Refurbished Camera Equipment: As Good as New if not Better
Today Art Skopec shares some tips on buying Refurbished Camera Gear.
Image by Stephen DesRoches
During the 1980’s, I was the Canon USA Service Manager in charge of setting up and running their Refurbishing Center in New York. For 5 years, I worked with other Service Departments to establish procedures and standards related to refurbished equipment. Though we dealt with more than photographic equipment, it will be the focus of this piece.
Where does the equipment come from?
The majority to be refurbished equipment are retail returns. These returns are usually because the buyer or gift recipient can’t get equipment to work for them! (Seriously) The other source of gear is from retired in-store demo units. In both cases, the equipment is usually in perfect running order, possibly with slight cosmetic issues. No matter how good their condition though, they are no longer “New”, and can’t be sold as such.
This is where refurbishing comes to the rescue of the manufacturer and retailer, putting the equipment into a salable state so they can get their investment out of them. In the process, the buyer benefits with a price break.
How is the equipment serviced?
Camera Service standards are more stringent than the Manufacturing Standards of new product coming off the assembly line. Each piece of equipment is tested in a standard manner and adjustments are made when and if required. Depending on the cost involved, more involved repairs will be undertaken to permit the equipment to pass Quality Control. In rare cases, equipment has cosmetic damage that warrants the replacement of external parts. At the end of the repair the piece of equipment is readied for packaging and sale.
In a majority of cases, all original accessories are included with refurbished equipment.
Warranty
There is a different Warranty with Refurbished equipment. Be sure to read the details because there can be a couple different versions for the same model. The difference is usually the duration, making a significant difference in retail price.
Where can I purchase Refurbished products?
I know that Canon sells refurbished equipment at their eStore. Adorama always has an excellent selection of refurbished equipment. Finally, Refurbdepot specializes in all categories of refurbished equipment.
I hope my insights have been useful and that you will consider purchasing refurbished equipment in the future. If you do you’ll get a much better bang for the buck!
40 Responses to “Refurbished Camera Equipment: As Good as New if not Better” - Add Yours
June 29th, 2009 at 8:21 am
Really enjoyed your article, and thanks for mentioning that Adorama Camera sells refurbished by Canon cameras and lenses.
I’m always delighted to answer questions or respond to queries (or complaints….) regarding Adorama Camera or AdoramaPix, whether concerning Canon refurbished photographic equipment or any other items that we stock.
Sincerely
Helen Oster
Adorama Camera Customer Service Ambassador
helen.oster@adoramacamera.com
http://www.adorama.com
June 29th, 2009 at 8:36 am
I couldn’t agree with you more! I’m a big fan or re-furbed lenses in particular.
Without this option, I would have NEVER been able to upgrade/exchange lenses as quickly as I needed to – brand new lenses can really break the bank for some folks.
June 29th, 2009 at 9:38 am
Thanks for very useful info. Nice to know that from somebody “inside”. Does anybody know where to find refurbished lens in Europe?
June 29th, 2009 at 9:48 am
Spellcheck and grammar fail. The idea is there: linguistic skills, not so much.
June 29th, 2009 at 10:38 am
Thanks for the links to used equipment and lenses. I am very hesitant to purchase used, but am changing my opinion as it is likely the only way that I will be able to add to my existing lenses.
June 29th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Very nice provision… thank you DPS… = )
June 29th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
I went to check out Canon’s website, but I can’t seem to find any refurb stuff. What am I missing?
June 29th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
I also went to Canon and could not figure how to find the referbs.. same on othersites.. I wrote Canon and Adorama an email.. we’ll see
June 29th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Scott – Click on the “Canon eStore” logo on the right side of the main Canon page, then on that page under “search by interest” click “refurbished products”
June 29th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
omg …how stupid can you be ….if you cant find canon refurbished …you dont deserve a canon …and another thing ..i have 2 canons rebel xti …one new …800$ and one refurbished 400$….the 400$ dollar one …well i cant do manual white balance …i go ripped off …just found out about a month after the guarantee finished …but its ok …i can shoot in raw …so screw it ..
June 29th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
@Paul: Sigh. Even DPS is not safe from trolls.
June 29th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
I’m a Canon user too – and would be curious to hear from an insider why we often hear about ’sample variations’ and new lenses having to go back to adjustment. Does it have something to do with QA, or how items are shipped?
June 29th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
I fail to see how useful this article is. Sorry.
June 29th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
Art: great article, and thanks for the Adorama mention.
Bill: If you are searching for “referbs”, that may be the problem. Try “refurbished”, or contact me directly.
matejMM: Adorama ships internationally!
scott: refurbished is not necessarily the same as “used”. There is a big difference between the Adorama refurbished and used departments. The used items we hold in stock have been purchased from members of the public, and are held in the Manhattan warehouse – graded to indicate quality, and with a 90-day warranty.
