Nikon camera prices

[mervyn_wilmington]

<p>There's a danger of getting off topic, but small shops with low turnover need high margins to pay their way and make a profit. High margins usually mean high prices. We then look on the web and find where the item is cheaper, perhaps carriage free.</p>

<p>The small shop closes and we lose the help and expertise. When we try to get help/advice from some larger outfits, we might as well try speaking to a brick wall. They probably think a 42mm screw is something for mending a car...........</p>

[Andrew Garrard]

<p>Mervyn - I sympathise. I really can't afford to be generous about buying expensive items at small-shop prices (hopefully enough people make impulse purchases when they walk in from the high street, but that's not what I do with the expensive stuff). I do try to make a point of buying <i>something</i> though - completely wasting the time of the salesperson is just rude. And, as you say, the small shops then go out of business. I have less sympathy for the large chains who don't have experienced staff and are still overpriced (because they have shops in expensive places) - they survive only because they can afford to advertise. The big warehouses often <i>do</i> have a keen photographer on staff, although it's not always the first person you talk to, and even though they sell more equipment per employee.</p>

[CvhKaar]

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<p>They can be obtained much cheaper from established outlets, but not Nikon authorised</p>

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<p>Mervyn, I compared two authorised dealers here, no grey import....</p>

 

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<p>For those comparing UK prices to those elsewhere, bear in mind the 17.5% (soon to be 20%) tax rate</p>

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<p>Adrew, current tax is at 19% currently in the Netherlands, so just a bit higher than in the UK. I compared inclusive prices ..</p>

<p> </p>

[Andrew Garrard]

<p>C.P.M. - in that case, you have my sympathy. In which case, we're overpriced. :-)</p>

[mervyn_wilmington]

<p>CPM and Andrew -</p>

<p>The UK is not called "rip-off Britain" for no reason.</p>

<p>It is not that many years ago that VW cars were so expensive in the UK that UK residents started to buy them in continental Europe. Nothwithstanding the extra costs of having to go other over there - and make the necessary arrangements in advance - it was still much cheaper than buying here. If I remember rightly, VW tried to obstruct that process, but weren't successful. It was so much of a business that agents sprang up to do the work for people.</p>

<p>I believe that if you buy "grey" Nikon in the UK, it is likely that the instruction book will be in French and you may need a converter for the charger - perhaps supplied. That rather suggests that these outlets can source Nikon goods considerably more cheaply than the controlled Nikon UK price levels, and still make a good profit notwithstanding the additional hoops they must have to go through. Nikon "bite back" by not accepting repairs under warranty.</p>

[ShunCheung]

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<p>I believe that if you buy "grey" Nikon in the UK, it is likely that the instruction book will be in French and you may need a converter for the charger</p>

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<p>That is the last thing I would worry about. Nikon owner's manuals for various products in several different languages are available on the web as PDF documents; it is easy to download them.</p>

<p>Nikon's battery chargers for DSLR batteries are identical in different countries. They are all compatible from 110V to 240V, 50Hz or 60Hz. You need different cords for different countries due to the difference in plugs.</p>

[mervyn_wilmington]

<p>Shun - you are quite right, although I was making the point as an indication of likely origin rather than a problem. That said, since I like hard copy, producing the D700 manual - I believe around 400 pages - would be a fairly big print-out.</p>

<p>The main point I was making was the absence of a UK warranty.</p>

[ShunCheung]

<p>Mervyn, I bought my first Nikon SLR, a Nikkormat FT3, back in 1977. In the subsequent 33 years, I have bought about a dozen new Nikon SLRs, including 6 new DSLRs; the latest is a D7000. Do you know how many times I have used Nikon warranties on cameras? Exactly zero, in 33 years.</p>

<p>That is why if I can save a lot of money up front, I am more than happy to have no warranty, and I never buy extended warranties.</p>

<p>For the record, I have had one Nikon lens fixed under warranty and one flash fixed under warranty within the first year over that same 33 years.</p>

[mervyn_wilmington]

<p>Shun - that is a very good and interesting point.</p>

<p>Most of my Nikons have been bought used, but I did have an f301, bought new, that failed under warranty. It went again not long after the warranty period had expired - a different fault - and was not worth the cost of repair.</p>

<p>It is true that most of the the used ones I have bought have been very reliable. However, I bought my D70s as to what amounted to a demonstrator. It was then just too old - although near mint - to get the then 12 month Nikon warranty. It seemed fine in every way - and still does, except when I bought an SB800 recently, I found the camera and gun would not speak to each other. I can't think other than the fault was there when I bought it. It is certainly the camera, not the gun. The latter performs fine on other bodies.</p>

