Buying Used

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biblioadonis

Member
Seeing all of these amazing pictures has really made me question the quality of my SONY point and shoot. I love the small size, amazing battery life and the ability to take movies, but I can't match the quality shown on the forums.

So, hearing you guys get all excited about the new Nikon coming out and hitting the market for used lenses got me thinking...

How, where and when would buy a used digital SLR?

Also, what you you expect to see on the used market for less than 300-400 dollars?
 
Keh.com is an excellent source for used lenses and equipment.

right now they have a Canon Rebel XT silver for 419. (no lens) Adorama has a refurb of the same with a lens for 450.

Adorama has a refurbed Nikon D40 kit for 470 (includes a lens)

You may also try a local camera store. If you are just getting into it, I would try one of the above, but you may be able to find a Canon 10D or an older Nikon for around that price. My local store has a few Digital Rebels with lenses for 420-450.
 
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Um.. I have a Canon Digital Rebel with kit lens (non XT, original flavor, silver) that I should be trying to sell.

I've been dragging my feet because I don't want to have to deal with ebay or other avenues, plus I'm still kind of attached to it even though I don't use it any more now that I have my 30D.

I can say that it's recently had a serious makeover, with a replaced sensor and apparently some sort of circuit board was replaced as well.. I had a Best Buy extended warranty on it and it had developed a nasty hot pixel. I can't honestly call it a refurbishment because they were only focusing on that one bit though.

I was thinking of a price of around $300.

I can throw in the wireless remote, since it doesn't work with my 30D anyway and it's too cheap to bother trying to factor into the price.

I'm not trying to push this, if you other guys think this is too old a camera and the XT would be a better buy for the money feel free to say so, but I'd like to get this camera sold off to someone who can make use of it, I hate seeing it sitting in the corner, unused, unloved..

I've been meaning to list it in the for sale section in any case, just, like I said.. dragging my feet on the issue.
 
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You could try your local Craigslist for selling that camera. Also, research what they are going for on eBay so when you write up your ad, you won't be pricing yourself out of the market. You could make up flyers and post on local bulletin boards. Ask around where you work if anyone would be interested. Must local camera shops take in trades and/or will buy used equipment.

Another thing you could do is donate it to a jr/sr high school photography program and use it as a tax write off.

Lots of ways to keep an old camera bringing joy to others.
 
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Not sure is selling on the boards is frowned upon, but as I've mentioned in another thread here yesterday, I've got a gently used Rebel XT to sell, with a 50 f/1.8 and kit lens. I dread the thought of putting on ebay, so if you're interested in buying a used piece, send me a pm (private message) and I can give you details.

The Rebel XT is a huge step up, creatively, from any P&S, and even though the XTi's are out, I think most would agree the XT and XTi images are very close in quality. I take meticulous care of my stuff, but I just don't need the XT anymore now that my 5D arrived !
 
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john, there is a buy/sell board a bit further down that anyone is welcome to use. No frowning here...
 
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biblioadonis, here's my .02 worth

pick up a used entry level dslr, or see about a closeout of a prior model, i'll reference canon here, but only because, IT'S WHAT I KNOW', nikon makes fine gear and there are several on the forum who could guide you on their models

canon, good deals, a closeout rebe, iq, as good as the newer xti, just not as many features, skip the 10d, even at a great used price, the autofocus compared to 20d sucks, the reason i skipped it as an upgrade, another really good dslr to start with would be a used 20d, or even if budget allows a closeout 30d, when the 40d starts to actually show up in numbers, check keh and b&h frequently for offers/closeouts. i bought almost all my L lenses from keh, several of them used and have been very happy with their used rating system

if budget concerns are restrictive, get the latest used body you can afford, get the kit lens as a throw in, otherwise get canon's 35 f2 to start, gives normal fov on a crop sensor, is pretty cheap and gives a good picture to start out with

make all your future lens purchases, used L glass, in good shape, even if this means 1 lens every year or so, or if you think you will stay with a crop body for a few years, consider the 17-55 f2.8 IS, yes it's expensive, without a filter it can be a dust vacuum, BUT, it's one fine ef-s lens, it was my walk around lens for 2 weeks in europe, i got some very useable indoor church/museum available light pics and it would be a good wdw lens on a crop

REMEMBER: t-mip'ers believe in the long term value of good glass, and always, always, always put your biggest dollars into the glass, you'll never be sorry for that
 
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no charge for this additional .02

www.lensrentals.com

i've used them a couple of times, in fact i'll be renting again in october, and for mousefest, the 24-105 f4 IS, i'd like to give it a tryout and i need something for my neices wedding in oct, although i may go with the 24-70 f2.8, a lens with a very well deserved rep for image quality, but one big honkin heavy lens to try to carry around, too heavy for most of my shooting days

you could get a body, and a kit lens, and rent some high grade glass for special occasions and a trip to wdw, their rates are pretty reasonable, and if you give them advance notice on a 2 week rental if they need to they will go out and get the glass so it's available
 
I'll add the nikon perspective...

First let me say that KEH.com is an excellent source for used equipment. I have purchased several used lenses from them and the quality was better than I expected.

If you are patient, you can probably find a used D70s body for $300-400. The D70s with the 18-70 DX kit lens will probably run $500-600. The D70s is easy to learn and produces great quality photos(All the photos in these two galleries was taken with the D70s: http://www.pbase.com/msummers/mhs_marching_knights_2006 and http://www.pbase.com/msummers/new_england). The kit lens was a steal at $300 when it was new, and is an excellent starter lens. I know $600 is more than you wanted to pay, but you won't be sorry with that setup.

If you are interested in Nikon, check out this site for lens reviews (http://www.naturfotograf.com/lens_surv.html)
Bjorn's evaluations are dead on. Also, you might want to go to this page on PBase (http://www.pbase.com/cameras). They have all of the current and most of the older cameras and lenses ever made and allow you to browse images by camera body or lens so you can look at the quality of the image they produce if you need help making a decision. http://www.dpreview.com/ is another good source for camera reviews.

And finally, let me second Gary's statement about glass... Always buy the best glass you can afford. A good camera with great glass will always produce better images than the world's best camera with junk glass.
 
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