We missed out on a 5D3 at this stage. People who claim they are in the know state the a 1DsMK4 is more likely to come before the 5D3 anyway. But even if it did, the earliest announcement now would be August and then there will be a production lag time and then the little wrinkles that have to be ironed out in the first six months with firmware fixes and so on. So we could be looking at least until this timeor later next year for a 5D3, conservatively. Perhaps.


With all that in mind I would like opinions on the purchasing of a 5DMK2 please. I know a lot of members of this site have bought lenses second hand on ebay and so on. What are your thoughts on buying a 5D second hand? In Australia at the moment most second hand 5D's are going for about $200 or $300 less than a "grey" import. That means about the $2000 point. Is it worth the risk to buy a camera that retails in a bricks and mortar store for about $2700 here second hand for that kind of saving?


I am a very inexperienced at the whole ebay thing and have doubts about my bargain hunting ability. Over here they did not pass on the Canon incentives of a month ago because our market is just so small. I am feeling I would be happy to pick up a good 5D2 second hand but am reluctant because of the potential 5D3 upgrade to buy a brand spanking new5DMK2 at the moment. My local camera store guy wants me to buy a 5D2 off him and says the 5D3 over here will come in at least $3750 and more like mid next year.


So any thoughts of new versus second hand camera bodies would be appreciated.


Steve