Exactly what is a refurbished Canon?

Not considering any other brands, just Canon: What qualifies a canon as refurbished?

Is it a return, a camera that wouldn't start, open box, damage that was repaired, loose wire?

I'm wondering if there are guidelines or is it a crap shoot?

In other words, is there a large variety of cameras sold that are labeled refurbished or are they all similar?

I don't know any other way to ask.

Thanks

http://shop.usa.canon.​com …e=refurbished/r​efurb.html

That link should cover it, but the Reader's Digest version is that it is a camera/lens/etc that has gone back to the manufacturer for any reason, and been inspected, cleaned, etc and returned to factory new condition; but, cannot be sold as new

^ This. I would assume most of the item are returned and exchanged for a different camera. I would envision more customers exchanging a model for another and with a much smaller amount of the products actually having a manufactured defect or faulty part.

and, since it's rebuilt by the manufacturer, it also comes with a warranty and a better price than new.

Some folks claim that refurbs are more likely to be in perfect condition than are "new" bodies and lenses because of the extra attention given them. I've bought a few refurbs and they always look and feel new.

A lot of them - at least down here in Australia - are ex shop display items. I picked up a refurb 85mm F1.8 recently and the only clue was a big 'refurb' sticker on the box.

It is often said that refurbs can be better as they have gone through the local labs and have been inspected/calibrated to closer tolerences than when coming off the production lines originally. Dont know how true that is but I would be surprised if every single camera/lens coming down the line gets a full quality check. Maybe 1 in 10, one in 50, 1 in 100 get that, the rest just get a basic qc check.

M_Six wrote in post #16637243
Some folks claim that refurbs are more likely to be in perfect condition than are "new" bodies and lenses because of the extra attention given them. I've bought a few refurbs and they always look and feel new.

Yeah, but do they smell new?

I bought a 60D from Best Buy. It had 3 huge dust bunnies in the viewfinder. I took it back the same day. THAT camera became a refurb.

I have purchased two Canon refurbished bodies (450D & 60D) and two refurbished lenses (35 2, 60 2.8) and have had no problems with anything.

rrblint wrote in post #16637436
Yeah, but do they smell new?

Ha ha!!! Mine did. Took it out of the box and the first thing I thought was, "dang, it even has the new camera smell" Checked the actuations, 29. Couldn't have been happier with my purchase!

EOS5DC wrote in post #16637448
I bought a 60D from Best Buy. It had 3 huge dust bunnies in the viewfinder. I took it back the same day. THAT camera became a refurb.

I would be more inclined to say tha it was put back on the shelf and resold. I also don't necessarily agree that a returb is better than a new one. It possibly could be, but not in all cases.

Frodge wrote in post #16637723
I would be more inclined to say tha it was put back on the shelf and resold. I also don't necessarily agree that a returb is better than a new one. It possibly could be, but not in all cases.

I haven't worked retail lately, but that doesn't make sense. Why would BB want to mess with the same camera being returned over and over. Canon will give them their money back, refurbish it and resell it. If retailers got stuck with the manufacturer's errors, they'd soon stop handling that brand. Plus, I opened everything, which involves ripping and discarding several small plastic bags. It would look 'used' to the next guy, who would return it just for that. I'm fairly certain returns become refurbs.

sharod wrote in post #16637555
Ha ha!!! Mine did. Took it out of the box and the first thing I thought was, "dang, it even has the new camera smell" Checked the actuations, 29. Couldn't have been happier with my purchase!

Mine too with 21 clicks