Buying a used dSLR

[ghost1000]

I'm debating all the digital SLRs and by brain is spinning - one thing I'm also looking at is the potential of used equipment to get a little better camera within my budget.

Of particular interest are the Pentax K100s and K100 supers since they have vanished from store shelves with the arrival of the 200s (and the 200s are a bit beyond grasp at the moment when I consider the extras I'll need to buy)

Any opinions on buying equipment used?

 

[El Nebuloso]

Buying used can be a real money saver, but just be careful. I know how I care for my equipment, and would not hesitate to sell my gear to even my closest friend. But let's face it, not everyone cares for their gear, you rarely know who you are dealing with and shutters have a rated life expectancy. That being said, I am a bargain hunter myself. If you can by from a trusted source, know the equipment was well treated and still has reasonable life expectancy, then go for it!

 

[ukcatfan]

I personally avoid the "bay", but there are decent sources of used equipment. I have bought a couple used lenses from KEH. They stand behind their products.

I have a K100D and love it.

Kevin

 

[jann1033]

what is your price range? a lot of the "older" new models of entry levels can be had for the 500-600 range. just saw a new xti and evolt for 630, a nikon d40 for 450 and a sony for 550 at micro center, all including kit lenses, the evolt had 2 lenses. i might check fredmiranda as well, lots upgrade there and sell their old stuff but most stuff there goes fast so you have to keep checking. adorama, B& H and KEH grade their used stuff so you at least have an idea of the condition...there to the good stuff goes fast but keh will let you put a request in and email you when they got what you want in.

 

[ghost1000]

Thanks for the replies.

I'm looking at the 5-600 range preferably (to my wife at least ).

I've been debating the pros and cons of each of them

D40 seems to be the generic starter SLR so there will be a lot of availability/help/info everywhere and it seems to be well rated, BUT then there is the whole autofocus lens issue making the lenses more expensive.

The Evolt seems good all around but the smaller sensor and a few other things make me a little hesitant.

The Pentax seems to have a lot going for it and I really like that it takes AA batteries.

The XTi is nice but I haven't found a really good deal on one yet...


I think I would want one of the 50mm lenses from the get go so that is a factor too....

 

[Gdad]

You may also consider something factory refurbished- I bought my D50 that way and it came with a warranty and had under 200 actuations on it. B&H and Arorama have refurbished models in their used sections.

 

[Groucho]

I wouldn't have any problem buying a used DSLR. Most are reasonably rugged and should have a long life, and the owners probably just upgraded to a newer model.

I'm also not as leery of eBay as some other here, I've had good luck as long as you go with a seller with high feedback who describes the item well. I've sold a few things there (and will be putting a couple lenses on there after I get back home) and I always try to put very clear and useful photos of the item and a thorough description, including any blemishes. So far, I've not had any problems. Actually, I sold two PnS cameras on there too, and again had good results, and wouldn't have a problem with buying something like that from there.

If you do go with an entry-level Pentax (K100D ideally), make sure to get some of the low-discharge NiMH batteries, like Eneloops or similar. The cameras are pretty picky about getting a nice strong output from the batteries and on some of my regular NiMH batteries, the cameras stop working even if there's still a fair amount of juice in them. I recently got a couple sets of Kodak 2100 mAh low-discharge NiMHs from Thomas Distributing and they're fantastic - I charged them up before we left for WDW, put them in my wife's K100D, and didn't have any worried about the batteries dying due to sitting too long. The camera didn't get a lot of usage, but it was used a bit, and I'm pretty sure that the batteries still show a full charge, which you probably wouldn't get with regular NiMHs.

I do think that you'd be very happy with the K100D/K100D Super, I would lean towards those over the D40 - they have the same image sensor so image quality is basically the same, but the Pentax will have image stabilization with every lens, a better kit lens, better AF (11-point vs 3-point), top status LCD, faster continuous shooting (2.8 vs 2.5, but the D40 can take many more in a row), and a few other advanced features. But the D40 is more friendly to the absolute beginning, with help screens and such, and is a bit smaller - which may be a positive or a negative depending on your tastes.

Either way, it's tough to find a "bad" DSLR, so you'll probably do well no matter which direction you go.

 

[DizzyV6P]

If you're after the Pentax 100 series, goto a few of the popular Pentax forums. There are usually quite a few folks in there selling their K100D's to upgrade to the 200's. You'll have to PM a few of the Pentax users here to find out which forums are good

 

[Master Mason]

The XTi is nice but I haven't found a really good deal on one yet...


I think I would want one of the 50mm lenses from the get go so that is a factor too....

You should start seeing some drops on the XTi as production of the XSi kicks in. As well as some screaming deals on the XT.

 

[Master Mason]

You should start seeing some drops on the XTi as production of the XSi kicks in. As well as some screaming deals on the XT.

Forgot, you can also check Photography on the Net, it is a Canon Shooters board and you can often get some deals there as well.

 

[ghost1000]

Thanks for the heads ups I'll go check the pentax boards. At the moment I'm considering a used k100 super vs a new k100 so more options would be good!

I did just find a very good deal on an XSi that makes it very tempting...

 

[Master Mason]

Thanks for the heads ups I'll go check the pentax boards. At the moment I'm considering a used k100 super vs a new k100 so more options would be good!

I did just find a very good deal on an XSi that makes it very tempting...

Be very very careful of any "very good deals" you may find. Be sure and check resellerratings.com before you make the call or hit the button to order it. There are a lot of scam artists in the world of camera sales.

If it is more than a couple of dollars cheaper than what B&H or Beach/Buydig are selling it for, that should raise a red flag. That doesn't mean it is not possible to beat their price, just that you had better check it out carefully first.

