What is a grey market product?
Any merchandise which was not imported into a country by the manufacturer s authorized agent. Some camera retailers, for example, go to Japan and buy camera gear there and import it into the country themselves. This activity is legal but not usually sanctioned by the manufacturer. Since grey market sounds rather sinister some shops prefer calling the practice direct import. There are three issues with this. First, some manufacturers don t respect warranties on products bought grey market. In the case of Canon it depends if you have a film camera or a digital camera. In the case of film, Canon seem to honour international warranties, though usually only at service depots. Sadly with the advent of digital Canon have reversed this policy and restrict warranty service to the region of purchase. (eg: a camera bought in NYC can be serviced in Toronto, but not in Berlin) This is really frustrating for travellers and other professionals who may find themselves for some time outside their home
