Japanese Beautiful Model

Can I tell the difference between the US versus Japanese Nikon D40/60/80 by the model numbers?

I want to get into a DSLR camera and I have heard bad things about the "bait-and-switch" tactics used by some retailers sending you a cheaper Japanese model Nikon camera versus a better-made US model when ordering a D40 or D60/80. Can you tell the difference in the US and Japanese models by looking at the model number? OK I guess I heard wrong, the discrepancy would be Thai-made vs. Japanese made.

Public Comments

1. No You can tell the difference between gray market vs. US (all the cameras are Japanese) by the price and the offers of "free" stuff ... like cheap tripods, lens cleaning kits and other items a seasoned photographer doesn't want or need or already has and to make matters worse they remove the Nikon battery and charger and replace it with a generic and if you complain, they will gladly over charge you for what is included with a US camera. These ads are usually found within the eBay site and are targeting people with NO former background in photography. That is people who have caught the digital fever, but have never owned a 35 mm SLR, nor have the ever attended one class in photography. Basically naive people looking for the best deal they can get with only a vague idea of what they really need. This is why toy cameras that are named Olympic can be sold for far too much money to people who have heard of the excellent camera company Olympus and either confuse the two or assume they are the same. If the price of the "deal" is less than the one found on Amazon or B&H Photo, then the chances are you are looking at a gray market camera. In general if the location of the Internet store is in Brooklyn, it is probably a gray market camera One of our contributers here has a list of some nefarious stores he has found ... perhaps he will list them again for us. Whether you are looking at a new or used Nikon camera, you an call the Nikon help line and they can help you. 800.NIKON-UX. Give them the serial number and they will be able to tell. As far as where the camera or lens is manufactured, it does not matter ... Nikon and Canon have strict quality control systems in place, so no matter where the lens or camera is assembled, it is going to be an excellent lens or camera. The whole confusion over where a camera is made is a direct result of the underhanded marketing techniques used by the gray market promotors. The "bait and switch" part of their pitch is to say for the sale price you are buying a Chinese camera, but for $x they can upgrade you to the Japanese version ... one huge lie!
2. The rule of thumb seems to be that if a deal looks too good to be true it probably is. Dont go buy a brand camera that normally costs 1600 but just happens to be on sale for 800. Any of these deals of going to be bad. Stick to reputable dealers either locally or online like: bhphotovideo.com ritzcamera.com adorama.com amazon.com If you want cheap or used check keh.com craigslist.com or ebay.com keh is trustworthy but obviously you run some risk with the other two.