Refurbished items are held in our New Jersey warehouse, and have been delivered there directly by the manufacturer who has carried out the refurbishment. In the past Adorama warranted Canon refurbished for 90 days; since 1st May, all Canon refurbished products from Adorama come with a 1 year return-to-Adorama warranty; 14 days from date of receipt for a full refund, and the balance for repair or replacement.
Refurbs from Adorama may be ex-store demos, possibly used in field tests or sales displays, or are items that have been ordered in error and returned to the retailer (who can’t then sell them as ‘new’ so they have to be sent back to the manufacturer for refurbishment). They can also have simply been pulled from the production line if something appears faulty, or which haven’t passed the final inspection.
Most of the time it is a very minor issue that needs correcting, nevertheless, once they are pulled from the normal flow of production, they get flagged as a refurbished model, so you may actually get a model straight from the factory that really has never been used!
A refurbished item will have been checked over by the manufacturer by hand, inspected very thoroughly, diagnosed, and calibrated by experienced technicians, and could therefore turn out to be more dependable than a new item – which will only have been checked by a process of systematic quality control protocol (ie by random sampling as they come off the conveyor belt).
I hope this helps, but please don’t hesitate to contact me directly if you have any queries regarding either Adorama Camera or AdoramaPix.
Sincerely
Helen Oster
Adorama Camera Customer Service Ambassador
helen.oster@adoramacamera.com
http://www.adorama.com
June 29th, 2009 at 11:52 pm
Has anyone purchased an in-store display camera lens or camera? I purchased my Canon 40D with two lenses etc. and am very pleased – from Cameta Auctions see their Ebay store. When I phoned their sales department they recommended saving some money by purchasing so called used, or in-store lenses. I didn’t want to get “burned” so I did not purchase. However, after some time thinking about it, I think it might be worth a try. Thoughts anyone?
Scott
June 30th, 2009 at 12:16 am
Thanks for the info. I may have to look into a refurb for my next lens.
What’s with the grammar police showing up in these comments? I’d rather deal with some grammatical errors than deal with people who correct every mistake someone makes.
June 30th, 2009 at 12:56 am
Thanks Amandalynn, completely missed that
June 30th, 2009 at 2:34 am
Scott–I purchased my 40D in-store at Cameta. It was refurbished by Canon USA. I’ve been very pleased with it so far. I also bought a 17-85 IS lens refurbished from Adorama, same story–no issues.
June 30th, 2009 at 2:58 am
Hey Ed, Thanks. Where did you purchase your refurbished camera and lens. I live in Ottawa and have Henry’s and Vistek as the main retail stores. I have yet to go to a one of the consignment stores. If I do I would want to take the equipment to be examined by a specialty company in town that deals with camera equipment. My caution is related to bad experiences with used electronics – although not camera equipment – in the past.
Thanks,
Scott
June 30th, 2009 at 4:01 am
HI Helen,
Thank you very much for your extensive answer(s) and clarifying the difference between “used” and refurbished lenses. Your answer(s) have provided me with a confidence purchasing a refurbished lens or camera particularly from Adorama.
Best regards,
Scott
June 30th, 2009 at 4:23 am
Hi, Thanks so much for all the comments. I am not a big fan of Re-furbs, but this article and the comments has change my mind-set of not getting a Re-furb peice. If I had read this article a while ago I would have saved some more bucks for few more lenses :-). Thanks anyways.
-Arul
June 30th, 2009 at 4:23 am
nice photo. ;) Thanks for the credit
June 30th, 2009 at 4:32 am
This line really jumped out at me
“Camera Service standards are more stringent than the Manufacturing Standards of new product coming off the assembly line.”
Are you saying a refurbished item is actually better than a brand new out-of-the-box item? I find that hard to believe or if that’s the case Canon needs to tighten the belt on their manufacturing process. I’ve bought several used lenses but never a refurbished one
July 1st, 2009 at 2:01 am
@Zack Jones – makes perfect sense. I’ve worked in manufacturing and it’s impossible for them to test every single lens that comes off the line. They test a sample of them. This is why you can sometimes buy an item (CPU, camera, lens) that’s a dud. But if it’s refurbed, they are working with that one lens, so they can make sure it’s good quality.
July 1st, 2009 at 2:20 am
If you are paying > $1000 for a lens, I would hope that they would test every one to exacting standards. I’d be curious to hear from Canon insiders exactly what kind of testing is done.
July 1st, 2009 at 2:23 am
@aris – while that’s a nice thought, it’s just not sustainable at volume. It’s standard practice on everything from computer chips to cars – which cost a lot more than $1k
July 1st, 2009 at 2:29 am
Eric,
Canon L lenses are not a volume product – the L stands for “Luxury” (supposedly). Do you know for a fact that Canon do not test every L lens, or are you just using your experience with other products?
