# 5DIII - New or Refurb?



## snerd (May 20, 2014)

Furthering Steve's idea in another thread..............

............ so, I'm just browsing around (yeah, right), and see that on the Canon Store site they have the 5DIII refurb for $2719.20. Amazon has new for $3400.00. In your opinion, is it worth $700 more for brand-spanking, shiny new, no previous owner?! Or is it worth saving $700 for a almost-new, refurbed and made like-new, probably one-owner, one year warranty camera?


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## imagemaker46 (May 20, 2014)

Depends on who was using it.  I would never buy any of the cameras I use, if I was to offer them for sale.  I really look after my gear but they take professional photographer abuse, lots of images go through them, they end up in the rain and snow, hot and cold.  Even after a couple of years they still look shiny and new, with very little visible wear, but inside they are run down and tired, kind of how I feel some days.

If you can afford new, buy new.


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## snerd (May 20, 2014)

imagemaker46 said:


> Depends on who was using it.  I would never buy any of the cameras I use, if I was to offer them for sale.  I really look after my gear but they take professional photographer abuse, lots of images go through them, they end up in the rain and snow, hot and cold.  Even after a couple of years they still look shiny and new, with very little visible wear, but inside they are run down and tired, kind of how I feel some days.
> 
> If you can afford new, buy new.



But then again, isn't the "tired and rundown" taken care of during the refurb?


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## Overread (May 20, 2014)

Refurbs are typically better bets than new in some ways. Yes its been "used" although many times that use is just display work not hard graft. However no matter the use it gets personal reconditioning to a like new condition. Brand new are subject  to batch processing whilst your refurb is individually checked. 

About the only actual downside is the reduced warranty cover period on a refurb


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## snerd (May 20, 2014)

Well, to sweeten the deal for new, I just saw the $200 Post-Rebate form. So now it's down to $500 difference.


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## snerd (May 20, 2014)

And the refurb has the same 1 year warranty as the new one.


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## snerd (May 20, 2014)

Amazon also has this with the EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM lens for $600 more. If this is the same lens they sell separately for $1149, that's a steal!


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## TWright33 (May 20, 2014)

I would buy the refurb and put that $700 (or$500) towards some new glass or flash equipment


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## Lumens (May 20, 2014)

I purchased my 7D as a Refurb and have no regrets.  It came to me like new, but I am not a Camera Mechanic and would not know how to look at the inside workings.  There are those that may have had true photography use and those that just may not have been what the owner wanted so returned within a month or so of very little use.  With a Refurb you just don't know, but before I purchased I checked a number of reviews and comments from purchasers of a Refurb Cameras and found the satisfaction rate was quite high so I went for it and saved a substantial amount.  Being a hobbyist I don't put it through any thing like a true photographer might, so it has worked very well for me.

If I ever go Full Frame I will likely take the same path.  It is a risk but I believe a fairly good one considering it still has a one year warranty.


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## snerd (May 20, 2014)

Well, the white box EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM lens is going for $750, so that's not quite the deal it looked like.


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## Steve5D (May 20, 2014)

If it was a factory refurb, I'd definitely consider it.

And, perhaps, I shall...


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## imagemaker46 (May 20, 2014)

My only concerns would be more in how much would be replaced, I can't imagine they would be replacing the shutter curtains.  I tore through 2 sets of curtains in a three year period.  The second set done by Canon.  This is why I mentioned it depends on who was using the gear before the repairs are done.  Some camera bodies just take way more punishment than others and if there is no damage to the outside, how much really gets replaced? or is it simply a tune-up?


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## snerd (May 20, 2014)

Steve5D said:


> If it was a factory refurb, I'd definitely consider it.
> 
> And, perhaps, I shall...



Yes, that was factory, on their site.


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## AmberAtLoveAndInk (May 20, 2014)

I bought mine new, certified, from Nice Electronics for $2899, I ordered via phone, first asking for the import model ($2550) and then when he pulled the bait & switch on me I haggled him down from $3100 to $2899. I will tell you though, if you order from these guys it is tooth & nail to get them to ship it and give you an email confirmation. The products are legitimate (I first called Canon sure direct to ask about possible fraud) but like I said, the bait & switch business is pretty nasty and they are very rude and will insist you need to buy all of their extremely over priced accessories (that's how the make up the money for selling their cams so cheap) perhaps I was lucky with the sales guy when I haggled and got away with getting free 3 day shipping via UPS. Its worth a shot for the price I think though, since I prefer all of my gear to be new.


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## Overread (May 21, 2014)

Amber - you were probably lucky - most of the bait and switch shops simply won't ship something out and will cancel or put the order on "waiting for stock" forever if  the buyer doesn't pay more for all the useless "accessories" (a good number are just normal things in the box). It's certainly how they make their money, its basically false advertising on the price followed by a hard sell to get you to pay a lot more - sometimes people end up paying more than they would have from other retailers.


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## ThinBlueLine (May 21, 2014)

Pretty much all of my equipment is refurbished. I've never had to send anything back that was refurbished, but I did have to send things back that I bought new. 
My D800, 70-200mm 2.8, 50mm 1.8, 24mm 1.8, all refurbished.


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## AmberAtLoveAndInk (May 21, 2014)

Overread said:


> Amber - you were probably lucky - most of the bait and switch shops simply won't ship something out and will cancel or put the order on "waiting for stock" forever if  the buyer doesn't pay more for all the useless "accessories" (a good number are just normal things in the box). It's certainly how they make their money, its basically false advertising on the price followed by a hard sell to get you to pay a lot more - sometimes people end up paying more than they would have from other retailers.



Ya I probably did, just thought maybe someone else would get lucky too, for that price, I think it was worth jumping through hoops with these salesmen. However, I will probably not ever order from them again unless it is an extremely discounted big ticket item such as this. Over a lens, I would rather pay the extra $300 and get it in 2 days from Amazon. 
I did learn one thing though, my husband should have gone into a different line of work, like a drill sergeant lmao. He is the one that "straightened" the sales guy out and had my cam shipped within the hour.


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