Dan, I can help you a little. I recently purchased a P67II, AEII finder, 90/2.8 and Hotshoe Grip from a local camera store. They don't deal at all in gray market. The holgraphic P was on the 90/2.8 box and the 67II box, but not on the others. In purchasing other Pentax equipment from them, it seems to be a hit/miss kind of thing. My best guess is that at some point, Pentax started using the hologram but some existing stock doesn't have it on. Since MF doesn't move quite as quickly as 35mm, I could see a dealer (my own included) having some newer and older NIB equipment.
If I were you, I would talk to Pentax Service and see if they would be willing to repair your new camera. My guess is that they would work off the serial #, as they have done that in the past for me. In that case, I would think that the serial # would tell them whether it was for USA warranty or not. If they can't tell, then they would probably work on anything. Make sure that you have the proper sales receipt. When I sent in one of my new MZ-S's for the ROM upgrade, they only asked for the sales receipt - not the warranty card. HTH, Brother Bruce P.S. Welcome to the big man's camera brotherhood. :) Monday, February 18, 2002, 8:47:12 AM, you wrote: DK> First post to the group and after doing some searching I didn't find any DK> previous posts about this exact issue so, here goes. I'm trying to get DK> a sanity check about USA vs. grey market related to a camera that I just DK> bought. DK> Last week I bought a 645NII from World Photo Sales (Brooklyn, DK> worldphotoonline.com). They are a Popular Photography check rated DK> advertiser, and also meet the requirements for the Shutterbug DK> advertisers. Both of those requirements include specifying if it won't DK> be a USA warranty. DK> In their ad World Photo Sales indicated that they only ship USA DK> warranty. When I talked with them on the phone they confirmed that they DK> just got this camera in and that it was USA warranty. When I received DK> the camera on Friday I first noticed that there was no product DK> registration card, and then I remembered something that a Pentax sales DK> rep that I've gotten to know during eBay adventures had mentioned DK> something about USA warranty medium format equipment coming with a DK> holographic "P" on the box as protection. And this box has none. On DK> the other hand, this camera came with everything it should including the DK> strap, the eyecup, an English manual, and US batteries, which I've heard DK> that you might not find with grey market stuff. DK> I then placed a call to Pentax and reached the folks back in DK> tech/repair, only to find that they had not heard of this holographic DK> "P" but promised to check with someone and to call me back. I haven't DK> yet heard back from them (and it looks like they're closed today), and DK> had to sit on my hands until this morning to call back World Photo DK> Sales. When I got them on the phone this morning I was told by a second DK> sales rep that they ONLY sell USA warranty items. No explanation as to DK> why there would be no registration card, just said all I needed to do DK> was to send the camera to Pentax if it needed warranty repairs. I then DK> asked them if they were familiar with the holographic "P" and the guy DK> said he wasn't, said he'd never seen one on any 645 or 6X7 cameras that DK> they've ever sold. DK> After that call I found this link on the Pentax site, which sure enough, DK> says that in order to protect consumers that Pentax Corporation places a DK> hologram P designation on all medium format bodies, lenses and DK> accessories that are USA warranty covered: DK> http://pentax.com/service/serv_greymarket.cfm DK> Now at this point I'd be ready to send this camera back (and fortunately DK> I used my American Express card and they are very protective of their DK> customers in handling disputes like this would be) except for one other DK> thing. I also bought a Pentax 45-85mm zoom for the camera from another DK> dealer and the ad for that lens said USA warranty also. It also arrived DK> on Friday, and yup, it's also missing the hologram P. But it had a USA DK> warranty registration card inside the box. So for the heck of it I DK> called that dealer a few minutes ago, and they also said that they only DK> sell USA warranty products, and they too have never heard of this DK> hologram P. DK> I'd almost think that the web link above is a fantasy, except that the DK> Pentax sales rep that I met via a sales on eBay had posted some Pentax DK> sales stock that was being sold off, and in his auction he had a picture DK> of this "P" on the box, and talked about it in the auction ad. DK> So, my question kind of comes down to this -- has anyone on here who's DK> purchased medium format stuff ever actually received the product box DK> WITH this hologram P on it? Maybe another question to ask is whether DK> anyone here has had any dealings with World Photo Sales. DK> Dan Kirsch - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
