Refurbished Lens Purchase?

Anyone ever purchased a Nikon factory refurbished lens? I'm specifically looking at the 70-200 2.8 VRII that I can save about 25% off retail. Wondering what Processes a refurb lens may go through. Any tips/opinions on buying refurbished would be appreciated.

 

also never forget to check keh.com for a particular lens you are looking to get. about half my L collection was purchased used from them. i have been a very satisfied customer of their rating system

 

If you get the same warranty as new, go for it!

 

Looks like Nikon factory refurbs carry a 90 day warranty. Far cry from the 5 years offered for new. However, I've never had an issue with any of my gear that would have been covered even under a 5 year warranty. We have a SWW WDW trip planned that we'll be back from within that 90 day window. If I buy, I'll be sure to give it a good workout on that trip.

 

Using eBay, I found buydig.com that has the refurb lenses. They have a squaretrade protection plan available at $300 for one year, $400 for two years. At that rate I may as well buy new.

 

I'll second Gary's comment about KEH being an excellent source of used equipment. I have bought a couple of lenses there in the past and have also found their rating system to be very conservative. For the 70-200, the original VR version is just as good as the new one. The only two differences being that the original shows a slight vignette on full frame, which I don't mind since I usually add one anyway and that the VRII is a little better than the original VR.

Just as a note, the one you borrowed from me in AK during last December's Pixelmania was the original VR version.

 

Thanks Michael. I was looking at KEH at the older version as well. They list $1479 for an "EX+" rating, all the way down to $1079 for a "BGN" rated copy of the older version. Any thoughts on if the extra $400 is worth it?

 

That's a difficult one to answer. Anything below Ex+ may have marks on the glass. That being said, I bought an old manual focus 50mm f1.2 from them for the use of reverse mounting for some super macro stuff that had no marks on the glass at all, but you won't know that until you receive it.

Personally, I draw the line at glass flaws because I don't want anything that may affect image quality. Yes, I know that small flaws don't usually make a difference in image quality, but they can cause flare to occur where a pristine front element will not. But, if you never shoot into the sun maybe it doesn't matter. Like I, said this is a difficult one to answer as it depends on your lens buying preferences and shooting styles.

I recommend taking a look at KEH's return policy. If I remember correctly, they allow returns in the same condition as shipped for something like a 14 day period and you're only out shipping in both directions. If the shipping isn't too expensive, you could try one of the lower rated copies and return it if you have any problems after giving it a good workout.

 

KEH tends to be very conservative on their ratings.

Michael, Dave is very familiar with the original VR version of this lens having used it recently for a Crunch game. The VRII can be used with Nikon teleconverter (TC) units while the VRI can not.

 

Scott, according to the Nikon web site, the VRI version is compatible with all the TC units. Has your experience been different? http://www.nikonusa.com/en_INC/IMG/...eleconverter-Compatibility/EN_Comp_chart.html

 

Correction...they do not work with the newer TC units. I got that from a photographer who owned both versions. The TC-20E's would not AF on the VRI but would on the VRII no matter what Nikon says. I find the D7100 in 1.3X mode to be much better solution and I don't loose any f-stops.

 

Thanks for the information on the teleconverters, Scott. Glad I never bought the TC 20E III

I have the TC 20E II and while it will autofocus with the 70-200 VR I, the image quality sucks. That discovery led me to buy the 80-400 before that DLWS trip to Yellowstone a few years back.

 

Well, I ordered the VRI version in "EX" condition from KEH. Added a 2 year warranty for $49. I was assured that the glass would not have any scratches, and he said that when I see it I may be hard pressed to find any imperfections. I should have it Friday so I'll get to play with it over the weekend. I'll report back with my findings...

 

From what I have heard about KEH...EX to them is like EX+ or better for the rest of us. You will also find the lens is great for portraits. VR is excellent when needed but, as you know, it is very heavy. Not sure you will be wanting to carry it all day at WDW.

 

The weight is not ideal for WDW but I have carried the rentals around all day. I looked into the F4 version of the 70-200 and it is nice and light. That was very tempting too but the extra stop is fairly important to me for speed and bokeh. I'll just need to get in better shape to carry this all day...