Used equipment experiences?

[Deadtrees]

Out of all those lenses and cameras I've bought over the years, nothing was bought as used. It's not that I'm against the idea of buying used but it just feels uncomfortable.
When I think about it, in terms of economic approach, it seems to be the silliest thing to do as I only use them for a couple of years. In other words, paying full price for the lens only to use it for a couple of years max. then to sell it seems silly. Had I bought them used, even after years of usage, I could've actually sold them for the price that I've bought. More than that, I could've actually made money as resale values of lenses has gone up due to the Japanese Yen being damn strong.
Thinking about all those, I decided to go for a used one this time. I hope everything turns out o.k.


Anyway, I was wondering how the buying-used experiences were like.

EDIT: The reason I feel uncomfortable buying used equipment is because I don't know anything about what's ever happned to it: a lens that looks perfect outside might have been dropped thus breaking internal alignment. It might have been calibrated for a camera that has AF calibration problem. It might have been cleaned with Windex. A camera that looks fine might have been out in the strong rain thus making internal board to rust. Heck, it might have been in the shower stream (Read: Fuzzy's D300.) Come to think of it, my friend's Nikon 80-200mm that looks perfect outside had this problem where more than half of internal glasses dislocating. I'm sure he didn't mention it when he sold it.

 

[corkyg]

I only had one experience at buying used - and it was a good one. It was for a Canon EOS 15-35mm f/2.8 L lens. I see the current B&H price is about $1400. I got it for $900, and it was like new. I sold Fuzzy a EX-580 flash.

 

[jpeyton]

I almost always buy used. Because of the recent price hikes from Nikon/Canon/etc. (plus some good luck finding deals on Craigslist), most of my equipment is worth more now than what I paid for it.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

All of my experiences from FredMiranda have been positive. Over 10 pieces of various equipment easily.

 

[yllus]

Most of my equipment is used - a used Canon 40D bought off Craigslist, a used Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 bought from consignment to a local camera shop, even a used Kata T-214 sling bag to keep everything in that I bought from someone on the photography-on-the.net forums. Not a single problem.

 

[randomlinh]

Of my current gear... the 20D, sigma 30, canon 50/1.8, and 85/1.8 are used. 40D is ebay, 50-135 is bhphoto, and tamron 17-50 from BB are all new. All perfectly fine experiences, off FM and POTN.

In the past, I've had a canon 28-135, 18-50 sigma, and 70-300 sigma all used. Worked great, just either didn't like it at the time or traded for something else.

I have never been able to snag the cool deals off CL =(

 

[ElFenix]

the only used item i have is a 70-210 f/4 lens i got from keh. it was listed in bargain condition. using manual focusing does not inspire confidence that the lens is going to be around a long long time, but other than that it seems good.

 

[ghostman]

I got a Canon 18-55mm, Canon 10-22mm, Canon 70-200mm F4L, Peleng 8mm fisheye, Canon 430EX flash and several lower-priced items used. Of these, I've resold the Canon 18-55mm for the same price I bought it a year earlier and the Peleng 8mm fisheye for more than twice my purchase price. The remaining used lenses were in like-new condition and would also fetch more than my purchase price.

Whenever I buy a lens, I either request full-size sample shots (if it's over the web) or test the equipment thoroughly (if it's a CL purchase). Any glaring issues would turn up for in-person purchases. Come to think of it, I only bought the 50mm f/1.8 and Tamron 28-75mm lenses new. These were my first lenses, so I wasn't familiar enough with lenses to trust myself in evaluating a used lens.

 

[angry hampster]

I've bought and sold more than $3500 from POTN, and have not had a bad experience yet. Very honest bunch of folks there. Plan to sell another lens here shortly.

 

[blackhawk]

Of my digital equipment, most of it was used, bought here, agora, hf and fredmiranda and a local craigslist, all went well and worked great.

Do your homework, buy stuff in very good condition even if it costs more, means the outside good shape should carry through internally, no abuse probably.

bought used

Nikon D200
D70S
D50
70-300mm VR Nikon
50mm AF Nikon
SB 600 Flash

Canon SD800
SD850
G9
220EX Speedlite

Manfrotto tripod with head

about 5 other digital point and shoots, numerous mem cards and some camera bags

Bought new

Nikon 18-200mm VR
Nikon SB600 flash

 

[jpeyton]

Got another great deal on CL yesterday; a Nikon AF 50/1.8 for $60. It was used, but looks and works like new for all practical purposes.

 

[Heidfirst]

I've bought quite a few items used but I've always tried to get as much info as possible beforehand & prefer to buy off enthusiast forums ahead of eBay.
Sometimes when you see a listing it's obvious that somebody takes great care of their equipment & if people seem somewhat evasive or non-commital when questioned I pass them by - another 1 will be along shortly 😉

 

[virtuamike]

I buy a lot of my gear used. It depends. I usually like checking out stuff in person before I put money down, but sometimes that's just not possible.

 

[Deadtrees]

Shortly after I made this thread, I went ahead and bought a used 24-105mm f/4 L. It was from this old lady who lives in an island where old artists live.
As she mentioned it was mainly used in a studio, it looked very new although it was 3 years old; it didn't even have hint of dust inside of the lens!
Right after getting it, I shot a wedding, parade and I'm glad that I bought it. It was like buying a new lens with a lot of discount.