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Nikon's policies
for honoring warranties can be somewhat confusing, and many online and
mailorder retailers offer two types of Nikon products: official warranty
or gray market (sometimes also called "parallel import").
I used to
have a short blurb on my home page that suggested that online purchasers
outside the US purchase from B&H instead of Cameraworld (if they were
going to purchase from the two retailers I recommended). It appears that
changes to Nikon's policies over the years makes this no longer true.
In particular:
- If you
purchase a gray market import, you won't get any Nikon warranty.
The only warranty that will be honored is that which the retailer provides
(B&H, for example, provides their own one-year warranty on gray
market imports).
- If you
purchase an officially imported product, you get a warranty that your
local distributor should honor.
Over the
years, Nikon has slowly tightened its policies. This has coincided with
their acquisition or creation of Nikon-owned distributors in much of the
developed world. Moreover, ever since the F5 was introduced, Nikon has
stopped providing third party organizations repair equipment, manuals,
and parts. At least that's been true for the more elaborate products,
including (but not limited to): 35mm camera bodies, digital SLRs, Speedlights
introduced after the SB-26, AF-S lenses, and VR lenses. Moreover, Nikon
has an official policy of not accepting for repair (at any price!) items
that weren't purchased through official import channels.
Before you
get all anti-Nikon on me, note that most of the Japanese electronics manufacturers
have the same policies now. Switching to Canon isn't going to get you
any better deal...
So, here's
what I believe happens under current Nikon policies:
If
you purchase a gray market (parallel import) item (new or used):
- Official
Nikon distributors will not repair these items, under any circumstances.
- Software
upgrades or hardware fixes won't be possible (unless there's a do-it-yourself
option, as in downloadable software updates).
- The retailer
where you purchased the product may repair or replace defective
products, if they provided a warranty at the time of purchase,
and if the warranty provider is still in business (some retailers,
such as B&H, appear to self-warranty, others use third-party companies).
- The value
of your equipment when you sell it may be less, especially if the buyer
is savvy about warranty policies.
- Rebates
are not paid.
If
you purchase an officially imported item (new or used):
- Official
Nikon distributors will repair these items for no charge to the original
owner under warranty, for charge after the warranty expires or to subsequent
owners. Note that the term "officially imported item" refers
to where the product was purchased. If you travel to Canada and purchase
an officially imported item there and get an invoice that shows that
you did so (preferably with the serial number on it), your local Nikon
distributor should honor the warranty. Note further that Nikon may require
that you show the warranty form that came with your product (which has
the serial number and part number on it) along with the proof of valid
purchase.
- Software
upgrades or hardware fixes will be possible. Nikon has even been known
to notify registered owners of specific problems.
- The value
of your equipment when you sell it may be more, especially if you can
prove the official import status to a savvy buyer.
- Add-on
warranties (for example, the 5 years of extended service coverage for
Nikkor lenses in the US) are only honored if the appropriate registration
card is filled out and returned to Nikon within the prescribed time
period.
- Rebates
are paid if the correct information is provided to Nikon within the
prescribed time period.
So, those
of you outside the US who want to purchase products from my recommended
retailers should purchase official US imports if you want a Nikon warranty,
and I've updated the text on my home page to reflect that.
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How
Does Nikon Know?
How
does Nikon know whether you bought an official import or not? For products
bought over 10 years ago, they may not be able to tell (except for 35mm
SLRs with N prefixes in the US), as Nikon wasn't doing anything special
to track products. More recently, however, Nikon has gotten very good
at tracking serial numbers to import countries, and in a few cases, marking
products, as well. Here's the things I know Nikon looks at:
- N
prefix. A 35mm camera body with an N prefix was originally imported
into the US.
- F prefix.
Outside of the F, F2, F3, F4, F5, and F100, an F prefix denotes a camera
body imported into a country outside the US.
- US prefix.
All Nikkor lenses now have a US etched prior to their serial number
for US imports. I've heard rumors that other countries are doing this,
as well.
- Serial
number. Nikon keeps a serial number register of which numbers were imported
into which country.
- Warranty
Form. Most Nikon equipment in the US now comes with a multipart warranty
form that has both the serial number and part number printed on it.
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