Did your Ebay camera Work out of the Box?

Did your Ebay camera Work out of the Box?

  • YES! It worked Perfectly

    Votes: 425 70.7%

  • No. Did not work. It's a Paperweight.

    Votes: 45 7.5%

  • Required a minor Repair, Fixed it Myself

    Votes: 112 18.6%

  • Required a Major Repair: Paid to have the work Done.

    Votes: 73 12.1%

  • Requested a Refund.

    Votes: 46 7.7%
  • Total voters
    601
I've bought a Yashica GT which worked OK for a couple months, but then the focusing helicoid got a bad temper. Trying to justify sending to its Uncle Hama.

The 35RC was advertised as a "looks OK, not a camera person" deal, so I was surprised that it worked when I got it. I've since done light seals and had the top cover off for a thorough cleaning. I get a fair amount of flare in touchy lighting conditions, but it's a great camera to hike with.

I was hoping that it would quell the GAS for a MF, but so far it's just not.
 
I have bought more cameras off ebay than anywhere else including a Leica M6, two m4-Ps, and M3 and an M2 (all of which have worked perfectly), a dozen plus Russian and Chinese eica copies (about half of which have worked), a Mamiya 7, Plaubel Makina67, Kiev 88 and a dozen more MF cameras, most of which worked fine and many more. I guess my success rate is 90% +, and most of the cameras that have not worked have been cheap, Russian, Chinese or the ad said they had problems anyway (eg a Leica CL I only bought for the Minolta 40mm lens on it)
 
I've had a lot of issues with the cameras I've purchased on eBay but they were mostly low-end cameras that were selling for yardsale prices by people "that knew nothing about cameras".

My average was around 1 working camera for every DOA. Mostly stuck shutter leaf's. I was okay with the risk involved and I like tinkering anyway. I've been able to get most of them to work while others have ended up in my parts bins. It's nice to have an assortment of tiny screws and springs and to have spare elements for your fixed lens cameras.

If I'm shopping for anything over $50.00 then I start asking questions and I will walk away from anything without a return option.
 
Two M6TTL: perfect. One M7: perfect. A second M7: worked fine, but shutter was louder than the first one. MP .72: Perfect. MP .58: Perfect. The first IIIc: needed a basic CLA, as the shutter was not working correctly. The second IIIc: needed new shutter cloth plus a CLA. John Maddox in South Carolina did a masterful job with those two. My Digilux 2: worked fine. A Nikon FA: Almost perfect. Back a little tricky to close. But it's OK. A number of Leica M lenses, and one or two R lenses: all fine.

Gee, I have bought a lot of stuff. But then, I have sold both the M7s. They were fine I guess, but M7s just don't feel right to me. Something about getting old and fussy, I think.
 
I've been relatively lucky with my eBay purchases. I have had a few dogs (like a box of old camera equipment, none of which was working in any shape or form). But the majority of stuff I've bought (a Oly Trip 35 for £7, an Olympus OM-1 + 50/1.8 lens for £50, Mamiya C3 for £14 and so on) has been great. Just don't go for the stuff that is "untested", that's my advice 🙂
 
One M2: Needed RF alignment (as described by the seller), could fix easily myself.

One CL: Worked out of the box as described.

One Leica R4: Had a problem with the indicators in the VF, returned to seller and received full refund.
 
The vast majority of the cameras I bought there were usable right away.

I started with an Oly 35 RC. My Oly Trip 35 is ok too.
- Focasport II needed me to take the top off to unjam the cocking lever that had got stuck when it swallowed the rangefinder window. Didn't replace the window, but the mechanism is now smooth.
- 66 % luck with FSU gear (Fed 2, Fed 3, Kiev 4am) The Fed 3 is fully working too, but the shutter has light leaks I still have to plug somehow.
- Canon P bought from a reliable seller is in great shape and wonderful camera...
- Werra 1 is functional with all its East German oddities...
- Retinette 022. Nice little Kodak machine.
- Various 35mm and 6x6 folders Zeiss Ikon Ikonta 35, Nettar 515, 515/16, ready to go out of the parcel.
- 518/16 (sticky shutter fixed with lighter fluid),
- Balda Baldini (as good as new)
- and Baldix (recently arrived and not used yet, but very clean and fully functional, complete with case, hood, filter holder and various filters),
- Ensign Selfix 16/20 works very well.
- Agfa Solinette (needed me to free the focusing ring of course, otherwise no issue)
- Agfa Isolette. Bellows needed repairs.
- An FE2 and FM2 (this last one arrived this week)joined the stables as well from a well known US seller with no issues.

