# Would you buy a refurbished lens?



## Senor Hound (Jul 3, 2008)

Lets say its only 80% of the normal lens's cost, its US (no grey market), and it has the same warranty as the normal version.

I would just like an opinion.  And also, why or why not you would.


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## lostprophet (Jul 3, 2008)

no, if its a US lens it wouldn't have a UK warranty


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## Senor Hound (Jul 3, 2008)

lostprophet said:


> no, if its a US lens it wouldn't have a UK warranty



Does this mean you buy grey market lenses?  Since you don't live in the US, whether or not it can be worked on here doesn't really bother you?

I am curious.  Maybe you're telling a joke and I don't get it.  I'm kind of a ditz sometimes.


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## lostprophet (Jul 3, 2008)

Senor Hound said:


> Does this mean you buy grey market lenses?  Since you don't live in the US, whether or not it can be worked on here doesn't really bother you?
> 
> I am curious.  Maybe you're telling a joke and I don't get it.  I'm kind of a ditz sometimes.



no, if I bought a grey lens it wouldn't have a UK warranty


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## nynfortoo (Jul 3, 2008)

lostprophet said:


> no, if its a US lens it wouldn't have a UK warranty





I probably would buy a refurbished lens. More so than with a new lens, though, I'd want to try it before I bought it.


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## Helen B (Jul 3, 2008)

I have bought a couple of Nikon-refurbished Nikkors, and they have been fine. If they are available it seems like a reasonable way to save money.

Best,
Helen


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## Overread (Jul 3, 2008)

lostprophet said:


> no, if I bought a grey lens it wouldn't have a UK warranty


 
Although lenses (I don't know about refurbished ones) do often have international warrenties and some companies will still honour those warrenties - even if the lens is a grey.
Of hand I think canon do honour the warrenty whilst nikkon don't (from memory don't hold me to that)


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## Mike_E (Jul 3, 2008)

Yes.

If Nikon is like most places then they do an out of box audit on 10% of all the new product they manufacture.

Whom ever does their reman will put every referb unit through a QA process.


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## tirediron (Jul 3, 2008)

I've never bought a Nikon refurbished lens, but I would have no problem doing so if there was one that I wanted available.  I've bought many used lenses, and they've all been fine.  Like anything else, check it out first, but it seems a great way to save a few $$.


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## The Dread Pirate Robins (Jul 3, 2008)

I guess it makes a difference on what sort of equipment you use.  I shoot with a 35-40 year old camera with a screw mount.  The Takumar lenses, which I tend to seek out, are ALL used, so I have to take my chances sometimes.  They are all manual, so I mainly just open up the aperture all the way, take a good look through it and make sure there isn't visible fungal growth going nuts all over the place, and then I run it through its paces to see if the f stops are all working, if the automatic diaphragm bit (if applicable) functions, if it focuses, and I then attach it to the camera and ask to point it at things at different distances and light levels.

If buying locally, I would take the camera body with you and try the lens on your camera.  If they won't let you do that then maybe they don't need your money, either.


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## rubbertree (Jul 3, 2008)

I haven't and I don't think I would... I don't ~think~ I would. Of course I could change my mind.
The thing that makes me question it is that it's been refurbished. Why? Something was wrong with it prior and it's been fixed. Who's to say it won't happen again? I know, I know, it could happen to any lens but...


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## Bifurcator (Jul 3, 2008)

Yes. Of course. No question about it. I would.


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## Don Kondra (Jul 3, 2008)

I have bought used but I think if it was available, I would feel more comfortable buying refurbished.

That is, my assumption is it has been taken apart, cleaned and tested ???

Cheers, Don


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## icassell (Jul 3, 2008)

Absolutely.  I have even bought used (not refurbished) lenses with no problem (knock wood).    My Sigma 100-300 f4 was from ebay ... I got it for slightly over $500 in absolutely immaculate condition and it is ~ $1K new on Amazon.


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## Overread (Jul 3, 2008)

I think if I were buying a lens second hand I really would want to check it out first and foremost. If its a serious expense and saving I would first go and try out a new version of the lens in a store so that I knew what the quality should be at for that lens - then I would buy from a second hand source that lets me test out the lens (thus somewhere local) that way I know that I am getting a good quaity second hand product.

ps - yes I know that there are many tales of success with this and there are also many failures as well - I think to be cautious and demanding of a high quality product (or at least one honouring the description give for it) is not out of the question


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## icassell (Jul 3, 2008)

Many photo shops sell used equipment that has been checked out by their repair tech.  Some offer a warrantee of sorts.  If the lens is of a current vintage, you can weigh the savings against the cost of shipping it back for repair if necessary.


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## Rhys (Jul 3, 2008)

I have bought secondhand lenses but to be quite honest the price of a secondhand lens these days is so high compared to the price of a new lens that I'd rather pay the little bit extra and buy new.


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## kundalini (Jul 3, 2008)

I'm guessing you are talking about purchasing from a dealer or a retailer since a used one is intimately associated with the previous owner.

I would trust a refurbished lens over just a plain used one.  As mentioned earlier, it has been put through it's 123 point inspection and come out as a good product, if certified.

I don't have a problem with buying a used lens either if I can physically inspect and use it myself or have it inspected by a technician or if the price is just too damn good to pass up (read > $100USD).


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## Rhys (Jul 3, 2008)

I'm not really convinced by "refurbishment" as usually all this means is a cursory glance to see if it works and a quick cleaning.


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## Drake (Jul 4, 2008)

I would definitely go for used or refurbished lens if the price difference where I live was big enough to bother. Or it is just me not good enough to find any tempting offers.


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## Rhys (Jul 4, 2008)

Drake said:


> I would definitely go for used or refurbished lens if the price difference where I live was big enough to bother. Or it is just me not good enough to find any tempting offers.



That's exactly what I said. I remember an old saying "i'm too poor to buy cheap things".


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## Joves (Jul 5, 2008)

Refurbished with a warranty, then most definately yes.


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## taracor (Jul 6, 2008)

Yeah, I would.  Sometimes you caneven find em for less than 80%.


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## Easy_Target (Jul 11, 2008)

Only if that particular lens is hard to find, otherwise no.


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