Originally posted by IgorZ A few days ago (or a few weeks ago now, can't remember) a member posted a question whether he had a fake FA77 which he bought for $67. I think the gist of the discussion was that the lens must be authentic, as it's not worth manufacturing a fake. Here is an article that seems to suggest that fake cameras do happen:
I Bought a Fake Nikon DSLR: My Experience with Gray Market Imports
Since he does not say much about the camera, it's not really clear if it's fake in a sense that someone built it in a sweat shop, or if it's a matter of someone replacing the CPU of the camera using authentic parts. Either way, interesting article.
It's an interesting article but it's not really representative of "grey market goods". My Pentax K-5 is a "grey market" camera. Allow me to explain:
As I live in New Zealand, but bought the camera from Adorama in New York, my k-5 is a "grey market" import. If my camera needed repair, I would need to send it back to the USA because, if I sent it to the New Zealand Pentax distributor for repair, they'll tell me it's "grey market" and they won't touch it. Yet, it's a perfectly normal K-5 purchased from a very reputable store.
What the article describes is not a typical "grey market" item but rather a camera which has been tampered with in some way. It could be that some of these cameras failed a manufacturing test and instead of being torn down the sub-standard items strolled out the side door of the factory. Or, it could be that someone did some after hours assembly from the parts bins in said factory. Or, it could be that the camera was remanufactured from more than one donor camera by some factory worker hoping to make a quick buck. Or probably several other potential reasons. But, "grey market" is not one of them.