real pain to ship something

that big back to Japan.