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Buying Leica SL lens from Japan, China, Hong Kong


Einst_Stein

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Ordinarily I'd say it would end up being a grey import and therefore not covered by warranty. But I think Leica's passport programme actually offers worldwide and transferable warranty support that would negate that. If someone else can confirm this that would be good as I'm not 100% sure that this is what the passport programme does.

 

Irrespective of this, if you were to buy it there and bring it back or have it shipped you will will have to pay import duty and customs. You might get away with this though.

 

 

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hmmm....seem to be a few extra discounts..prices in HKdollars

 

>>

 

https://www.rangefinder.com.hk/product-category/new-lenses/leica-sl-lenses/

 

 

I noticed some stores in Asia sell Leica SL lenses with much cheaper price. For example, 24-90mm could be as low as $4000 much lower than B&H. The best price I can get from B&H through special discount channel is about $4500.

Any advice?

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Lens imports to the US have not been charged duty in the past, but this can change.  Same for still cameras.  Video cameras do have a duty in many places, so still cameras will generally not create video files longer than 29 minutes, in order not to incur the video charges.  I have purchased used cameras and lenses from Europe, mostly, and once or twice from Asia, without being charged duty when receiving them in the US.

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Any advice?

I buy through HK regularly, warrantied and in great condition. Costs are inconsistent however, look around (the M10 in HK is the most expensive on the planet – supply/demand). I've had consistently great service from RANGEFINDER HK, great guys.

 

Before buying, express any concerns with the seller. In my experience these are small outfits whose primary ad channel is word of mouth – negative reviews and irate customers venting online are things they work hard to avoid!

 

 

 

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@CRTZMO: Did you ever need to send stuff you bought from Rangefinder HK to Leica for service under warranty? Did Leica repair without charge?

 

I emailed Rangefinder HK, and they were clear that they are NOT an authorized dealer BUT Leica honors warranty repairs under the terms of their international warranty. I will need to look into Leica's warranty terms (I remember you are asked to indicate the store of purchase when registering your warranty), but if true this is great. Their price for the 90-280 is only about US$5,000.

 

Grey market options are not uncommon in Asia for a variety of things, and whether you get warranty service at all depends on the manufacturer's terms. The local distributor (which in HK had been Schmidt for decades; not sure about now) has no responsibility to service you.

 

I buy through HK regularly, warrantied and in great condition. Costs are inconsistent however, look around (the M10 in HK is the most expensive on the planet – supply/demand). I've had consistently great service from RANGEFINDER HK, great guys.

Before buying, express any concerns with the seller. In my experience these are small outfits whose primary ad channel is word of mouth – negative reviews and irate customers venting online are things they work hard to avoid!

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Tariffs and duties into the US can be looked up from the tariff code. It is by country and by product category. I don't remember what it says for German made photo equipment though.

 

Lens imports to the US have not been charged duty in the past, but this can change.  Same for still cameras.  Video cameras do have a duty in many places, so still cameras will generally not create video files longer than 29 minutes, in order not to incur the video charges.  I have purchased used cameras and lenses from Europe, mostly, and once or twice from Asia, without being charged duty when receiving them in the US.

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As far as i know Schmidt is out.

 

also check https://www.price.com.hk

 

 

Enter leica SL ..it will show you prices from ALL sellers/resellers/dealers

 

 

e.g

 

https://www.price.com.hk/search.php?g=A&q=leica+SL

 

 

https://www.price.com.hk/product.php?p=223334

 

 

@CRTZMO: Did you ever need to send stuff you bought from Rangefinder HK to Leica for service under warranty? Did Leica repair without charge?

I emailed Rangefinder HK, and they were clear that they are NOT an authorized dealer BUT Leica honors warranty repairs under the terms of their international warranty. I will need to look into Leica's warranty terms (I remember you are asked to indicate the store of purchase when registering your warranty), but if true this is great. Their price for the 90-280 is only about US$5,000.

Grey market options are not uncommon in Asia for a variety of things, and whether you get warranty service at all depends on the manufacturer's terms. The local distributor (which in HK had been Schmidt for decades; not sure about now) has no responsibility to service you.
 

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@CRTZMO: Did you ever need to send stuff you bought from Rangefinder HK to Leica for service under warranty? Did Leica repair without charge?

 

I emailed Rangefinder HK, and they were clear that they are NOT an authorized dealer BUT Leica honors warranty repairs under the terms of their international warranty. I will need to look into Leica's warranty terms (I remember you are asked to indicate the store of purchase when registering your warranty), but if true this is great. Their price for the 90-280 is only about US$5,000.

 

Grey market options are not uncommon in Asia for a variety of things, and whether you get warranty service at all depends on the manufacturer's terms. The local distributor (which in HK had been Schmidt for decades; not sure about now) has no responsibility to service you.

 

 

I personally have not bought anything that required service, but the photographer who recommended me to them has serviced equipment in Tokyo without being challenged as to place of purchase – it was just Leica gear. The nature of service was not catastrophic failure but rangefinder adjustment, however.

