Any Qualms Buying Canon Refurb' Products?

I was looking at buying a refurbished camera and a couple of refurbished flashes from Canon. I have never heard of any issues, and they do offer a 1 year warranty. Has anyone had any experiences with refurb'ed products from Canon? What would cause you to hesitate buying a refurb'ed product? I was thinking it could actually be a good thing, in that the camera gets another (probably more thorough) quality check. I do not know how many actuation are on the camera, and the web site does not give that information out that I can find.

On a side note: I may be selling my 1DX (less than 26k actuation) and 25-105 f/4L IS to finance my next purchase.

Pat

Most of my gear is now refurbished. I usually sit and wait for 15% off deals, but have bought a few things at "full" refurbished prices. Current gear that I have that is refurbished includes:

• 16-35 f/4 IS
• 24-70 II
• TSE 24 mm II
• 40 mm STM
• 70-300 L
• Flash: 270 EX II

I actually prefer the refurbished gear. My take is that instead of coming off an assembly line, each piece is "fixed"/adjusted by a technician. I've used a refurbished 24-70II for a couple years now. My most used lens with no issues. Most of the others where picked up in the last year as I rounded out my FF kit. I've used the 16-35, 70-300 L pretty extensively and am very happy with them.

Only thing you don't get is a nice box. Most of my refurbished gear has shown up in bubble wrap inside a camcorder box.

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Originally Posted by conropl

On a side note: I may be selling my 1DX (less than 26k actuation) and 25-105 f/4L IS to finance my next purchase.

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:confused:

You should write for TV shows....that is the best cliff hanger of the season. What is your next purchase???? 1DX II??? 5DsR??? The Hasselblad MF mirrorless :D

I bought a 24-105mm F/4L, and T1i refurb. Both arrived in like-new condition, but I also don't have either one any more, and that's worth pointing out.

I was one of the few here who didn't like the 24-105mm, finding it a bit soft. Not sure if it was normal copy-to-copy variation, or typical for a crop sensor user, but I wasn't happy with it. I have no idea if it ended up being refurb because somebody else found it soft and returned it, or if I'm just picky.

My T1i always seemed fine, but AI Servo couldn't keep up with the dogs, and so we upgraded to a 7D. While this did give a boost to tracking, the 7D was also surprisingly much sharper. I'm not sure if that was due to advancements like micro-lenses on the sensor, or if my particular T1i happened to be softer than usual, so once again, I'm not sure if my experience is typical for a T1i to 7D switch, or if the refurb T1i was unusually soft.

These doubts have prevented me from buying any more refurb gear.

As for the warranty, is that new? Canon and partners used to offer only 90 day warranties on refurbs, with Adorama being the exception, offering a full year on Canon-refurbished products.

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Originally Posted by Kayaker72

:confused:

You should write for TV shows....that is the best cliff hanger of the season. What is your next purchase???? 1DX II??? 5DsR??? The Hasselblad MF mirrorless :D

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5DS R

I do not shoot sports anymore (kids are grown up), and I do not do a lot of BIF anymore. So there is no real good reason to have the rapid fire 1DX anymore. I do mostly landscape and I want to do more portraits, so this camera makes more sense. I also like the smaller package to haul around, and I won't miss the "hay look at me and my enormous camera"... although I still haul my giant tripod everywhere. However, I will miss the low light shooting capability (night shots), A/F, the spot metering that follows the a/f points (I really like that), the built-in / stiff grip with redundant controls, and the seldom talked about viewfinder shutter (I use it a fare amount). I can learn to live without all of that with the exception of the low light shooting, but I think if I can get a decent shot at ISO 6400, and then down sample it, I may be able to get to something comparable to the 18 Mp 1DX. I will have to check that out right away.

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Originally Posted by DavidEccleston

I bought a 24-105mm F/4L, and T1i refurb. Both arrived in like-new condition, but I also don't have either one any more, and that's worth pointing out.

I was one of the few here who didn't like the 24-105mm, finding it a bit soft. Not sure if it was normal copy-to-copy variation, or typical for a crop sensor user, but I wasn't happy with it. I have no idea if it ended up being refurb because somebody else found it soft and returned it, or if I'm just picky.

