I find it interesting to read this thread. I live in Norway, and like most europeans know, the U.S. and Canadian prices are very low compared to the rest of the world, Japan included. B&H, Adorama and others have priced several of their Canon products the last few years so cheaply that running a camerastore in other parts of the world becomes very hard. It's a known fact that for the most high end products from Canon, a person can order a round trip with hotel to New York, buy the stuff you wanted and still have saved money. An example: Last Christmas B&H had an offer for the 17mm TS F4.0L to a price of 12.500 NOK, while in Norway the same lens costs 21.500 NOK (3795 usd today currency exchange). A roundtrip from Oslo - NY cost about 4400, and plus cheap lodging you have saved money, had weekend in NY, and that is just one of the lenses. The only risk you run is that the customs in Norway may force you to produce proof that this lens was bought in Norway previous to your trip. If caught, you need to pay taxes that equals the price of Norway. Until two years ago the US warranty was also valid for Norway. Not so anymore. Today, equipment bought in Europe are covered by the warranty here, but not the US bought items. Hence, the risk has gotten higher, since you now have to ship the equipment to the U.S. if anything goes astray.
