www.bhphotovideo.com/find/HelpCenter/USGrey.jsp
Help Center US & Grey Market Items The terms "grey market," "direct import," and "IMP," refer to the same thing in this article. B&H sells most products with a warranty from the manufacturer or from the manufacturer's licensed importer. We also sell some products we've obtained from sources other than the manufacturer or its licensed importer. "Grey market" is not illegal, not factory seconds, not demo merchandise, not cheaper or inferior products. In fact in almost every instance a "grey market" products is absolutely identical to its US-warranted counterpart. "Grey market" and US-warranted products are manufactured in the same factories from the same components, and sub-assemblies, to the same specs and tolerances, by the same workers. In terms of the item itself (excepting PAL video -- see below) there is no difference at all. What are the differences as far as a customer is concerned? In most cases the difference between a "USA" and a "Grey Market," or imported product, is the cost of the item and the terms of the item's warranty coverage. As a rule, "Grey Market" items cost less than their USA counterparts. "Grey market" products never qualify for manufacturer's rebate programs. If you should experience a problem with a product sold with a USA warranty, it can be sent to any of the manufacturer's worldwide authorized service facilities for servicing. A "direct import" or grey market item would have to be returned to B&H Photo-Video if it required in-warranty service. For film cameras, lenses and speedlights, a product with a US-warranty should be reciprocally warranted by the manufacturer's service centers worldwide. B&H Photo-Video does not sell any "grey market" still-digital cameras at this time. A resident of the USA may wish to make the buying decision based on price since the cost of shipping to a US service center or to B&H should be about equal. A non-USA resident should consider the cost of returning a product to B&H in New York for servicing as opposed to the cost of taking the product to a local warranty service center. Direct Import, or grey market items often cost less than comparable US imports. There are also items sold at B&H that are not otherwise available in the USA through normal distribution channels. PAL (Phase Alternate Line) Video Equipment Video equipment sold in the US , Canada , Mexico , and Japan is designed to record and playback video images at 525 lines-per-frame @ 60 frames-per-second. This is commonly known as an NTSC format (National Television Standards Committee). B&H also sells video equipment that is set to record and playback video using the European broadcast standard (PAL) of 625 lines-per-frame @ 50 frames-per-second. Video equipment sold by B&H Photo-Video designed to record video in the European (PAL) format is only available in the US as grey market and as such does not include a factory authorized warranty. Film is also sold at B&H from both US and grey market channels. There is no difference between the imaging qualities of similar film stocks. Price-wise, the grey market products cost less than their US counterparts. We advertise Kodak film in three types: * IMPORTED - Film made outside the USA and imported for us. For other brands: * IMPORTED - Film made outside the USA and imported for us.
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