Most computer chips are tested (often to the extreme) before shipping, and many Luxury cars are road-tested before shipping too (Ferrari to name one – each one is road tested on their track). I know these are extreme cases – but Canon L lenses are supposed to be the best of the best that they sell – and they charge for them accordingly.
July 1st, 2009 at 4:02 am
Scott — I’ll jump on the used/refurb bandwagon. I’ve purchased a used lens from Adorama and in a nifty bit of timing I bought my first refurb yesterday, also from Adorama. I recommend them with no hesitation whatsoever for either product, In particular, this refurb looks box-new, seems to be performing perfectly so far, has a one-year warranty and was two hundred bucks cheaper than the new one.
July 1st, 2009 at 4:50 am
The proper link for the Canon eStore is: http://estore.usa.canon.com/.
July 2nd, 2009 at 7:24 am
I hadn’t considered refurbed products before, bascially because I didn’t know where they had come from. The word refurbished tends to make me think of something that has had some kind of problem and consequently been fixed.
Obviously I am wrong!
And as someone on a budget and looking to expand my lens this is really good news. I have to say this article has definitely changed my mind and I’ll be exploring the recommendations given here as well.
I am now VERY interested in refurbished products! Thanks for this post…
July 2nd, 2009 at 10:16 pm
Looking over the canon refurbs on the estore – it’s only $200 cheaper for the 50D. Once you’re already spending $1 000, what’s another $200 to have a 100% new, untouched camera? After thinking about it, I was thinking that if anything went wrong I’d wonder if it wouldn’t have if I had bought a new one. Now, if it were half off, that’s a difference story. If it breaks, just buy another.
July 2nd, 2009 at 10:17 pm
Good article..interesting information for newbies coming into the industry. I must say that I don’t like to see people putting others down for their queries or comments…isn’t that why forums exist..so people can ask questions without fear of being made to feel stupid? Sledging isn’t cool. Paul or Osmosis – try imparting helpful comments instead of being rude to others. Not everyone can be as perfect as you two seem to think you are.
July 3rd, 2009 at 4:29 am
I bought my first DSLR (a Nikon D40) from Adorama, and it was refurbished, and came with a refurbished lens, and then I ordered another lens that was also refurbished. The first camera would not work properly…I did troubleshoot it with Nikon, and ended up sending it back and getting a replacement refurbished camera, which worked perfectly. I have since sold that camera to my mom and gotten a D60…but I think that buying a refurbished camera is a great way to save money. I can’t remember whether or not the D60 is refurbished.
July 3rd, 2009 at 5:45 am
Stay away from those who charge a restocking fee. They can make more money on that policy then a brand new camera if the same item is returned often enough and it may have never been refurbished at all to begin with.
July 3rd, 2009 at 9:49 am
For all the Nikon folks out there, this refurbished discussion also applies. I have bought refurbished from Cameta & Adorama. Great savings, great products.
July 22nd, 2009 at 4:49 am
I recently purchased a refurb Nikon D300 from Adorama and have been very pleased. Looking into adding some refurbished glass as well. It’s a great way to get quality items at a great price
July 22nd, 2009 at 8:01 am
Camera Service standards are more stringent than the Manufacturing Standards of new product coming off the assembly line.
If this is true, why doesn’t Canon (or Nikon, or Sigma, or Tamron) offer as good a warranty with refurbished items as they do with new. Or as you imply, is it only the difference in warranty that generates the difference in price of an item?
I’m not against buying refurbished items, and have done so at Adorama, it’s just that one shouldn’t think you’re getting something that is “as good as new.”
September 4th, 2009 at 5:57 am
I bought a refurbished Canon Rebel XT earlier this year from overstock.com and am more than happy with it! I really wanted to purchase my first DSLR but the prices were daunting! I was able to purchase a factory refurbished camera, camera bag and compact flash card for $100 less than what the camera would’ve cost me new! Love your tips!
December 15th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Good Tips!
I want to buy a new camera and this way i can save some euros… cool!
February 7th, 2010 at 7:20 am
@Mandy,
That is often the scenario. Look at it this way: The item had a problem when purchased “brand new”. What does that tell you except that a brand new item can have issues. Buying a refurbished camera knocks out the possibility of having the initial “brand new” problems. I don’t buy new anymore. Too much of a headache to be the guinea pig. I’d prefer to buy something that’s been tested by a consumer and then repaired and retested by the manufacturer. Paying 100% retail or sale price for an item that hasn’t gone through this rigorous kind of testing seems silly. I’ve yet to see any issues with the refurbs I’ve purchased.
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