<p>As with many things, it is a question of money and risk.</p>

<p>Although rather off topic, it might be interesting to have a posting to discover, in up-to-date terms, just how many users have had to seek repairs during the warranty period. What do you think?</p>

<p>Mervyn</p>

[CvhKaar]

<p>Shun, Mervyn,<br>

In Europe ( I know a lot of Brittish people don't want to be an "European Citizen"... :-) ) Nikon will have to comply to European law on warrany too, i guess. So If you buy something anywere in the EU, you should have the same rights warranty wise..<br>

Also warranty officialy extends over the one year, that Nikon prommisses, by EU-law, because you should have warranty rights for the "expected economic lifetime" of a product ... ( there is a lot of info on the EU websites about that..).<br>

Problem mostly is, manufacterers , and also dealers for that matter, often refuse to recognise your rights in these matters, unless you file an official complaint ... Or talk to one of those TV-shows about consumer rights... , and who wants to go trough that hastle... <br>

( I hope my "Dutch English" makes some sence, because this is not an easy subject...).</p>

[mervyn_wilmington]

<p>CPM - your Dutch/English is fine. I'm sometimes rather more troubled by American English! - Only teasing, I don't want a certain woman with a tea cup in one hand and a moose gun in the other coming across the Atlantic to sort me out.</p>

<p>Without checking, I think there are three UK outlets offering "grey" Nikons. There's a suggestion in one case that the cameras are not in the UK, but imported directly to the buyer from the far east. The warranties are also confusing. One site suggests that there is a one year manufacturer's warranty. That is strange because Nikon now give two years in the UK. The other outlets seem to offer a warranty by the seller.</p>

<p>Shun's point about the reliability of Nikon cameras is very valid, but someone, sometime, is going to get a "bad" one. Your point is then equally valid. We don't want to be having to argue for weeks and months trying to get our camera repaired.</p>

[CvhKaar]

<p>Mervyn,<br>

This is getting a bit "offtopic" now , so if a debate about warranty is needed, it might be better to start another ( there have been multiple alread) topic about warranty in the EU ...<br>

SO to end this ( for me...) here is a quote from one of these topics by Ilkka Nissila from topic <a href="../nikon-camera-forum/00XnJ9">http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00XnJ9</a> :</p>

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<p>Nikon provides worldwide warranty e.g. for film cameras and lenses, <strong>not</strong> for digital cameras or scanners. The scanners and digital cameras have regional warranties only. However, in EU this doesn't matter as the law requires the manufacturer's importer to obey warranty of an item that they have in their portfolio irrespective of the country of purchase, or whether it was "gray market" or not. Nikon USA is the only one with the gray market problem ... which they handle really badly by the way.</p>

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[mervyn_wilmington]

<p>CPM - you are quite right about the off-topic aspect. Indeed, I intimated such risk earlier.</p>

<p>It is, however, relevant in this sense. My original post related to the price of Nikon equipment. The "value" of a warranty is very important in relation to prices from different outlets.</p>

<p>I had already looked at the string you refer to. Having read it, I felt, perhaps, more confused than less. There are clearly two issues. First, what does a warranty in a particular situation provide as a matter of law? Second, even if it seems quite clear that it does provide warranty cover where you are, will Nikon actually accept that without argument?</p>

<p>Perhaps what we need is a definitive statement from Nikon (in straight-forward language) that covers all situations. The warranty information on the Nikon Europe website does not achieve that.</p>

<p>My suspicion - perhaps it is obvious - is that Nikon will try to resist warranty work arising from grey sales because they wish to try to maintain the higher prices in the particular location.</p>

[CvhKaar]

<p>Perhaps what we need is a definitive statement from Nikon (in straight-forward language) that covers all situations. The warranty information on the Nikon Europe website does not achieve that.<br>

I do not think you will ever find something like that, because bigger companies are always trying to find ways to confirm to local legislation in the most cost-effective way. Warranty is part of the commercial operation, not part of charity .... :-) .<br>

If one bigger company would start to use Warranty as a way of marketing ( like in the car market..) then things might change, but i guess this is not going to happen for companies who sell stuff with a lifespan of a few years and for limited ( in their vieuw, that is) ammounts of cash .<br>

Apart from that there will always a hughe gap between how things work in the US and in Europe. In the US you can , if you don't like a product, return it easely to the dealer a lot of times, here in Europe, a sell is a sell most of the time, no way back unless something shows a manufacturing issue, the you can either exchange it for a new one, or have it sent in for repair straight away....</p>