Digital BW, The Print

All,

I'm getting a new camera, and I'm leaning toward the Nikon D100. I 
noticed that several dealers offer US and non-US cameras. The non US 
are much less money. What are the "cons" of getting one of the non-US 
Nikons? Any other advise (especially lenses) for multi-purpose work 
is much appreciated. 

Barry Gilliand

Barry-

I have a few items for you to consider. The imports are not a good 
idea for the camera, but not bad for the lens. If it is not a Nikon 
USA item, not only do you have no US warranty, but Nikon will not 
even repair it for a fee. You can use third party repair shops and 
such, but I would say that for something a complicated as the camera 
body, it's not worth the risk.

The lenses are another kettle of fish. I've never had a problem with 
a lens...especially a "vanilla" lens like, say a 105mm macro lens, so 
why not save 25% and take a little risk...after you buy 4 lenses this 
way, you can throw on away and be even <g>...they are exactly the 
same product in almost every case.

You might want to read Moose Peterson's review on the D100 before you 
make up your mind. Whether that is a good buy or a refurbed D1 is 
better will be based on what you use the camera for. Moose likes the 
refurbed D1 idea better...pixel count is only a small part of the 
puzzle <g>.

I have a D1 and a D1x and love and use them both. Moose likes the D1h 
better for the speed etc. I have a couple of friends who have bought 
D100s and like them, but they are not what I would call "heavy users" 
and the lighter body, etc is not a problem for them.

Both the Nikon and Canon high end cameras are fantastic...sort of a 
jump ball...if you have any lenses for one or the other, then, that 
is the way to go.

Cheers,

Tom O'Connell

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "bggilliand2001" 
<bgilliand@m...> wrote:
> All,
> 
> I'm getting a new camera, and I'm leaning toward the Nikon D100. I 
> noticed that several dealers offer US and non-US cameras. The non 
US 
> are much less money. What are the "cons" of getting one of the non-
US 

> Nikons? Any other advise (especially lenses) for multi-purpose work 
> is much appreciated. 
> 
> Barry Gilliand

>Subject: Nikon D100
>
>All,
>
>I'm getting a new camera, and I'm leaning toward the Nikon D100. I 
>noticed that several dealers offer US and non-US cameras. The non US 
>are much less money. What are the "cons" of getting one of the non-US 
>Nikons? Any other advise (especially lenses) for multi-purpose work 
>is much appreciated. 

Do not buy a gray market digital camera. Period.  Digital cameras are 
much more likely to need "tweaking" or warranty work than non-digital 
cameras. You may find a hard time getting the camera repaired even if it 
is out of the warranty period.

I used the D100 on an assignment for the first time yesterday.  It is a 
fantastic camera.  Light, quiet, beautiful files.  I shot at iso 1250 and 
the files were gorgeous. You will love it.  If I could offer one piece of 
advice it would be to take advantage of the pre-set white balance 
function.  It will give you much better color rendition than auto wb or 
any of the other wb's.


Michael A. Schwarz
Corporate, Editorial and Documentary Photojournalism
www.michaelschwarz.com
ms@...