Are refurbished digital SLR cameras okay to buy (and worth the small savings)?

I have bought Canon refurbish lenses and some very expensive Canon refurbished binoculars and have been exceptionally happy. I don't know about the bodies though. The cheap bodies could really take a beating. Check out your local quality photo shop. Mine (Hunt's in Manchester, NH) has a great used section, had a Canon G10, a Yashica medium format, and I've picked used L-glass out of there also. At least this way you can play with it before buying.

7 Votes

Paul Cezanne
December 03, 2011 04:40 AM

I bought my Canon XSi/450D refurbished from B&H about 3 years ago, and was very happy with it. I did eventually notice a bright red pixel on all of my pictures (although typically only visible in night shots). I don't blame B&H or the refurbished state of the camera for this; just the fact that pixels some times die.

When I replaced it about 4 months ago, I had settled on a T3i/600D, and I would gladly have gone with a refurbished unit again, but there weren't any available at the time from B&H. (I think I saw some refurbs on Amazon, but the price was almost the same as new.)

I think the main thing to consider when buying refurbished is the warranty it comes with. Not so much because you'll expect to use the warranty, but because how long and extensive the warranty is says a lot about how much the vendor believes in their refurbished equipment. If they only offer a 7-day warranty, they probably don't test their refurbished equipment sufficiently to stand behind it.

9 Votes

Flimzy
December 03, 2011 06:48 AM

Before buying, I suggest making sure there are:

• a guarantee (preferably a year)
• a no-questions return policy (30 days is reasonable)

3 Votes

AJ Finch
December 06, 2011 16:17 PM

As long as the shutter actuation count is relatively low compared to the design limits (say a few thousand for a consumer camera, up to a few tens of thousands for a professional model) you might as well be buying new.
But, as AJ points out, do insist on warranty and having a generous return/exchange policy, and insist there be no "restocking fee" or other hidden costs associated with it (those "fees" are a great way for some stores to make money on lemons they can't get rid of).

2 Votes

jwenting
December 07, 2011 06:14 AM

I would suggest that acquiring dslr bodies could be very precarious, but "pre-owned" lenses is a different matter alltogether. As long as there is at least a day or so cooling off period, it should be possible to assertain the quality and viability of the lens.

0 Votes

user25306
January 11, 2014 04:58 AM

Maybe, but I also don't think it's a big deal. Currently, Adorama has three refurbished camera bodies for sale, all from Nikon. These come with a 90-day warranty rather than the standard full year. The savings varies from $160 (for a lower-end model) to almost $300 for a mid-range one. This is less than you'd pay for almost any out-of-warranty repair. That's basically the bet you're making: if there's any failure, it'll happen sooner rather than later.

That's probably a good bet, so that comes down to your level of confidence. But, here's why I don't think it's important: your options in refurbished equipment are so narrow (3 bodies compared to... right now, 40 new body-only listings plus 87 used camera bodies) that it's not like you can make all your purchases this way, and the difference is basically going to be a drop in the bucket compared to what any serious or semi-serious photographer spends over the course of a few years. (At least, until you've got a hefty investment already.)

If it happens that you find a refurbished deal that matches exactly what you wanted to buy anyway, decide on whether the warranty thing is important to you.

0 Votes

mattdm
May 27, 2018 16:45 PM