Buying news lens online?

[Mach1320]

So I've been wanting a Tamron SP 24-70 f2.8 DI VC lens and i usually buy from B&H. I've always said if it sounds to good to be true it probably is. However i see these lens on Ebay, form places who've sold a decent quantity of them for say $800-$850. Does anyone have experience with this? Are they fakes ? Why so cheap ?

 

[Mach1320]

A little more research shows its most likely new gray market equipment. From what i gather its otherwise new stuff made for a market that is not US ? Wondering how much of a difference there really is ?

 

[robbins.photo]

A little more research shows its most likely new gray market equipment. From what i gather its otherwise new stuff made for a market that is not US ? Wondering how much of a difference there really is ?

The difference with grey market is that they were not meant for sale in the US, the proper tariff's were not paid on these items for US sale. Some places us various loopholes to get around this restriction, allowing them to sell the products cheaper because they didn't pay the tariffs.

The downside is the warranty becomes an iffy proposition at best. In many cases you'll wind up having to send the item back to the seller and have them submit it for warranty repair. Since the sellers in question often change business names and reopen under different names a lot of times this becomes nearly impossible.

I have heard of cases of people being able to determine which repair depot they can send it to without going through the seller, but either way your looking at shipping the item overseas and usually much longer wait times and much greater expense for shipping in both directions.

I don't generally recommend grey market items, if you really want to forgo the warranty look for used. If your willing to buy new then no point in saving a few bucks to nearly invalidate the one thing new really has going over used, that warranty.

 

[Mach1320]

I hear you, generally i would agree buy new or used, im not opposed to used but cant seem to find those things on the market. There is a camera place i get some sort of discount through from work... If it was say $1000 otd i'd probably spring for new given I'm basically buying the warranty for $150 at that point.

 

[robbins.photo]

I hear you, generally i would agree buy new or used, im not opposed to used but cant seem to find those things on the market. There is a camera place i get some sort of discount through from work... If it was say $1000 otd i'd probably spring for new given I'm basically buying the warranty for $150 at that point.

Lenses like that are usually pretty tough to find used, people that have them don't often end up reselling them till a newer model comes out and they replace the older one they already have.

Out of curiosity, what DSLR are you using this for?

 

[Derrel]

After the new, massive lawsuit against B&H Photo, I have decided to never again link to any item they offer for sale. Instead, I will recommend other retail outlets, like BestBuy.

Tamron - SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD Standard Zoom Lens for Nikon - Black

I just looked, the 24-70 VC from some of the big gray-market retailers is more in the $800 range. DO a search on gray market goods, for more information. Gray market goods are the same construction grade as the officially-imported items, but were brought into the USA outside of "official channels"; one thing that gray market good offer the customer is a lower retail price--AND a good sales lever for a sharp salesman to sell you an extended warranty.

Like most types of 'insurance', a $150 to $199 warranty sold by the retailer is a MASSIVE PROFIT center. I used to sell photo/video goods...salesmen receive HUGE spiffs (sales incentives, payed to the salesman) for selling a warranty, which in 95% of cases, will never be needed, and which is basically, 95% pure profit to the retailer.

If a lens has a manufacturer's 5- or 6-year warranty, then the salesman has almost zero chance of selling a $159 extended warranty, for which he will likely receive anywhere from 15 to 25% of the sale price in his paycheck.

 

[Mach1320]

So you feel they are still of good quality ? Curious to the details on the b&h lawsuit ?

 

[Mach1320]

I hear you, generally i would agree buy new or used, im not opposed to used but cant seem to find those things on the market. There is a camera place i get some sort of discount through from work... If it was say $1000 otd i'd probably spring for new given I'm basically buying the warranty for $150 at that point.

Lenses like that are usually pretty tough to find used, people that have them don't often end up reselling them till a newer model comes out and they replace the older one they already have.

Out of curiosity, what DSLR are you using this for?

I'm using a Nikon D7100, mostly shoot outdoors, cars, drag racing etc. Mostly race cars and drag racing though

 

[robbins.photo]

Well if your looking for something in that focal range have you considered some older glass instead? For the kind of shutter speeds you'll most likely be using anyway I doubt the VR/VC/OS function would be all that critical.

Nikon made a D model 35-70mm F/2.8 D - your 7100 would have the necessary built in motor to use it.
Tamron made a 28-75mm F/2.8 A09NII without VC

If your looking for something with a bit more reach you could probably get a nikkor 80-200mm 2.8 (look for the dual ring model) or for a bit more either a Sigma or Tamron 70-200 mm F2.8.

 

[Mach1320]

I guess i look for VR given the off hand and moving vehicle stuff i do a bit of

 

[robbins.photo]

I guess i look for VR given the off hand and moving vehicle stuff i do a bit of

Well unless your shooting from a moving vehicle rather than at one, honestly it's probably not doing you a bit of good. My guess is your probably shooting at shutter speeds that are more than high enough to eliminate camera shake at those focal lengths to avoid motion blur, so VC/VR/OS becomes far less useful. Truth be told I rarely if ever even have mine turned on, especially for the shorter focal length lenses. Take a lens like my 17-50, pretty rare that I'm shooting at shutter speeds less than 1/100, and anytime your shooting at a shutter speed that's twice your focal length that should be more than sufficient to eliminate any camera shake you might encounter.

 

[Mach1320]

Given it some more thought and i'd say you're right, my current lens doesn't have VR and does just fine, going with something minus the VR would easily put me into what I'd like to spend.

 

[robbins.photo]

Given it some more thought and i'd say you're right, my current lens doesn't have VR and does just fine, going with something minus the VR would easily put me into what I'd like to spend.

Optically there are some great lenses out there without VR - and man they are so much cheaper than their newer VR counterparts. Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-VR, I just realized that for me and honestly for a lot of people the situations in which you would use VR at least on a shorter focal length lens are actually somewhat limited, unless of course you are perhaps a pro who shoots a lot of indoor events where you don't have access to additional lighting.

 

[Mach1320]

Well, i do some low light, i would like doing some indoor but right now 95% of what i do is outdoor in bright light

 

[robbins.photo]

Well, i do some low light, i would like doing some indoor but right now 95% of what i do is outdoor in bright light

For me I found that even indoors in poor lighting I'm still usually shooting at shutter speeds high enough that VR becomes moot, since I'm not usually shooting subjects that sit still and I need the higher shutter speed to cancel out motion blur anyway. One thing I see VR as being really good for is shooting at lower shutter speeds in such conditions and allowing you to lower your ISO as a result, but since that's pretty much a once in a blue moon thing for me I've found that for me at least it's not a big selling point for a lens. When those occasions arise I can always compensate with a flash.

Mileage varies of course, for some folks I can see VR being a lot more useful. But when I look at all that incredible glass out there without VR and how cheap it is.. lol.. well there is some great bargains out there if you are like me and don't really need VR that bad.