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Making the jump to DLSR. Buy refurbished & save the difference?

mcvickj

mcvickj

Diamond Member
Greetings everyone. I have finally decided to take the next step and move into the DSLR world. After a lot of reading I've settled on the Nikon D3300 with the AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR II Zoom Lens kit lens. My question is would you ever consider buying factory refurbished gear and then use the extra money towards some glass?

I have seen several people reference http://www.cameta.com/ so I'm assuming this would be an acceptable place to buy gear. They sell refurbished D3300's for $389.95. Where the same camera brand new sells for $496.95.
 
You should read other similar threads. Everybody recommends refurbs.

Many like me even recommend used gear from places like Craigslist, if you are up to it.
 
A refurb D3300 with the 18-55 and 55-200 lenses was $400 via buydig on ebay this past weekend. I've also seen the price at $429 and $450 this year. I think Cameta has a longer warranty through them though. Keep an eye out on slickdeals.net for decent deals.

I just bought a refurb D5300 from buydig on ebay. Everything seems ok and new looking except the camera strap was a little worn and smelled of cologne. It was also missing a software disk. That wasn't a big deal because I could download the program from Nikon's site.
 
balloonshark said:
A refurb D3300 with the 18-55 and 55-200 lenses was $400 via buydig on ebay this past weekend. I've also seen the price at $429 and $450 this year. I think Cameta has a longer warranty through them though. Keep an eye out on slickdeals.net for decent deals.

I just bought a refurb D5300 from buydig on ebay. Everything seems ok and new looking except the camera strap was a little worn and smelled of cologne. It was also missing a software disk. That wasn't a big deal because I could download the program from Nikon's site.
Click to expand...

I highly recommend refurbs. Several of my lenses I got direct from Nikon's refurb site. Almost all of my gear is used. Saved tons of money going refurb / used like new on amazon. Haven't gotten a raw deal yet!
 
I've recommended refurbs and Cameta on this site at least a couple times.
I've purchased 3 refurbs thru them.
One of them had a problem - they replaced it within 3 days.
They extend the normal Nikon 30-day refurb warranty to a full year.
 
Factory authorized refurbs are a good buy. I have never had a problem with them.
 
Thanks for the assurance. Guess I'll be able to save the difference and put it towards a second lens.
 
The normal warranty for Nikon factory refurbs is 90 days. Both my camera and lens came with a small piece of paper with warranty info, model and serial number.
 
Save as much as you can on the camera, spend more on the lens.

If you go to Photography on the net (POTN) forum they have a dedicated section for lenses. Look at the difference in quality with quality lenses compared to the cheap bundles.

Start out with a cheap crop frame camera, then work your way up to a full frame later down the road. The difference between a cheap crop camera and an expensive one are features that you wont use/dont need until you step up to full frame.
 
I recently bought a refurb d3300 about month ago and I have been very satisfied with the purchase. I was able to get 2 lenses, 18-55 and a 55-200. They were kit lenses, but shooting with them is giving me a feel for what type of lenses I want to purchase in the future. The money I saved on the camera will definitely make it easier to finance my lens purchases.
 
mcvickj said:
Greetings everyone. I have finally decided to take the next step and move into the DSLR world. After a lot of reading I've settled on the Nikon D3300 with the AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR II Zoom Lens kit lens. My question is would you ever consider buying factory refurbished gear and then use the extra money towards some glass?

I have seen several people reference http://www.cameta.com/ so I'm assuming this would be an acceptable place to buy gear. They sell refurbished D3300's for $389.95. Where the same camera brand new sells for $496.95.
Click to expand...

Refurbished and sold by an authorized dealer as a USA-warranty model is fine. Cameta is an authorized Nikon dealer. Most ebay sellers are not, and their 'factory refurb' products are often not covered by any genuine warranty (they have b.s. claims about how they themselves will give you x-days warranty... good luck collecting on that), and treated like grey market so the manufacturer won't touch it either. Even if you offer to pay out of pocket.
 
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