Apart from the Canon and Nikons, I bought the rest for the equivalent of between $10 and $50. Rather good value and fun for money IMHO.

Marc
 
My experience with ebay is:

* P&S cameras typically are fine, some of them have quirks though they work. Some of them needed changing light seals.

* Electros - needed replacing POD, except 35MC which is perfect. Light seals for all.

* manual RF's and scale focusers need cleaning shutter, some - adjusting RF. Konica III needed aperture repair. All needed changing light seals.

* Ricoh SLRs - seals only. XR-P were exception and needed to be unstuck (known issue, over time).

* SLR lenses - fine, especially for price. Only supercheap Cosinon 135 had sluggish aperture, works fine after cleaning (more educational project for me).

I'm cheap and so my cameras are (except KIII) so I don't worry if they need some touch. Generally, after I have done some work on them, I feel special feeling of connection.

What Brian said - realized this after my FIRST ebay camera 🙂
 
My advice

My advice

My advice : stay away from buyers stating "it was my father's:angel:" or "I dont know how to test it because I dont have a film blah blah🙄".
Most of the time, the camera they sells are just paperweights.

Also, if you are planing to buy a camera with integrated lightmeter (eg. CdS cell), specifically ask if it is working and CALIBRATED.

Finally, I HATE buying from eBay "harvesters", ie. people which are scanning eBay for cheap items, to immediatly sell it back on eBay for 10 times the price.
Those guys should be shot.
 
Winners, losers, why look at eBay?

Winners, losers, why look at eBay?

I've bought on eBay for a variety of reasons.
I do expect that I will have to change the light seals so am not bothered if I have to. It's a bonus if I don't.
I picked up 2 Oly Trips, one with chrome shutter release and both with lens caps, for 99p each plus p&p. I was delighted to pay that just for the lens caps alone but it turned out one Trip worked straight away, and the other provided a cheap evening's entertainment unjamming the 'little red' low light indicator. At the same time I sussed out how to get the shutter to fire at 1/125 instead of 1/40. So an excellent eBay buy.
On the other hand I've sent 3 cameras back to sellers because they 'were not as described' and had my money back, in two cases included full postage costs to me. I was impressed when that happened.
One of the latest buys was one of the 'clearance' type - Dad'd old camera, don't know anything about it - an Olympus OM-1n in a great case, standard prime lens, with a very good camera bag and odd bits in the bag-Cokin etc. For £11.60 I thought this was a 'reasonable' punt. The lens looks really good and as I was looking for one, I feel I've done pretty well. The camera is in very good cosmetic condition and very clean inside - shutter seems to work and sounds about right through the speed range. The meter flickers! So then decision time. Result -the body has gone off to Michael Spencer in Clay Cross for a full service and I'll use it as a back-up. It will certainly see out my time.
So my feeling is that as long as your expectations aren't too high, as long as you will accept winners and losers, as long as you don't pay out too much, and as long as you are prepared to do a bit of fiddling yourself, there are some interesting items out there. If you are 'just' a photographer you are probably not looking on eBay in the first place. If we are really honest I suspect most of us look and buy just hoping for a great bargain!
 
regular said:
Also, if you are planing to buy a camera with integrated lightmeter (eg. CdS cell), specifically ask if it is working and CALIBRATED.
Click to expand...

only fraction of ebay sellers know and state real condition of gear they sell. Mind you, ebay is global flea market (well, except established specialists and big shops). When you get above-average stuff for peanuts on yard sale, do you are really upset if it's not like a new?

Sure, if CdS is shot on fully automatic camera, you have to get another one to put them together to make one working. Or send out for repair. Or sell for parts. Or use as paparweight.

regular said:
Finally, I HATE buying from eBay "harvesters", ie. people which are scanning eBay for cheap items, to immediatly sell it back on eBay for 10 times the price.
Those guys should be shot.
Click to expand...

