How important is it to you to be able to take photos now, as opposed to some unknown future date when all of the camera-warranty questions have been laid to rest? Because I'm thinking that most faults appear pretty quickly.
And for what it's worth, damage due to moisture is never covered, even in products sold as "weather sealed" or even "submersible", though in some instances you may be offered a trade-in credit for equipment which they've judged to be un-repairable.
A good question, and probably a segue into another discussion as what we want from stuff is a question probably worthy of a lot more thought.
At one time I saw cameras as a long term purchase and they were built to last for the long term (at least the good ones). I know I have been a bit negative about Nikon in this thread but their 35mm equipment was legendary for the right reasons. When I worked for British Antarctic Survey their standard camera body was the FM2 as it was pretty much bombproof, fully mechanical apart from the light meter and would operate in Antarctica in a way few others would. Once there was a rumour that production had ended (it was slightly premature) and they went around camera shops buying up any FM2 bodies in stock. In those days even if the manufacturer service network was problematic there was any number of options to have cameras repaired and serviced if necessary. Now build quality doesn't appear to be what it once was, technology is evolving, lens mounts seem to keep changing, firmware reaches limits, cameras are a lot more complex etc I think the issue of what we want from a camera is interesting. Note that I am not in denial of the immense advances, modern cameras offer capabilities and functionality I couldn't have dreamed of when I got my first camera and I certainly don't want to go back to the old days of the FM2 (though it is nice to have such a camera as a Sunday afternoon indulgence).
I don't buy a lot of stuff, and I prefer to buy good quality and keep it. If stuff is intended to be throwaway I see little point going above cheap entry level. With a digital camera I want something robust enough and durable enough to give me a few years use, and hopefully for any lenses to be long term use. My concern isn't warranty, the standard warranty here seems to be 12 months + 3 additional months if registered on-line and that is fine as we'll be in Singapore for that period. My concern is paid for service and repair work after that, I'm under no illusions such support will be available forever but I want support for a period at least. And these days it is increasingly the case that any repairs have to go to the manufacturer service network as only they have access to what spares are available etc. So being able to get gear repaired overseas (I'd stress I am talking about chargeable work, I don't expect it to be free) is important for me. I may return to England, I may go to the US (my employer is based in DC) or a number of other places meaning there is a good chance I will need access to overseas service centres.
I don't want to claim to be the worlds greatest environmentalist as I'm no more eco-friendly than most and am certainly no angel, but I do think if we want to reduce impact we should end the throwaway short life cycle attitudes to the things we buy and buy things that will give us good service for a long time.
