Warranties: US? Canada? Grey Market?

In this article we'll provide tables of warranty information for major equipment manufacturers. We'll also try to explain the difference between US, Canada, and Grey Market warranties. Although we try our best to find the most accurate and up-to-date information, please note that we can not be held responsible for any mistakes or omissions -- when in doubt please ask first!

Warranty Information by Manufacturer

Here is a list of warranty information by manufacturer and product type. Scroll down for more detailed information on the differences between Canadian, US, and Grey Market warranties.

Canon

Point and Shoots, Lenses, and SLR Bodies

 Canadian WarrantyUS WarrantyGrey Market
Service in Canada?YesYesNo
Service in the US?YesYesNo
Warranty Duration1 Year (Parts and Labour)

Camcorders

 Canadian WarrantyUS WarrantyGrey Market
Service in Canada?YesNoNo
Service in the US?NoYesNo
Warranty Duration1 Year (Parts and Labour)

References:

Nikon

Digital Cameras and SLR Cameras

 Canadian WarrantyUS WarrantyGrey Market
Service in Canada?YesNoNo
Service in the US?NoYesNo
Warranty Duration2 Years1 YearReseller Warranty

SLR Lenses

 Canadian WarrantyUS WarrantyGrey Market
Service in Canada?YesYes - 1st YearNo
Service in the US?Yes - 1st YearYesNo
Domestic-Only Warranty Duration5 Years5 YearsReseller Warranty
International Warranty Duration1 Year1 YearReseller Warranty

References and Notes:

Sony

All Products

 Canadian WarrantyUS WarrantyGrey Market
Service in Canada?YesYesNo
Service in the US?YesYesNo
Warranty Duration1 Year (Parts and Labour)

References:

  • From direct contact with a Sony Canada repair center: they will provide warranty service on all Canadian or US bought Sony products provided they were purchased from an authorized Sony dealer, must be able to demonstrate this with a bill of sale (Canadian or US). Sony Canada repair centers will not honour US-purchased extended warranties, must purchase a Canadian extended warranty.

Olympus

All Products

 Worldwide Warranty
Service in Canada?Yes
Service in the US?Yes
Warranty Duration1 Year

References:

  • Olympus Worldwide Warranty: Olympus has a single, worldwide warranty, valid in all countries for one year. There are absolutely no cross-border warranty issues.

Pentax

All Products

 Canadian WarrantyUS WarrantyGrey Market
Service in Canada?YesYesYes
Service in the US?YesYesYes
International Warranty Duration1 Year1 Year1 Year
Domestic-Only Warranty Duration2 Years1 Year1 Year

References and Notes:

Sigma

All Products

 Canadian WarrantyUS WarrantyGrey Market
Service in Canada?YesNoNo
Service in the US?NoYesNo
Domestic-Only Warranty Duration7 Years4 YearsN/A

More info to come, on Tamron!



How do US vs Canadian warranties work?

A major photographic equipment maker, such as Canon Inc. or Nikon Corp., doesn't directly deal with selling their products. Instead, wholly owned subsidiaries such as Canon Canada Inc. or Nikon US Inc. are each responsible for a geographic region. These responsibilities include importing the products, and most importantly, setting the price. Since these subsidiary companies also run the official repair facilities, they are also responsible for providing warranty service. Thus, they set the rules for where and when warranties are honoured.

Generally, subsidiaries will only honour warranties on products that they themselves sold. So if you purchased your camera or lens in Canada, it would come with a Canadian Warranty. The Canadian subsidiary will honour the warranty, but the US subsidiary will not. If you purchase your camera or lens in the US (and it's not marked as Grey Market), it would come with a US Warranty. You won't be able to get warranty service in Canada, but can always send it back to the States for repairs. Note: some Canadian subsidiaries will honour a US warranty. See the below tables for details.

How about Grey Market?

Grey Market refers to a product that was not imported by the subsidiary. For example, instead of buying the lenses from Canon Canada, the store may have bought the lenses from Canon Asia's wholesale distributor. Because of the different prices in the different regions, this may be cheaper for the store; these savings are passed on to you. If you see Grey Market in a US store, it means "not imported by the US subsidiary". If you see Grey Market in a Canadian store, it means "not imported by the Canadian subsidiary". Stores commonly offer a 3rd-party warranty (not original manufacturer) with Grey Market goods.

Fundamentally, all the products are the same: they all rolled off the same production line somewhere. The only difference is the warranty (and thus support) you get with the product. Grey market does not indicate used, refurbished, or otherwise "bad" goods. It's up to you how important the manufacturer's warranty is, and whether or not it is worth the extra cost.

PhotoPrice takes the hassle out of finding the lowest price for your photography equipment, by automatically calculating tax, shipping, and exchange rates. Use our Comparison Shopping Engine today!

P.S. When buying from the States we recommend Adorama or B&H Photo Video, two of the biggest and most respected camera stores down south.


Return to PhotoPrice.

Navigation

Product Search



Products

10 Most Popular Products

Popular Cross-Border Deals