Website with cameras for sale

[pete63uk]

Hi guys,

There's a site called rockycameras.com and I wondered if anyone had ever bought from them? A lot of the stuff looks fairly rubbish but there are some nice rangefinders there. Just wondered if anyone could say if they were good or best to avoid.

Thanks.

 

[johannielscom]

Last time I bought from him, it was a Black-rim Canon 50/1.2 and when it arrived, the aperture was shot. Three blades were broken and bent. It was listed as fully working order.

Gotta hand it to him, he was quick with refunding 50% of the purchase price. This was an eBay sale, though.

I used the lens without the three blades for a couple of shots (flare all over the place) and sold it for spares on RFF.

Only as I won the auction did I notice I had bought before from the same guy, he had changed his eBay handle.

Both purchases before the Canon 50/1.2 were rubbish too.


Hope this answers your question?

 

[bobkatz]

I found this:
http://www.velocityreviews.com/forums/t670758-beware-of-rocky-cameras-uk.html
Bob-

 

[sevo]

He has a well-deserved poor reputation. One of many bulk dealers in broken photographic equipment selling on ebay with overly enthusiastic descriptions - with the added complication that many buyers have perceived him to be bad-mouthed and dishonest in his refusals to honour complaints, and that his merchandise seems to be unusually dirty and dysfunctional even by the low standards of that trade.

 

[newspaperguy]

I had a decent dealing with him, maybe I was lucky...

he sure has gained a poor reputation from others.

 

[Iain W]

I've bought a Ricoh 500G and a few Hoya filters from this dealer and had no problems. Maybe just the luck of the draw.

 

[ramosa]

sounds like a risky endeavor. i'd recommended dealing with a more reputable seller of used camera equipment such as KEH.

 

[malcD]

> UK ebay seller, trading as rockycamera (formerly member446885), also has
> a website www.rockycameras.com. This is not just a problem for UK
> buyers, the scam artist will happily ship to the US and worldwide.
> He buys in used cameras and lenses in bulk and performs no proper checks
> on them before punting them out as "=OPTICALLY PERFECT=", etc. When
> things go wrong, as they frequently do, a complainer will be assured of
> a refund or replacement that never arrives.
> His most audacious exploit recently was to take back a faulty item, fail
> to refund the buyer, and then re-list the same item on ebay. Priceless.
>
> For a flavour of this crook's dealings, look here...
> http://www.resellerratings.com/store/RockyCameras

 

[sepiareverb]

Some time ago I had some awful ebay dealing with him. Details escape me, but the name does not.

 

[Welsh_Italian]

sounds like a risky endeavor. i'd recommended dealing with a more reputable seller of used camera equipment such as KEH.

Does KEH have a branch in Britain? It's just that the customs costs can be considerable these days when importing.

 

[pschauss]

I bought several cameras and lenses from him when he was selling on Ebay. Most of the stuff was not in perfect condition, but I felt that, given that I never paid more than $35 with shipping for anything that I bought, I got what I paid for. Here are some examples:

Praktica PLC3 - the light meter did not work because of a broken wire. It turned out to be a simple repair which I could do by removing the bottom plate. Amazingly, the batter was still good (and still is, two years later). I paid less than $30 for this camera with shipping. This is one of my favorite M42 cameras.

Minolta x-300 - It came with an off-brand, junk lens which I expected and the film counter does not fully reset. Other than that, it is a perfectly functioning camera.

Pentacon electric 50mm/f1.8 lens - works perfectly.

Agifold - Agilux - The slow speeds don't work but since I don't normally use anything below 1/30, that was not an issue. The lens and bellows were in good shape.

I have looked at his web site a few times since he stopped selling on Ebay, but I did not see anything that I thought was worth spending my money on.

 

[johannielscom]

I bought several cameras and lenses from him when he was selling on Ebay. Most of the stuff was not in perfect condition, but I felt that, given that I never paid more than $35 with shipping for anything that I bought, I got what I paid for. Here are some examples:

Praktica PLC3 - the light meter did not work because of a broken wire. It turned out to be a simple repair which I could do by removing the bottom plate. Amazingly, the batter was still good (and still is, two years later). I paid less than $30 for this camera with shipping. This is one of my favorite M42 cameras.

Minolta x-300 - It came with an off-brand, junk lens which I expected and the film counter does not fully reset. Other than that, it is a perfectly functioning camera.

Pentacon electric 50mm/f1.8 lens - works perfectly.

Agifold - Agilux - The slow speeds don't work but since I don't normally use anything below 1/30, that was not an issue. The lens and bellows were in good shape.

I have looked at his web site a few times since he stopped selling on Ebay, but I did not see anything that I thought was worth spending my money on.

Let me guess, all these items were listed as 'In perfect functional condition' or something similar?

You may be right when saying that nothing was too big an issue and nothing was expensive either, but it's a rip deal none the less!

 

[ChrisN]

He also has no care for the difference between IXMOO and FILCA.

 

[pete63uk]

I think it best to avoid him then. At the end of the day, whatever you pay, you expect it to work if it states that it does. Thx guys.

 

[James24]

Thanks for the link - I wondered what had happened to Rocky - he used to sell vast amounts of kit on eBay. My view is that Rocky just piles it high and sells it cheap. He probably doesn't spend much/any time checking it, and, because a lot of it is rough, problems will occur from time to time. I bought several items from him when he was trading on eBay, and had good experiences. I would buy from him again....he's the sort of guy who might sell a very used Nikkor 135mm f2.8 for about £25, which had a few scratches and possibly other nasties. If you want a mint near new one, it's best to look somewhere else and cough up the £120 or whatever, going rate.

 

[farlymac]

With an 18,000 item inventory, at least I can kill a bunch of time perusing the listings. Caveot emptor!

PF