Honest Question Here.

Accidents happen. Not all accident s are major.
I would buy anthing used based on buyer beware. Some times you get burnt and sometimes you get a great deal.
This brings up a good point.
If you have a lens that say cost $1500, 5 years ago and you have used it not just stored it, it is going to have some ware on it no matter what.
Now say you want to sell it. What would be the price you would expect to get?
You had it for 5 years and used like you should have.
So should the used price not reflect that you got $1000 of use out of it?
Or would you expect the price to be closer to the replacement cost?
I would like to know what you think.

Invertalon wrote in post #13364808
I never understood why so many super-tele's look like crap. I understand for some they are just tools, but if I had a $5,000 lens around my neck I would baby that thing.

It's because they are constantly used on a regular basis. If you actually use your equipment a lot it just happens. I see shooters locally here with bodies and lenses that have almost no paint left on it. It's not cause they abuses it, it's just cause they uses it. It's like clothes. If you wear them a lot they get worn. It doesn't mean they are abused and unusable.

Interesting points raised on both sides on this, it's just personal preference.
For me, I can not afford to take the risk of buying 'used' equipment, despite it's "apparent" condition.

Yeah, maybe I could save a small fortune &
Yeah, maybe I could payout on un-detected problems

So not worth the energy, the risk and importantly the time to address any problems.

I also admire and respect those who hunt around for bargains and get them. They deserve it!
But these people also possess a level of knowledge, understanding and patience that I do not have.

Horses for courses. It's not good to judge people - simply accept that we all have a right to exercise our own choice.

FlyingPhotog wrote in post #13363399
Wrong Answer and a Silly Generalization.

You'll find many photographers who have glass clean enough to eat off of despite whatever external blemishes may exist.

it's what it represents to ME.. it's not a wrong answer, it's my answer and how I see poorly looked after equipment.

You MIGHT find clean glass on poor externals, yes, but I'd still be walking away from the equipment, unless the blemishes were VERY minor.
Any medium-deep scratches or even a tiny ding dent, and I'd not be buying it..

Poorly looked after is just what it says, and anything but the most minor external blemish is poor. A dent on a car door is nothing, a dent on a precision optic is major.

Yes, it's a generalisation, but it's not a silly one unless you like buying lenses with bad alignments and IS not working..

If you buy with external indications of poor handling, you don't really get the right to complain about the problems you've found..

Dings = avoid in a market where clean gear from hobbyists who never used it can be found.

S.Horton wrote in post #13369960
Dings = avoid in a market where clean gear from hobbyists who never used it can be found.

Of course, and that dented lens will never ever be out of alignment, and any problems will be told to you in full detail by the seller... It would be nice if I could live in your fantasy world!

Buyer beware - if it looks even slightly bad, it IS.

Fluffbutt wrote in post #13387875
Buyer beware - if it looks even slightly bad, it IS.

Not sure if serious....

Luke J. Photography wrote in post #13387955
Not sure if serious....

Do you lot here really believe that the internet is full of sellers who are true and honest, and that no EBay seller has ever sold a bad camera or lens?
The world is NOT this wonderful a place!

Even in a shop, if I saw a badly scuffed lens or camera, I'd pass it by - I don't want to buy somebody else's problems!
I know of plenty of people who have sold KNOWN fubar camera to second hand shops (all the second handers do is fire off a few shots, if the shutter works they assume it all works).

By all means, go off and buy that scruffy dinged lens or camera.

Just because I won't does not make me stupid! (nor am I trolling because I don't trust humans!)

I'm not saying that all sellers are honest. What I don't get is your un-factual statement "If it even looks slightly bad, it IS". I have had lenses that looked like hell. Yet they performed flawlessly and just as well as everyones pretty ones.


My old 1DIIN. Beat to hell but worked perfectly.

Luke J. Photography wrote in post #13388176
I'm not saying that all sellers are honest. What I don't get is your un-factual statement "If it even looks slightly bad, it IS". I have had lenses that looked like hell. Yet they performed flawlessly and just as well as everyones pretty ones.

Which was exactly my point...

