Media Says Not to Buy Used Cameras and Lenses

chris00nj

chris00nj

Young Luddite
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I guess they've never heard of inspecting a lens.

You can get a great camera without breaking the bank, but it'll likely be film. ;)

US News: 20 Things You Should Never Buy Used.

9. Digital Cameras: Like laptops, used digital and video cameras are likely to have been dropped and banged around. It may not be obvious, but once the damage kicks in, it'll be expensive to repair. If you know what to look for in a digital camera, you can get a great new camera without breaking the bank.

11. Camera lenses: An SLR camera lens is the most expensive part of a camera. It also directly affects the quality of your images. Any damage to the lens, however slight, will show up in your photos.
 
This is an example of how the media caters to the manufacturers. They are important advertisers and the two work together. They don't really care about your pictures, they just want to sell you stuff and digital has been a godsend to them. Joe
 
I have bought used cameras and lenses from stores and ebay for 10 years: Nikon, Hasselblad, Voigtländer, Olympus, Leica and Zeiss, and I haven't had the first problem yet...

Cheers,

Juan
 
They're right you know -- never buy used lenses. Especially used Leica lenses at really good prices. Zeiss too are particularly bad. Just leave them all for me. ;)
 
I bought an old Sonnar.

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How did Zeiss manage to survive in the 1930s! What horrible quality compared to Plastic Fantastic!
 
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I remember when articles on "how to be" were relegated to the confines of women's magazines, GQ, and "advice" columns. I guess that's where US News is at these days.
 
Particularly, don't buy Thambars, Mountain Elmars, Xenons, and especially ZUNOWS.

Those used Zunows are particularly damaging to image quality.....I hear used ones explode too.
 
Oh yeah. And the *slightest* damage to them will have an incredible impact on image quality! Every touch of a finger on the outer barrel of a Biogon will lower its transmissibility by 0.1 log D! I can prove it, too! You guys just need to send in all of your M-mount lenses to me and I'll post the results from my test rig. Har har...
 
They may have a point regarding digital cameras; one can't tell if there's an intermittent glitch until after you've paid your money and gone home. The same may be true with auto-focus lenses; you can't always tell if there's performance issues, especially at the point of sale.

And, never, never buy electronics of any kind at the Flea Market. ;)

~Joe
 
Don't buy used hats?

What a brilliant list.

I never have a good feeling about the future of the human race whenever I come across something so blatantly stupid.
 
So to be fair, this sounds like good advice for non-expert users who might not know what to look for. And it probably applies even more to communities where sellers might not be terribly upfront about the condition of their goods.

Given the audience - people who value info from lists like this - it makes sense to me.
 
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