 

[ghost1000]

Thanks for the warning - I know to be careful of too good to be trues - IE I'm shying away of Abes of Maine because of bad reviews. But this one is trustworthy - Dell Small Business has a coupon for 15% off that makes them $764 shipped (w/ 15-55 lens).

A bit more than I wanted to spend for just the camera but just close enough to make me think - hmmm well if I do some more eBay selling

 

[Groucho]

I actually bought my last two lenses (both fairly pricey ones - Pentax 31mm F1.8 and 50-135mm F2.8) from Abe's of Maine. I'm not in love with them but they did ship the lenses safe and sound. They do want you to call to "confirm some details" on the order, and that's apparently when you usually get the hard sell on filters, etc. On my first order, it was indicated that the phone call was because it was my first order, and there was only a brief question about if I needed anything like filters, cards, etc - no hard sell.

After you order, they include a $10 off coupon for later orders (it's just a code, you can use it on multiple orders). Based on this, they had the best price for the 50-135mm so I decided to try them again. Yet again, they asked for a confirmation phone call. I was busy at work and wouldn't have time to call them for a couple days so I sent an email saying that I was under the impression that I wasn't going to half to call every time and that I was not interested in any add-ons like filters.

I didn't get a response, but a day or two later, I got a shipping notice and the lens arrived safe and sound soon afterwards. So I'd say that it's probably safe to order from them, but expect slightly more hassle than from some of the better-respected sites - but you will get what you order.

And frankly, I've heard plenty of horror stories about Dell and photo equipment, and I have a pretty rotten opinion of Dell anyway due to their shoddy laptops, but that's a separate issue. I have heard more than once about people never getting photo or other non-computer things that they've ordered from Dell.

As for used ones, I've bought a few things from the "marketplace" section at pentaxforums.com. They also have a feedback system there, although it's not used as often as it could be. But you can at least get an idea who's reputable and not by the posting patterns, and you usually get better descriptions and photos of the item than you might on eBay, and cheaper prices. (You're not allowed to "auction" or "best offer" on there, you can to list your asking price for everything you sell.) Some recent DSLR sales on there include a K10D w/lens and extras for $575, a K110D w/28-300mm for $350, etc.

 

[ghost1000]

The dell deal is a bit beyond what I wanted to spend and I think I'm set on the Pentax now - thanks for the vouching for AoM - they are one of the few places still listing the K100. There are several new ones on eBay also.

The main differences between the k100 and super are just the dust removal and the support of the SDM lenses correct? (The SDHC can be enabled via a firmware update on the 100 if I'm reading it correctly).

 

[mike_r]

I have ordered 4 cameras from Dell and they have given no problems at all. First camera was a Fuji, died like a year later, called Dell since i got the extended warrenty, sent it in was told they cant fix it, they called me a week after they received and since they could not fix it was sent a check for the full amount that I originally paid. Second was a Rebel XT, which I still going fine. Third was the 30D when it came out, received it and it had focusing issues, no matter what lens I put on it it just would not focus, called them up and they sent a new unit out next day air, and i just put the old one back in the box and that was it. I also got an 870is in January, no problems with that one.
Dell tends to be a bit more pricey and they charge tax here in NY but after the couple of experiences I have had I would definatly recommend them to anyone and I will keep buying my canon bodies from them.

 

[ukcatfan]

The main differences between the k100 and super are just the dust removal and the support of the SDM lenses correct? (The SDHC can be enabled via a firmware update on the 100 if I'm reading it correctly).

As far as I know. And yes, SDHC is added with the firmware update. I did it myself and use two Kingston SDHC cards.

Kevin

 

[Groucho]

The dell deal is a bit beyond what I wanted to spend and I think I'm set on the Pentax now - thanks for the vouching for AoM - they are one of the few places still listing the K100. There are several new ones on eBay also.

The main differences between the k100 and super are just the dust removal and the support of the SDM lenses correct? (The SDHC can be enabled via a firmware update on the 100 if I'm reading it correctly).

Yep. The dust removal is probably not bad to have but not a dealbreaker IMHO. (I think the system in the K20D seems to work very well but it's got more anti-dust features than the K100D Super.) The Pentax lenses with SDM also focus fine on older bodies using the normal in-body motor, so that's not a problem, but it may be an issue with third-party lenses. I think Sigma's upcoming 50mm F1.4 will be the first third-party lens with SDM and it sounds like it won't autofocus if your camera doesn't support SDM. Having an SDM lens now, it's nice but I wouldn't lose much sleep if I didn't have it.

As for SDHC, Pentax has been very good about firmware updates and even my old *ist DL supported SDHC after a firmware upgrade.

 

[ghost1000]

as far as used - what is an acceptable number of shots taken?

 

[Pea-n-Me]

The Evolt seems good all around but the smaller sensor and a few other things make me a little hesitant.

I'd like to comment on this not so much for you, ghost, but for others who might be reading this and not understand what it means.

The Evolt cameras are a very capable line of dSLRs. They were designed to be more compact and lighter, ie "go anywhere" cameras. Hence the 4/3s system. Many people buy them because of this, not in spite of this. So to some, it's a positive. Like myself. I wanted something light and easy to carry. I carried my Evolt with tele lens in my pocketbook the other day when I was unable to bring a camera bag. Perfect for me. They also have some of the most modern features available. They may not be for everyone, but are definitely worthy of consideration. FYI.

BTW, when I began looking at dSLRs, I also considered buying used. But I was able to pick up my E-510 with two lens kit for the same cost people were looking for for a 3 year old camera with one lens. It made more sense for me to buy new. Good luck with your decision.