Buying 5D3 from canon refurbished, anything to worry about?

I simply cant afford a brand new one, and I have no issue buying a used one if it's in decent condition. What bugs me about buying refurb is knowing that something was seriously wrong with it for someone to have returned it completely, so how do I know the purchase wont end up giving me a dud after some time or degrade image quality?

It is not always that something was wrong. Could have just been a return because they changed their mind. If it did have something wrong they make sure to bring it back up to new standards but they cannot sell it as new.

I honestly would not worry! Now go order your 5d3!!!!!!

As you will see in the posts in answer to your question, many people on the forum have bought refurbished with excellent results. I myself bought my 60D refurbished and when it came it looked brand new and only had a 51 shutter count. They come with a 90 day warranty a (though I think that now is a 1 year warranty).

Been awhile since I checked but there is also a 14-day exchange period.

Finally, I got myself early xmas gift. I just purchased the 5dmk3 - refurbish. I have no problem with it and comes with a year warranty. Go for it. Finally,

I also bought a 60d and it came with 85 clicks on it about a year ago, I would buy from Canon again with no worries!

The odds of getting one that had something seriously wrong with it is pretty slim in my opinion. You are more than likely going to get one with minimal clicks on it and maybe returned because of something simple, or just used stock.

I got my 70-200 f2/8 IS II from canon as a refurb. Saved a ton (was a 'refurb inventory sale' at the time too) ended up paying under $1800 for this lens... At the time it was only a 60 day warranty, however since this time Canon now has a full 1 year warranty on refurbished items.

As for the quality? Well, I didn't get a box... but that's okay because I _throw the boxes away_ don't have room to store empty boxes... sorry collectors. And uhm... oh, there's a very small amount of play between lens and body, like, a miniscule amount, but it makes no difference. I tried to make it make a difference, tried to make the play make a difference in photos (locked the lens down to tripod / jiggled camera, etc...) but it doesn't. The tiny amount of play is widely reported on several lenses, so I feel nothing at all is wrong with my purchase but I suspect someone got this tiny bit of play and just couldn't stand it. I'm pretty anal about how stuff is since this gear is a very big expense for me, however, even if this lens was purchased new the play which is hardly noticible wouldn't be enough to make me exchange/return. Sorry rambling now because I just love this lens so much.

Aside form buying new form a store , getting a refurb from Canon is the next best thing, really!!! You now get a 1 year warranty for a like new camara, for a reduced rate, it's win win. Maybe one day we Canadians can enjoy these lovely perks

I got 2 - 5DM3's from Canon (one back in December and one a couple of weeks ago) and haven't had a problem with them. Both were in like-new condition. I couldn't even tell. The second one came with about 200-300 shutter actuation. I did not check the 1st one but I'm sure it is low. I checked it recently and it has about 10k now and I shoot weddings so it must have been pretty low when I first got it.

Like others have said, you have 14 days to decide if you want to keep it or send it back for another one. Canon now offers a 1 year warranty for it. If you use MrRebates, you can get a 3% cash back when purchasing directly from the Canon refurb site. However, I would recommend going through the Canon CLP and get 15% off (can't use MrRebates though). Mine came out to ~$2522 after taxes (6%) and included a Canon 200DG Bag.

nothing to worry at all, they'd be stupid selling things that aren't 100% ok. Actually, I am pretty sure that everything they sell refurbished is thoroughly checked by a tech or several, something that I doubt they do to every camera sold to stores.

I got my 5D3 refurbished, looked like it never was touched and had 6 shots on it. With loyalty program I saved so much that my Tammy 24-70 was basically free.

Unless I'm in a hurry and need something NOW, or find a better deal elsewhere, I'll never buy gear any other way.

thedcmule2 wrote in post #16326251
I simply cant afford a brand new one, and I have no issue buying a used one if it's in decent condition. What bugs me about buying refurb is knowing that something was seriously wrong with it for someone to have returned it completely, so how do I know the purchase wont end up giving me a dud after some time or degrade image quality?

Not necessarily true. If someone returned a defective item, Canon repaired. Lots of people just change their mind. I have returned a perfectly functioning piece of hardware to BestBuy just because I changed my mind. They send it back to Canon. Canon sells it as a refurb. I got two refurbished bodies from Canon. Both are still going strong and neither has any problems.

Do Canon UK do refurbs? I bought a Fuji refurb from Fuji 18 mths ago still going strong. My Eos 600D I bought used just under a year ago has had heavy use from me and is fine.

I bought my 7D almost 2 years ago through the Canon Loyalty Program. It looked brand new and it has been a great camera. Just a couple of weeks ago I purchased a 5Diii through the Canon Loyalty Program and like the 7D did it looks brand new. Do a search and you will find a link to a program that will tell you how many shutter actuations your EOS camera has on it. I think it costs $1.75 to run the program. When I installed the card in my 7D I think it registered less than 20 clicks but when I ran the program it showed my camera had ~1100 clicks. When I got the 5Diii the first thing I did was run the program and it showed 361 clicks. Either way that is minimal when you consider the estimated shutter life.

I have read on several different forums that refurbished items are completely checked by the factory to make sure everything is within factory specs. If that is true then your chances of getting a camera with a problem should be less than if you buy one off the shelf at your local camera dealer.

I bought a refurb 5D3. Came with 300+ clicks. Mine has a light leak serial, which makes me think it was recalled, fixed, and sold as a refurb.
Though unlike just about everybody else, mine did come with couple scuffs on the body. I think it's far and few between as most people say their camera is in like new condition. Regardless I'm probably going to buy all my bodies from Canon Refurb from here on out.