Shying away from used gear

[Benjamin]

I agree to the point that used gears (especially L lenses) are sold not too much lower than its new price. It's more like 80-90% of it's retail value. That's why I always spend that a litttle bit extra to get new gear - peace of mind + warantee + return policy are totally worth 10% to me.


I'm fairly nice to my equipments so I can make sure that they will go off my hand easily at least 70-80% of its value when eventually I'm going to upgrade. That way any new gear won't cost too much anymore - because my old gear is sold at a good price.


I don't refuse to buy used, only when there's a deal and I'm sure that I can resell it for almost the same price or even more.

[Skippy]

Today I bought a manual focus minolta lens from a local camera shop. When I got home and attached it to my camera and looked through the viewfinder, I saw it had two black dots. The lens was a refurb. I was surprised to see black dots/specks in the lens. I thought a refurb would be okay. Taking it back on Monday. []

[Benjamin]

When I got home and attached it to my camera and looked through the
viewfinder, I saw it had two black dots. The lens was a refurb. I was
surprised to see black dots/specks in the lens.
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Seeing black dots in a lens through the viewfinder is unusual according to my limited experience. My 24-70L has a rather noticeable dust inside it but I don't realize anything at all in my viewfinder. It does not seem to show up in my images even at F11 or F16. However, I do see black dots in my viewfinder because my focusing screen inside the camera body has dust on it - that's 99% of the black dots I see through my viewfinder. They're rather easy to clean too.


You can have a simple check by unmount the lens and then look through the viewfinder under good lighting at a white wall. If the black dots are still there rather in focus while everything else are just white, it's the dust on the focusing screen not in the lens.

[Colin]

Yes, I get crap on my focusing screen that I can see easily. I'll never actually seen dots on a lens.

[Skippy]

When I got home and attached it to my camera and looked through the
viewfinder, I saw it had two black dots. The lens was a refurb. I was
surprised to see black dots/specks in the lens.

Seeing black dots in a lens through the viewfinder is unusual according to my limited experience. My 24-70L has a rather noticeable dust inside it but I don't realize anything at all in my viewfinder. It does not seem to show up in my images even at F11 or F16. However, I do see black dots in my viewfinder because my focusing screen inside the camera body has dust on it - that's 99% of the black dots I see through my viewfinder. They're rather easy to clean too.


You can have a simple check by unmount the lens and then look through the viewfinder under good lighting at a white wall. If the black dots are still there rather in focus while everything else are just white, it's the dust on the focusing screen not in the lens.

After reading this I attached one of my other lens and the black dots are in the same place. [:S] I have a 35mm film camera. How do I get the black dots off?

[Benjamin]

I have a 35mm film camera. How do I get the black dots off?
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Well, the easiest way is to unmount the lens, put the camera facing downwards and then use the BLOWER pointing to the focus screen to blow the dust off. Never try to use your month as liquid may be spread into the camera if you try hard. You can also use a sensor cleaning brush to clean the mirror as well as the focusing screen, but don't forget to blow the rest of dust off after you've done that.


You can also check by looking through the viewfinder WITHOUT a lens mounted at a white wall in decent lighting, see if any dust is still there. If it does, repeat the procedures above.


That's it.

[Cory]

The absolute #1 reason I do not buy used equipment: The lenses I want are rarely reduced enough in cost from the new ones that I'm willing to risk it. I'm not going to spend $430 to buy a used lens that I can buy new for $470 (most recent example). When there's a lens I want which runs $1500 ballpark the used one better be more then $200 less... are that is QUITE often not the case. So I buy new.

[Benjamin]

The absolute #1 reason I do not buy used equipment: The lenses I want are rarely reduced enough in cost from the new ones that I'm willing to risk it. I'm not going to spend $430 to buy a used lens that I can buy new for $470 (most recent example). When there's a lens I want which runs $1500 ballpark the used one better be more then $200 less... are that is QUITE often not the case. So I buy new.
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Absolutely. In Ontario we have 13% sale tax, and all current model used L lenses are almost all for sale at its retail price, which means that you only save 13% on tax - in this case I'll just go to the retailer and pay the tax and then bring my brand new lens w/warantee home.

[Stephen Probert]

I enjoy trying to get a steal on ebay, but you have to be careful and I am feeling good right now because I haven't been burned yet. Worst case was that I got a 24-70 that was promised with a US warranty card, but it didn't come with one. I guess it didn't matter too much since I didn't have the original receipt either.


Taking the risk gives a chance for a really good deal. A couple months ago I got a 5D markI, a 430 EXII and a 70-300 IS (all brand new) for $1600. I got a special discount by using Paypal (10% off) and sold the 70-300 for $450 which meant I got the 5D and the 430 EXII for $1000. Everything works great!


Just buying an item any old day on ebay doesn't save you a ton of money over buying new or buying used from Adorama, but if you watch for a month you can get a really good deal. Again, I haven't been burned yet.

[mkilgour]

As somebody just starting out in the SLR world I love used gear. I've gotten some pretty good deals from the used sections of Adorama &amp; B&amp;H. If you cruise them enough you can come up with some pretty good deals, especially for non-L lenses. I gave up trying to find a used 70-200 as they were usually only priced 40 or 50 bucks cheaper than new with rebates.