Buying a Digi Cam from USA...Advice please......

[bridgdav]

Due to the exchange rate at the moment between Pound - Dollar. There must be some good deals around at the moment. I need to get my missus a camera for her birthday - last August....

I could trawl through Ebay....BUT...

Do you guys have any recommendations which Internet stores are reliable and good value...?? Or anywhere else for that matter....

Probably spend about £400-£500. What should I expect to get..?

Dave

[ehasler]

B&H Photo are well known, and ship to the UK. They've got a huge store in New York as well.

[chim_girl]

Spooky, I was just about to post something similar asking if anyone had used B&H.

[simpo two]

bridgdav said:

Probably spend about £400-£500. What should I expect to get..?

A demand for £85 VAT from Mount Pleasant sorting office before they hand over the goods...

[chim_girl]

simpo two said:

bridgdav said: Probably spend about £400-£500. What should I expect to get..? A demand for £85 VAT from Mount Pleasant sorting office before they hand over the goods...

Very good!

[Scooby_snax]

I have used B&H before though got them to post the items to Miami then brought them back myself. I am looking at purchasing a $3800 camera body so the savings over UK prices are c£800 ...my only concern is around warranties

[srider]

Scooby_snax said:

I have used B&H before though got them to post the items to Miami then brought them back myself. I am looking at purchasing a $3800 camera body so the savings over UK prices are c£800 ...my only concern is around warranties

Is it a Canon body? If so they won't honour a US warranty.

[Scooby_snax]

No Nikon.....and I suspect it is the same...having looked at their websites they talk about European Warranties...so have asked the direct question of both Nikon UK and Nikon USA

[ehasler]

I've been looking at this for Canon lenses, and possibly a DSLR body as well, and B&H Photo actually quote two prices for "USA" and "imported" goods. The "imported" ones are cheaper, and have to be sent back to B&H for warranty work, however the "USA" warrantied version should be able to be repaired anywhere.

B&H Photo website said:

A "USA" warrantied item is a manufacture's warranty that would be repaired by any manufacturer's authorized service facility worldwide if the item required in-warranty service. A "direct import" item would have to be returned to B&H Photo-Video Corp. in New York City if it required in-warranty attention. A resident of the USA may wish to make the buying decision based on price, since the cost of shipping to an American service center or to us should be about equal. A non-USA resident may want to consider the cost of returning the "direct import" item to us for warranty service, compared to the expense of buying the "USA warrantied" item and having warranty service available locally.

I'm still a bit wary about actually putting this to the test - especially with gear that's pretty expensive to replace or repair if they decide to not honour the warranty, so if you hear back from Nikon then I'd be interested to know what they say.

[simpo two]

OK, get a friend in the States to buy it for you and ship it over to you. If it goes pop, just ship it back to him and he gets it fixed under US warranty, no problem, then ships it back to you. You just pay all his expenses...