What is “Grey Market” anyway?
Often there is confusion here as some believe “Grey Market” means an item has been imported direct by the end user, bypassing the local distributor. This is not the case. Grey market (“Grey”) cameras are those which are purchased from either a dealer who is not an authorized Leica dealer, or else from an authorized dealer who has in turn obtained the camera from a source other than the official distributor in that country. Sounds like scholastic hair-splitting, but the difference is crucial. A typical Grey example would be to purchase from an Authorized Leica Dealer in (say) the USA, but one who themselves sourced the camera from (say) Germany bypassing Leica NJ, the authorised US distributor. Keep in mind there is nothing illegal about this — “grey” does not mean “stolen”! — it is just that grey items bypass the sanctioned distributor and/or reseller in the country where you bought the camera, that’s all.
