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Inspired by a comment to one of my answers I have a question on my own. We know that one of the reasons for the time limit on video recording in DSLRs is import taxes to the EU. How much more would a DSLR cost if it was imported as a video camera?

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Håkon K. Olafsen
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  • When I bought Sony wx1 the clerk told me it has a 10 minute limit for video, only due to the import tax. – Michael Nielsen Feb 19 '13 at 20:21
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    The best part is the fact that this limit is put on many cameras throughout the world regardless of if the tax is applicable. My 5D mark 3 in the US also has the 30 minute limit as do many other cameras. Thanks EU!!! – AJ Henderson Feb 19 '13 at 20:23
  • and according to this, there is no limit, so it is espeically made for the DK market: http://www.trustedreviews.com/Sony-Cyber-shot-DSC-WX1_Digital-Camera_review_features-table_Page-4#tr-review-summary hmmm... I wonder if I can firmware upgrade it to not have this limit... – Michael Nielsen Feb 19 '13 at 20:23
  • One of the reasons for this is a 4GB file size limit on FAT32 formatted media. – Francis Kim Feb 19 '13 at 22:40
  • The 4GB limit is easily handled in software by starting a new file, there are heaps of software out there that does this. And if I record in SD (not that I would) I still can't get past the 29:59 limit. – Håkon K. Olafsen Feb 20 '13 at 05:32
  • I suspect that even if you could have the software chunk up your files that you'd need some re-engineering of the hardware to improve cooling a bit because you'd have people filming school plays and whatnot and expecting it to work for as long as they've got battery & memory to cope. – James Snell Feb 20 '13 at 14:07
  • @JamesSnell That's a different issue that might need some tweaking. – Håkon K. Olafsen Feb 20 '13 at 14:56
  • Just in case anyone is wondering, I'm voting to close because this seems to just be a question about what the taxes are. I don't see that useful for photography. Further, the question is really only for videography and doesn't apply at all to taking photos. – dpollitt Feb 20 '13 at 15:15
  • This is a question about import tax in the EU, and as such is completely off-topic for a photography site, sorry. – thomasrutter Feb 26 '13 at 02:50
  • I disagree that it's off topic, because it highlights why DSLRs are limited to 29:59 when recording video and the actual cost for removing this limitation. – Håkon K. Olafsen Feb 26 '13 at 06:15

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The Danish taxation is:

  • 0% on digital cameras for stills.
  • 6.7% on accessories, like flash and lenses(!! O.o)
  • 12.5% on digital cameras for video

Reference: http://www.toldpriser.dk/toldsatser

Example 5D mrk 3:

In Denmark the price of this nice camera is 4000$.

800$ is VAT, ie. base price is 3200$.

Add 12.5% for being a video camera: 3600$

Add back VAT: 4500$

Michael Nielsen
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That depends entirely on where you import it.

In sweden for example there is 0% customs duty on digital cameras for stills, and 14% on video cameras.

Source: http://www.tullverket.se/innehallao/t/tullochmomsvanligavaror/tullochmomspavanligtforekommandevaror.4.13ca5ad811a0aafa2cc8000927.html

Guffa
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I just checked for Norway, and we don't have any import tax for still or video cameras, just a value added tax of 25%.

So if the time limit doesn't make any difference for Norway.

Håkon K. Olafsen
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