The Sports Photo Guy

A frequent question on message boards: are the ubiquitous Mack warranties worth it?  Do they really protect your equipment?

My experience says yes, but don’t count on the speediest service.  Still, Mack warranties are a real bargain for long-term equipment protection.

I buy Mack warranties for every U.S. model camera and grey market lens that I buy.  For cameras, Mack’s warranties typically provide an additional 3-5 years of protection beyond the manufacturer’s one-year warranty at reasonable cost.  For example, Mack warranty #1015 will protect your D300 or other DSLR (with kit lens) under $2,000 in price for three (3) additional years for just $79.95.  For pros, Mack has a warranty for $189.95 that will protect a camera & kit lens valued at up to $6,000 for an additional three (3) years.

I find that U.S. lenses seldom need extended warranties, as most manufacturers automatically provide 4-6 years of additional coverage for such lenses already.  But for those of us who sometimes buy grey market lenses, the Mack warranty is a great deal.  For example, you could buy a Nikon 80-200/f2.8D ED lens for $915 with a 5-year U.S. warranty; or you could buy the grey market version for just $820 and add a 7-year Mack extended warranty for just $30 more  – giving you a total of 8 years of warranty protection.

How does Mack service measure up?  I’ve had to send cameras in for repair on at least three occasions.  My D70 and D2H both were sent in and, after examination by Mack’s service personnel, were deemed to be covered by Nikon recalls then in effect.  Mack sent the cameras on to Nikon, Nikon repaired them under the recall, sent them back to Mack, who returned the cameras to me.  Granted, this added a few weeks’ delay to the process, but as I had no real way of knowing if the recalls applied in both of these cases, I found value in having Mack make this determination for me.

More recently, I blew out the shutter in my D2H.  This was clearly a case for Mack (the camera, at this point, was about three years old, with one year remaining on my extended warranty).  I sent the camera off to Mack, and they duly replaced the shutter.  Door-to-door round trip was about 3 weeks.  My only costs were $10 return shipping plus the cost to send the camera to Mack’s repair facility in New Jersey.

Some additional good aspects of Mack warranties: they are transferable and don’t have to be bought at the time or place of equipment purchase.  For a $20 fee, you can transfer your Mack warranty should you sell your camera or lens (something you can’t do with a manufacturer’s warranty).  Also, if you purchase & register your Mack warranty within 30 days of buying your equipment, you can shop around for the best deal.  The prices charged by retailers will vary, with some of the less scrupulous retailers jacking up prices of warranties and other accessories to offset too-good-to-be-true prices on the equipment itself.  I’d recommend Adorama highly for Mack warranties; you will be assured of getting a competitive price, superior service, and your purchase made through this link will support this site!