Patricio, I lived for some years in the region, more precisely in Montevideo, and I can tell you that it was the same thing over there. Almost all prices were much too high, and importers blamed it on the taxes too. The way I see it, importers are not willing to take any risks, hence they import just a few units at very high prices instead of importing lots of units for a reasonable price. That way they make lots of money with a minimal risk. One could assume that a Nikon delivered from Japan to Argentina costs almost the same than a Nikon delivered to Australia, but importers know very well that the economy is not very stable in South America, so they don't want to risk losing a big stock because of some devaluation. On the other hand, you could try to find out whether Nikon Argentina is officially a subsidiary of Nikon Japan, or if it is only a franchise holder. Canon is a much bigger company and may allow itself the luxury of having subsidiaries all over the world. My advice: if an importer wants you to pay twice as much, don't buy anything from him until he learns that economy works on a basis of supply and demand. Good luck, Friedrich Graz, Austria
