Lens Fungus

[Dave Throgmartin]

I understand Lensauthority is the used arm of Lensrentals. I've bought 1 item from Lensrentals that was as described and I thought a pretty good value.

If you want to buy from individuals you want to go to more reputable photographer driven sites rather than ebay where this guy didn't know what he was talking about or was just trying to find a sucker to dump his fungus infected lens on.

Dave

[Kayaker72]

You definitely don't want a lens with fungus and I think you made the right call sending it back.

From what I've seen in the past 17-40 is a ways better than 16-35 I and 16-35 II is a ways better than 17-40. It stands to reason that the 16-35 I is likely a ways better than the 17-35.

Thanks Dave. I think I would have been happy with the lens if it wasn't for the fungus. But given it's condition, there was no other choice to me but to return it. FYI, photozone.de has reviews of the 17-35, 17-40, and 16-35 I on an EOS 350D. They are actually pretty comparable at f/4 and f/8 and CA. I found a few other reviews, but that is one of the reasons I gave it a try.

Something to consider: pick up a used lens from a rental house. Obviously, you should get to know their practices on when to sell gear, but you'll most likely have a return policy in place, decent testing before the sale to know what the optics are like, product photos to know the condition of the item, and a sense that once every 1-2 weeks they laid hands on that particular lens. I've bought two cameras (admittedly 1Dx which has a rounded-up odometer), a 300/4IS, and a Profoto D1 Air kit from LensAuthority (sales arm of LensRentals.com) and couldn't be happier; I'm saving up my pennies for another bang-up year of photographic purchases, mostly from them.

I keep seeing folks recommend Lens Authority. They have (or had) a couple of 500mm F4 version-I lenses for sale at $5400.

It is a good thought. I'll definitely check them out again once I am ready to give this another try.

I understand Lensauthority is the used arm of Lensrentals. I've bought 1 item from Lensrentals that was as described and I thought a pretty good value.

If you want to buy from individuals you want to go to more reputable photographer driven sites rather than ebay where this guy didn't know what he was talking about or was just trying to find a sucker to dump his fungus infected lens on.

Dave

I certainly do not see myself buying anything from someone without a return policy. But regarding individual sellers, I have some audiophile friends that buy and sell high end stuff off of ebay all the time and I've confirmed that they often are swapping out with individual sellers. Certainly, businesses that are using ebay as a store front are likely a better bet. But I've actually had some good luck with camera stuff. It is usually items that are low priority for me. For example, I picked up a "new" EF-M 22 f/2 off of ebay from an individual seller who said they bought it in a kit and only wanted the camera. I believe them, the lens is great. I paid $120 at a time that it was going for $200. It is a lens I hardly use but am glad to have, so it is worth it. I would probably never buy my primary gear used. As it stands, all of my primary gear has been from Amazon, B&H, and Adorama.

One other thing to note when inspecting for fungus. This wasn't easy to see. What caught my eye originally was something that looked like a bit of lint at the side of a couple lens elements. It wasn't until I racked the lens to 35 mm and got the light source off axis that it really lit up. But, if you just hold this lens up and look through it, you really don't see this.