Shipping from B&H Photo - Video to Australia to save $500? Worthwhile saving?

[josh_kilinc]

<p>In the past I've considered importing camera bodies from overseas for significant savings but have opted not to so I could retain the warranty as I know Canon will have nothing t do with Grey Market camera bodies.</p>

<p>Is the situation any different for lenses? I've heard that Canon Lenses have an international warranty, but I don't know if that is just for traveling with your lens, or also for buying overseas. What are the downsides to importing into Australia? What would I need to look for once I got the lens to make sure it was in 100% condition.</p>

<p>The lens is a Canon 70-200mm f4 IS, so what is the average cost of getting such a lens serviced and/or repaired should something happen to it without warranty.</p>

<p>Basically, I want to know if this is safe considering such a small saving in comparison to Camera Bodies.</p>

[bob_king2]

<p>G'day Josh</p>

<p>I've got stuff from B&H before - they are very reputable and I find them very good to deal with. It usually takes less than a week to get a parcel from NYC USA to rural NSW - not bad. I've never really worried about warranty and you shouldn't need it with one of Canon's best L lenses!</p>

<p>Just be aware that customs/import duty is liable if the cost plus shipping exceeds $1000AU, but I bought a 7D body from Hong Kong (just over the limit) but didn't have to pay any taxes. I'd say go ahead!</p>

<p>Cheers, Bob</p>

[zensphoto]

<p>I also buy all my Camera Hardware from B&H and have been since 1994. Great place to buy from. You're warranty should be good any where in the world if you have a brand new Canon anything from them. Canon's website is down and when it is back up I'll look up the link for the warranty page on their products for you. I recently had a problem with my Canon 60D and it was only 35 days old, so I sent it to Canon Service and all the repair work was under the one year MFG warranty and was completely serviced for free of charge including shipping was free from the service center to my house.</p>

<p>My Canon 60D came with a warranty card for USA and Canada and one for international to support my claim of the warranty being good any where in the world.</p>

<p> </p>

[alan_krantz]

<p>You could email b&h and ask them if your region will honor an internation warranty (I presume you are looking at the international version and not the usa version). Likewise you could email canon.</p>

[bgussin]

<p>Be aware of B&H's non-standard schedule for the next few weeks due to the Jewish holidays. In the past these have seemed to cause confusion and anger in those who weren't expecting them. (These dates good only for 2011, they sync up to different dates each year on the standard calendar)<br>

---Sukkot: No work permitted on Oct. 13-15. Work is permitted on Oct. 16-19 with certain restrictions. Sunset of October 12 through nightfall of October 19.<br>

---Hoshanah Rabbah<br /> Work permitted with certain restrictions. October 19<br>

--- Shemini Atzeret<br /> No work is permitted. Sunset of October 19 through nightfall of October 20<br>

---Simchat Torah<br /> No work is permitted. Nightfall of October 20 through nightfall of October 21</p>

[henryp]

<blockquote>

<p>I also buy all my Camera Hardware from B&H and have been since 1994. Great place to buy from.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Thank you. Very flattering and much appreciated.</p>

<p>@Robert - thanks but to simplify matters, we close qt 1:00pm EDT on Oct 12th and reopen 10:00am EDT Oct 23rd. Additional information is on our home page.</p>

<p>@Josh -- if you buy a lens with the manufacturer's US warranty (i.e. not "IMP" or "grey market,") your warranty should be reciprocally honored by your local authorized repair facility.</p>

<p>Henry Posner<br /><strong>B&H Photo-Video</strong></p>

[r_hunt_rose]

<p>This is my first ever post and I have been a member for 5 years. I could not let this go. I have purchased a lot of stuff from B&H and the shipping has on many occasions been a problem due to religious holidays. I make a great effort not to use them if at all possible for this reason. Adorama is a online retailer first...and due to this issue my first choice.</p>

[alan_krantz]

<p>That is an odd reason for preferrng Adorama as they observe the same holidays. Perhaps you could expand on how they differ in shipping around holidays ?</p>

[henryp]

<p>Alan -- Thanks. We make every conceivable effort to publicize our holiday schedule all year and post individual events as far in advance as common sense dictates. We always regret any inconvenience though.</p>

<p>Henry Posner<br /><strong>B&H Photo-Video</strong></p>

[r_hunt_rose]

<p>Alan, maybe I was just luck with Adorama; the fickle nature of the consumer. I can only say after ordering from Adorama things seem to flow well whereas with the aforementioned it seems that delays in shipping are more the norm. Possible some are better at managing the backlog after breaks. I still buy from both but have my preferences.</p>

[helen_oster]

<p><a href="../photodb/user?user_id=3726683">@ R. Hunt Rose</a></p>

<p>Alan is correct; we do indeed observe the same holidays as B&H; I wonder if the faster shipping from Adorama is actually something to do with the Adorama 'click-by-7' shipping guarantee?<br>

In other words, provided there are no ID verification issues, all in-stock new items will ship the same day if ordered by 7:00pm ET. If you have any questions about this - or anything else to do with ordering from Adorama / you need after-sales support, I'm only an email away: Helen@adorama.com<br>

Helen Oster<br>

Adorama Camera Customer Service Ambassador</p>