bigtenmedia.com

[Tip Mcpartland]

I bought my F350 and Fujinon lens from them, the contact/owner is Billy DeCola. Frankly, I couldn’t have afforded this camera and the good lens I got buying them any other way than Billy’s “grey market” operation.

The merchandise comes in directly from Japan, Billy DeCola has an office in Tokyo and ships to your address, he handles/pays customs duties and shipping (at least he did for me) and he is totally legitimate, although of course you must perform your own due diligence. But Billy seemed a pretty cool guy.

My camera arrived in perfect condition, it still works perfectly several months later, it came with an English language manual, and if I need warranty repairs Billy will expedite Japanese warranty service with one-day shipping each way. Personally, I believe that having warranty work done at the Sony factory in Japan instead of here is perhaps a benefit, although I haven’t had to find out for sure myself. Billy says the work is better, the wait is shorter, and the shipping is just as fast.

Someone once told me that these “grey market” Sonys will always have to be serviced in Japan, but one of the best LA area distributors assured me that they will service it post-warranty, but double check on this, having to send it to Japan in the relatively unlikely event of a warranty repair is one thing, but having to pay Sony Japan to repair it later would probably be a bummer, so if you are really interested in one of these grey market cameras make sure you are clear on your service options.

One more thing — my camera accepted the latest firmware upgrade (US) without any problems.

Tip McPartland

[Thomas Hughes]

Thank you, Tip.

[Nicolas Borrell]

Was wondering if anyone have noticed that Big10Media is closed, and owner Billy DeCola has split to Japan? Anyone sitting back with warranty problems because of this?

[Billy Decola]

Unfortunately my company closed in 2008 and no I didn’t “split” to Japan – I’m here in Miami.