 

 

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Looking back, Leica's lenses have rarely any problems, but the body, especially the sensor is different story.

I have at least two cameras that suffered the sensor problem. Both are using Sony's sensor.

 

The first is Digilux 2, the sensor completely dead. My understanding it's due to the metal migration on the bonding wire.  Essentially every body made with 29xxx serial number will die in a few years. The second is M9. It's the famous sensor corrosion.

 

Leica is not the only brand suffered these problems. I heard many other digital cameras made during the similar time period were affected, but due to the other factor, they are less known. Most likely before the camera are retired before people even care about it. Leica is exposed due to it's rather much longer life (people will use Leica much longert than other brand before retiring the camera).

 

So, I would be much more careful on the camera body.

 

On the other hand, I have also experienced lens failure when it is used with cross platform adapter. I have my Contax N Zeiss lens burnt the AF motor after used a while with Sony A7RII. The Sony Axx system has 7.2v power system, while the Contax N has 6V power system.  Driving the 6V system lens in a 7.2V system camera was over rated.

 

If the Leica lens is planned to be used in another system that has different power Voltage, I would be very careful too.

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Which Leica lenses would you be using on another system?

 

Surely the S and SL and TL lenses are not being used outside Leica's system as they are low volume sellers even within Leica's system.

 

None of the other Leica lenses are electronic or offer AF to be concerned about adapting to another system.

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If you're talking M lenses, then there really isn't anything to break and no servicing required really for years because they're manual. But the SL lenses - who knows? They haven't been in the wild long enough to show extended use failures that would require servicing. But they do have autofocus motors and OIS, and from my experiences with Nikon, these functions can fail. I'm glad with the Nikon glass I owned that I went with USA as opposed to gray, because Nikon USA won't service the gray stuff. Not sure about how Leica deals with this but - I'd buy M glass gray without concern, not so sure about SL glass.

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Ordinarily I'd say it would end up being a grey import and therefore not covered by warranty. But I think Leica's passport programme actually offers worldwide and transferable warranty support that would negate that. If someone else can confirm this that would be good as I'm not 100% sure that this is what the passport programme does.

 

Irrespective of this, if you were to buy it there and bring it back or have it shipped you will will have to pay import duty and customs. You might get away with this though.

 

 

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I believe the beauty of Leica products is that Leica provides worldwide warranty and service for all its product grey or otherwise; all you have to do is to sent it to their service centre.  As soon as you register your product with Leica they will assign you the nearest service centre and person in charge there.   

 

I will not hesitate to buy from the resellers in Asia if their price is right. I have bought Leica products from a third party on many occasions and I have no problem registering them with Leica.   Another reason why I am a fan of Leica and their products.

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When you register a Leica product for warranty purposes, I believe you have to state the store of purchase. You are saying that putting down the name of store that isn't an authorized dealer will not be an issue? Or do you simply skip that field? Thanks.

 

I believe the beauty of Leica products is that Leica provides worldwide warranty and service for all its product grey or otherwise; all you have to do is to sent it to their service centre.  As soon as you register your product with Leica they will assign you the nearest service centre and person in charge there.   

 

I will not hesitate to buy from the resellers in Asia if their price is right. I have bought Leica products from a third party on many occasions and I have no problem registering them with Leica.   Another reason why I am a fan of Leica and their products.

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When you register a Leica product for warranty purposes, I believe you have to state the store of purchase. You are saying that putting down the name of store that isn't an authorized dealer will not be an issue? Or do you simply skip that field? Thanks.

 

its the same as buying a used product..provide details of purchase /bill /photo etc and then the registration is done..the bill will have the serial number of the camera and address and other details of the shop

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There is generally fear from buying Leica products from 'grey market' or overseas. General wisdom is to. It from a source with good after sales support for that peace of mind. However the same routine happens when you bring in your leica gear into your area leica service support, they simply does the administrative stuff and have your gear send back to Leica Germany for all the inspection & repair then send it back to you. So if the price difference is attractive, you make the call. The price differentiation of Noctilux between Singapore (leica store) & Hong Kong (grey market) is USD$3000. On the other hand do not waste your effort on searching for bargaining on any newly released stuff from leica as the price differentiation diminishes and for that matter registering or preorder from leica store is the better bet.

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After discussed with many friends, due to strong buying power of China market, it seems buying from reputable stores in Mainland China or Hong Kong should be no worse than buying from stores in USA.  The key is to find a reputable store.

 

Also be aware of the grey market items, make sure the one you get is not a re-box item. There is no way to be absolutely sure. You can only rely on the store's reputation. Here the reputable stores in Hong Kong might be generally more reliable than in Mainland China due to the longer history.

 

In short, you can get really good deal in Mainland China or Hong Kong without problem. The cheap ones do not necessarily to have any hidden problems, but you just have to be smart to choose.

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