My T1i always seemed fine, but AI Servo couldn't keep up with the dogs, and so we upgraded to a 7D. While this did give a boost to tracking, the 7D was also surprisingly much sharper. I'm not sure if that was due to advancements like micro-lenses on the sensor, or if my particular T1i happened to be softer than usual, so once again, I'm not sure if my experience is typical for a T1i to 7D switch, or if the refurb T1i was unusually soft.

These doubts have prevented me from buying any more refurb gear.

As for the warranty, is that new? Canon and partners used to offer only 90 day warranties on refurbs, with Adorama being the exception, offering a full year on Canon-refurbished products.

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Not sure how good the T1i was, but I did not think the 7D was that good until one of the firmware changes came. I am not sure what they did, but it was like I had a totally different camera. The A/F started working better and my shots seemed so much better. I took some crap for daring to say the A/F was not that consistent, but it did get better or at least covered up a flaw in my technique with the fw change. I still do not understand what changed. If I remember correctly, you came to the 7D well into it's life cycle, and it would have already been upgraded. So my guess is it was better than the T1i... it was way better than my xTi.

You comments regarding your experience with refurb's are what worries me. Basically, I am getting someones return. However, since the 5DS R is fairly new and Canon allows CPS Gold and Platinum members to try out equipment for free, I would assume there was a lot of folks testing the new high MP camera and/or trying 5DS R vs 5DS to see which they want. So I imagine there are a lot of perfectly good cameras that were just trial cameras that get returned... at least I hope so. It is hard to throw away $700. I hope I did not make a bad decision.

Thank you both for the input. I just purchased it with an extra battery.

Pat

Same for me....good results buying refurbed/used gear.

I have purchased lenses and bodies from Canon Direct, the major retailers and from LensRentals.com

The only drawback, in my opinion, is that you can't stay on the leading edge but you save a ton.

No qualms whatsoever with most refurbished products. As long as they are refurbished by the manufacturer.

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Originally Posted by Lumens

No qualms whatsoever with most refurbished products. As long as they are refurbished by the manufacturer.

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It's from Canon Direct.

I concur with the group; no qualms about buying refurbished gear from Canon USA.

I've purchased many refurb. items from the Canon Store, and I've been very happy with all of them. Just within the last year I've picked up the EF-S 10-18 IS STM and EF-S 55-250 IS STM primarily for use with the IR camera (though they do get used on the 7D II a bit). Both were indistinguishable from new and came with a 1-year warranty. And on top of that, the refurb. EF-S 55-250's price was ridiculously good.

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Originally Posted by Sean Setters

I concur with the group; no qualms about buying refurbished gear from Canon USA.

I've purchased many refurb. items from the Canon Store, and I've been very happy with all of them. Just within the last year I've picked up the EF-S 10-18 IS STM and EF-S 55-250 IS STM primarily for use with the IR camera (though they do get used on the 7D II a bit). Both were indistinguishable from new and came with a 1-year warranty. And on top of that, the refurb. EF-S 55-250's price was ridiculously good.

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Same here. My refurbs have all been impeccable. My only complaint with the Canon Store is that they ship Fedex and require an in-person signature. That can pose issues for me because I need to take time off from work to be here to sign. But the last few times I've been able to leave a note after the first delivery attempt to delay delivery until after 5PM and they've done that. YMMV

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Originally Posted by conropl

5DS R

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Congrats!

From everything I have heard, excellent camera.

The only complaint i have is you cant get anything from there if you live in Canada :mad:

Pat....sorry, late to the party; first congrats on the purchase, secondly, you shouldn't have any issues.
My experience has been great w/both refurbed lenses and a camera body.....I like the idea that the refurbs receive individual attention.
E.G's. of my refurbs; 500 vers 1 lens is from Adorama (purchased long before vers 2 became a reality), advantage for me; they don't charge MA tax, and lenient return policy. My 5DMK3 and 35 f1.2 ll are from Canon. The only disadvantage to Canon's refurbs; they charge MA sales tax.
I'm totally satisfied w/my refurbs, well maybe not so much w/the boxes the lens and body arrive in. :D
Sleep easy Pat, you haven't thrown away your money.
Bill

Also late to the party here: Overall I have had a good experience buying refurb gear from Canon. Only issue was purchasing the Canon 7D a few years back. The in-focus rate was horrible (less than 25%) even after calibrating my lenses and tweaking my settings. I sold it a year later when I got my 6D. I ended up picked up a used 7D last summer and the in-focus rate is nearly perfect on the same lenses.