Working in Japan for a few weeks, thinking about purchasing new lens in Tokyo

[dcozad]

I hope somebody has encountered this situation.  I will be working in Japan for a couple of weeks this fall and have a lens in mind to use that I do not own.  I was thinking about purchasing in Tokyo when I am there.  This would save me packing and weight getting from California to Japan, and maybe avoid tariffs.  Is this possible? And would it be considered gray market for warranty or service? Have you done this? How did it work? 

[kvbarkley]

Of course it will be grey market.

You might have to pay duties anyway when you declare it on your way home.

[wq9nsc]

I believe you are allowed a maximum of $800 duty free, anything above that and you should be declaring the lens and paying the required duty and tariff amount.

Canon doesn't do "global" warranties so your lens purchase is going to have a warranty valid within a specific country or market region and a lens purchased in Japan won't have U.S. warranty coverage.  Canon MIGHT do a "goodwill" repair for a product purchased by an individual while traveling but they aren't legally obligated to do so and I definitely wouldn't count on it.  Basically you are weighing the convenience and potential savings of purchasing on a trip versus the potential costs (warranty, tariff and import duties).  Only you can decide if it is worth the risk.

Effectively it becomes a grey market product when you get home BUT unless you are buying a lens with known infant mortality issues then the warranty becomes less concerning.  I have knowingly purchased a number of grey market products, often because the product simply wasn't ever exported to the U.S. market.

Rodger

[jrhoffman75]

Further to Rodger's post there was a recent thread here where someone reported that Canon wouldn't even do a paid repair on a grey market camera that the user purchased while traveling. The full story may not be known here since the only facts are what the user reported, but it at least raises a warning.

Since I assuming you are coming home with everything you brought from California the weight saving aspect is moot; you need to come home with everything plus the lens you purchased.