There's no reason to buy "pretty" if you really only care about the resulting images and aren't buying toys you just sit and look at.

There are killer deals to be had if you get over the hang up on cosmetics.

I think you are missing my point..

YES, there are good lenses and cameras that are a bit daggy and battered, sure..

BUT - to pay 1000's of pounds/dollars for one second hand is INVITING trouble.

For every 1 or 2 great (internally) cameras that are a bit dinged outside, there would be 100's that are as bad inside as they are out.
You don't crack a body without force, that force might have knocked the sensor out of line, jarred the mirror out of line, all number of things.
Unless you want to extensively test each and every dinged camera you are looking at, it's easier to walk on by.

Sometime you need to buy 'pretty' just to make sure you ARE going to get the resulting image properly.

By all means, if people want to play the camera lottery with their money, good on them. I hope they do get a good camera despite a few dents.

It's not something I'd do, and I'll continue to say so and advise anyone who asks the same.

It doesn't make me right and you wrong, nor does it make you right and me wrong - it's just the way I see the situation.

"There are killer deals to be had if you get over the hang up on cosmetics."

There are also killer scam to fall into if you don't check out the cosmetics - not all cosmetic damage is ONLY cosmetic!!

And where did I say "Buy without investigating?"

Of course you need to check things out thoroughly which is why eBay and here are so problematic. Someone brought up the used car analogy and frankly, that's a good one. You wouldn't buy a used car (no matter how good it looks) without having a mechanic inspect it so why would anyone buy expensive camera gear sight-unseen.

I bet more people have been scammed buying gear off the Internet that was described as a "9.5 out of 10" or "Mint .. LNIB" than have been scammed buying a local pro's "User" that's seen its fair share of travel.

FlyingPhotog wrote in post #13389908
And where did I say "Buy without investigating?"

Of course you need to check things out thoroughly which is why eBay and here are so problematic. Someone brought up the used car analogy and frankly, that's a good one. You wouldn't buy a used car (no matter how good it looks) without having a mechanic inspect it so why would anyone buy expensive camera gear sight-unseen.

I bet more people have been scammed buying gear off the Internet that was described as a "9.5 out of 10" or "Mint .. LNIB" than have been scammed buying a local pro's "User" that's seen its fair share of travel.

I agree with you, but a mechanic to check a car might cost £30 - £80, but a technical check on a camera or lens not only has to be sent to specialist labs, but will cost anything like 10 times that amount.

If you find a duff car, you move on and chalk the £30 up to experience.
For a camera that could get to be very expensive before you even have bought something!

And also, as an ex-pro wedding photographer in Australia, I kept my camera clean and tidy. Extremely well used, but it was always in good condition.
Any dents I made, I sent the camera off for checking and 'un denting', fixing up, as it were - the same thing I said above also applied to ME:

I needed to be 100% sure my camera was all in alignment and up to spec, you can't afford to have a bunged up wedding just because you said "she'll be right" over a dropped lens! Also, people paying $1000 for you to take pictures don't expect to see some crappy patched up piece of junk - it makes them feel insecure about your pictures and abilities.

I still stand by what I said before:

Buyer beware.
By all means, buy cheap, dented or dinged, but you then can't run around bleating about no-focussing or IS not working, or whatever.

If you get it cheap and it's all good and great, wonderful, I'm happy for you.

But people need to be aware that there's a good chance that the dinged body they are buying has hidden problems (and ones that may take a lot of $$ to even find, let alone fix).

Fluffbutt wrote in post #13389335
For every 1 or 2 great (internally) cameras that are a bit dinged outside, there would be 100's that are as bad inside as they are out.

Can we stop with the totally inane fake facts please.

S.Horton wrote in post #13369960
Dings = avoid in a market where clean gear from hobbyists who never used it can be found.

Fluffbutt wrote in post #13387875
Of course, and that dented lens will never ever be out of alignment, and any problems will be told to you in full detail by the seller... It would be nice if I could live in your fantasy world!

Buyer beware - if it looks even slightly bad, it IS.

Do not try to convince me that I believe your assumptions about me and that you want to live in my world.