Bad used lens buying experience?

Has anyone had, or heard of, a bad experience buying a used lens?
I've heard of plenty of good ones, just never a bad one.

kuma1212 wrote in post #3522459
Has anyone had, or heard of, a bad experience buying a used lens?
I've heard of plenty of good ones, just never a bad one.

i bought a lens from ebay that had a scratch on the front element and another that didn't AF properly. both times my money was refunded.

i've also had a couple of bad new lens buying experiences. my first L lens quit AFing after about 50 shots and had to be returned to BH.

i also had a bad rental lens experience -- soft 35 1.4 -- but the entire rental amount including postage was refunded to me.

maybe i'm unlucky...or maybe you better knock wood !

ed rader

Every lens I've bought was used except my fishy - and in perfect functioning order.

cosworth wrote in post #3522518
Every lens I've bought was used except my fishy - and in perfect functioning order.

you better start knocking too maybe !

ed rader

I take the body with me and i have a focus screen. i'm pretty fussy!

Yeah.. I just had bad experience buying a nifty fifty off the forum.

I'm just glad that it wasn't a more expensive lens.

I bought a used 24-70L from a store (luckily) that was deemed "irreparable" by Canon Canada. I've purchased 3 other used lenses, two from FM, one from Craigslist and they've all been in perfect condition.

I have bought two used lenses, and neither was a good experience. One, purchased from a FM'er, was backfocusing from the start. What a jerk...totally burned me. The other lasted a month before the zoom started binding. Luckily, I bought if from KEH so it was under warranty. That started a 3 month saga that pretty much made me determined to never buy another used lens (or any lens from KEH).

In reality, I think I am the exception. I have a buddy that has several used lenses, all of which are great. You hear more about 'soft' copies than used lens horror stories.

I may buy used again, but it won't be for a lot of money. If I can get a used lens for $200-300, I will probably roll the dice again. Anything more than that, I'm buying new.

Closest thing to bad was a lens I bought over eBay that smelled of cigarette smoke when I got it. It went away though... the smell of smoke, not the lens.

Other than that small inconvenience, I think I'm at a lucky 7 in terms of buying used.

All the used stuff I've bought have been really good except a couple, one smelled bad and bothered my allergies, but they (B&H) didn't have a problem taking it back, the other from KEH had fungus in it. They were extremely rude about it (long story.) I'd never deal with them again.

But as for private sales and B&H I love getting used stuff. All my FD stuff was used and some of my EF stuff is. To me it can be worth saving a few bucks.

I've bought all but one of my lenses used on these forums, FM, or Ebay. I haven't gotten a bad deal yet, so I've been very fortunate. As a matter of fact, he only bad lens purchase I've had was a new 17-55 from buydig. Still waiting to get my money back on that one. Just make sure to protect yourself properly and you shouldn't have any worries. I always buy used stuff with a credit card through Paypal. That way I have two layers of protection (well, really 1.5 since Paypal isn't much help).

I have bought just two lenses brand new - my first good telephoto with a Dell discount (70-300 IS) and my current 10-20 Sigma, also on sale. All others have been used, and 99% from these forums, and the remaining few from Ebay. The one and only issue I had was I bought 2 kit lenses from somebody without bothering to ask whether they smoked, and I received two very stinky and dirty kit lenses that had to be cleaned up. In fact the XTs, Rebels, 20Ds, and 30Ds also were all used from these forums, I have never bought a DSLR new.

Not liking the stench of tar/tobacco, I simply got rid of them on Ebay by stating that they came from a smoker, and received no complaints from the buyers. There is no way to get that out of a lens, btw. I tried various home remedies, like baking soda, dryer sheets, etc. and since the odor is inside the lens, it won't come out. It was alot better after cleaning the exteriors and using the home remedies, but on a hot day, forget it.

I've bought two used lenses, the 70-200 2.8L IS and the 300 4L IS. Both are in like-new condition. I've bought both after having met the sellers personally, and I've had a chance to check out the lenses myself.

I've bought 5 used lenses, 4 on here. 3 of the 4 bought on here were not as described and I got rid of them. I won't buy used again.

My 24-70 f/2.8L I purchased off ebay and did a local pick up, so I was able to examine and test it. Evenutally, as I worked with it, it was a bit funky. At first, I thought it was really user error. Lived with it and tried to learn its behaviour. It's been in for service twice for calibration. I think it's still focus hunting, but those situations only happen in low light and on certain subjects.

My 17-85 IS (before the 247), I purchased used and it was great.

Currently, I'm waiting for a 28mm f/1.8 from a user of this forum actually.