Refurbished?

[MattP.]

Hey all,

Getting pretty close to picking up my first decent camera, and needless to say, my head is spinning

On eBay, I see often, refurbished cameras for sale. Factory sealed, w/ warranty, for pretty good prices. Are they legit? Will I regret buying a refurbished as oppsed to a new one?

-Matt

[ravenmore]

I bought a refurb'd "salesman's sample" from Cameta Camera on ebay. I got a D80 and two Nikon lenses for $1029. The camera looked pristine - like it had never been touched before. Cameta Camera's customer service was incredible too. I wouldn't hesitate to do business with them again and wouldn't hesitate to buy another "salesman's sample"...

[Old Timer]

I did the same with a D2h from Cameta. Can't speak for everyone on the net but Cameta treated me right. The camera looked like new and performed the same. My advice is to stick to someone with a very high rating if you are buying on e-bay.

[SmartWombat]

I bought my 1DSmkII from ebay - the Canon UK outlet.
Factory refurbished, sealed, £1000 below list with 1yr warranty.
But I wouldn't buy refurbished without a cast iron warranty.

[MattP.]

Thanks for the replies everyone! I've been looking at Cameta Camera as well, and it seems like a good idea to purchase from them!

Thanks
Matt

[4XTaco]

I am looking at getting some lenses from Cameta- it sounds like they are fairly safe to deal with... has anyone had any experience specifically with the salesman sample lenses?

[ravenmore]

Mine were salesman sample lenses and looked brand new. Came in a refurbed box but couldn't tell from the lenses themselves.

[4XTaco]

Thats great to know... come one Ebay!

[JSPhoto]

A lot of larger dealers have Demo lenses, some will also rent them, then after a certain time lthey send them in in to be refurbished and then sell them. Roberts Distributors in Indy does this. In fact, many of the lenses the photogs borrow at the Indy 500 and Brickyard 400 are demo/lease Canon lenses. It's nice as you get to try out different lenses.

JS