Again, some people don't like buying black cat for peanuts and instead prefer to pay more for working gear. Those people you call harvesters, simmer through loads of gear, sell non-working for parts and make some profit on working items. Anyone can choose their sellers.

Sure, there are sellers like arsenal, though no one is obliged to buy from them. As I realize free market, if no one is buying, price gets adjusted.

In my understanding no one is forced to readily shell out about-hundred for messed up Canonet. I believe when this happens, people just have got some free money and lost some reasoning. I have got into similar deals, so don't take my words as offense.

Personally I couldn't try gear I've used without ebay. So thanks it exists and even more, to Lord giving me calmness to judge if I really need this or that and where I should stop.
 
My Hasselblad 500C/M seemed to work fine, but i felt focus accuracy was a lil off wide open. Upon sending it in to my local repair guy for a check, it seemed that the mirror sponge had worn out causing my camera to be off.

A minor repair job on replacing the sponge, and calibrating the lens +body with a machine by my repair guy made the camera operate as good as new🙂 of course, the seller made good and paid me for the repair fee.
 
I've only been burned once on eBay. The seller actually photoshoped the beautiful auction images to hide physical defects (dings,vulcanite defects). Mechanically, the M4 was a mess, too, and one curtain had to be replaced. Never thought the guy would capitulate, but he gave me a refund to cover the CLA and replacement of the shutter. Cosmetically however, the M4 is an E+ and not 'Mint" as stated. This fellow had a 100% positive feedback and almost 2000 transactions, yet I find it hard to believe this was the first time he ever did something like that.

I'm satisfied with the M4 now. Even though it doesn't look like new, Sherry Krauter made it work like new. In the end, I paid about what an M4 camera in that condition would be worth in a retail market.

Anxiety wise, I paid a lot. There are a few bad sellers out there but I believe most are honest. If you have a bad experience, you just have to put it behind you and move on. I believe eBay is a great source for used camera gear and a marvelous marketplace, but as in any market place, caveat emptor.
 
I've been pretty lucky:

Canonet Ql17 GIII - worked perfectly (although sadly it didn't last too long until it started to disassemble itself)

Leica M2 - worked perfectly and still does.

Fed 4 - broken - but it was SO cheap, and I only bought it for the lens anyway.
 
it depends....

it depends....

when I want a user, I will read between the lines very carefully and ask if the seller will stand behind his *fully working* description. But sometimes, I want something to collect especially if it is a rare-r model, I will purchase with lesser regards to the functionality - STILL it has be to fixable. If it works perfectly, it is a real bonus but I stopped fantasising a long time ago.

All old unused cameras require some work, some more, other less. My wish right now is to learn to do a simple CLA myself.

cheers.
 
I had one from a seller with a 100% record. The camera was good but there were obvious problems with the advance lever. After about 8/9 frames 4 days in, the lever just gave up and wouldn't wind the film on (it was an OM2n), I reported had this to the seller as soon as I got the camera but he replied back saying well it works to a fashion and he knew no better (despite selling a lot of cameras on eBay!) When it gave up completely 4 days in and I reported it, he didn't reply, I also noted to him the fact the motor drive cap was missing (not noted) and the focussing screen was a weird 1-12 unit which whilst not his fault, was annoying anyway.

I contacted again, and advised that if he didn't refund a token amount (£10) towards a repair I would have to leave neutral feedback. I had no reply after a week and left a neutral feedback, suffice to say he replied to the eBay comment almost immediately.

Surprising for someone with a 100% record. There have been other experiences but we have come to an amicable resolution and I try to steer clear but what is clear to me is quite a few people are economical with the truth and hope to get away with it.

I almost got stung a week or two back on another OM2n, all black body and it was listed as returns accepted. It was local so I asked before hand if I could collect it and test it + return it if necessary. THey said it was fine, I made the 20 mile trip and took some batteries, they refused to let me test them in the camera and I said that they had confirmed returns were accepted so why not test it now to save the hassle of me taking it away and then maybe having to return it for a refund. They wouldn't relent so I left it. The camera must have been a bad egg. Maybe I was unreasonable but I think given the seller had confirmed returns were acceptable, and if they were legit, what is the difference between me testing the camera before parting with money, than me buying the camera, popping the batteries in in the car, finding it doesn't work and then knocking on the door 30 seconds later saying it's broken and I want to return it and have a refund!

Vicky
 
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