Lens question??

I BOUGHT ONE SO NOT POSTING GOOD DEALS I MISSED OUT ON

I am looking at buying a 55-250 STM. The prices are really all over the board. B&H has them for $299..ebay new has them for as low as $169. I see the one on B&H says made in the USA. The Canon MF# is the same? Is there that big of a difference where you would pay $130 more for one made in the USA?

Get it refurbished from Canon for $239.99.

http://shop.usa.canon.​com …oto-zoom-lens-refurbished

Retail price is $299- that's what adorama/b&h/canon have the price at. You get the same 1 year warranty with a canon refurb as you do new.

I wouldn't buy it grey market from ebay- not worth the hassle if you get a different version and have to pay to ship it back to China.

This is the one I was looking at

http://www.ebay.com …ain_0&hash=item​339d37b5b4

mamaof2 wrote in post #17423518
I am looking at buying a 55-250 STM. The prices are really all over the board. B&H has them for $299..ebay new has them for as low as $169. I see the one on B&H says made in the USA. The Canon MF# is the same? Is there that big of a difference where you would pay $130 more for one made in the USA?

None of them are made in the USA, they are all made in Asia, probably in the same factory. The only difference is the one marked as USA has a US warranty. The "imports" merely mean it's grey goods and not covered by the US warranty. Of course, in fact, they are all imported. It a question of how and from who.

What is the marking for the USA one? How can I tell if it is a USA one? Thanks!

It's going to have a US warranty card, and come from an authorized Canon dealer in the US.

Some people have great success buying grey market or used items via ebay, some have horror stories. I would buy used from KEH/adorama/B&H or refurbished from Canon before I bought a most likely grey market item from ebay, but that's my tolerance for risk/reward. Yours might be higher.

B&H has a used one in 9+ condition for $199.

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …_55_250mm_f_4_5​_6_is.html

For $30 or $70 more, you get peace of mind knowing you are buying from an authorized dealer, with a good return policy, and in the case of the refurb, a full one year manufacturer warranty.

Thank you!

I buy everything used or refurbed, and have never had a problem.

From?

I believe there are two versions of this lens; Be careful with your decision!

I have the II version, which sells for roughly $120 used.

yes I want the STM!

Just got this

http://www.usa.canon.c​om …anonAuthorizedD​ealers.pdf

the 2nd post in this thread is where you should buy it from...refurbished direct from canon...comes with a 1 year warranty just like new...unfortunately it's not a time for deals on refurbs, but it's still better than buying new

i buy lenses off of ebay, but i wouldn't trust that one being the actual STM version it just seems to cheap to be true

Thanks for the post. When are the refurb deals? I really don't "need" this lens till spring. I was going to bit on the B&H for $199.

mamaof2 wrote in post #17423785
Thanks for the post. When are the refurb deals? I really don't "need" this lens till spring. I was going to bit on the B&H for $199.

i'm not sure if there is a set schedule, but they pop up now and again, you can check out the market watch forum here:https://photography-on-the.net/forum/forumdis​play.php?f=89

what i think is the best though is going to canonpricewatch.com you can actually set a price for a lens, and they will notify you when it is available at that price or lower

the only thing is when they go on sale, sometimes things go quickly

but i'd go for refurb over used if the difference is only $40 or so...you get that 1 year warranty