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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
New vs. Refurb Help
Kristopher Wilson, Photographer
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Virginia Beach | VA | USA | Posted: 3:56 PM on 03.07.09 |
->> I'm currently looking at purchasing a Nikon D3, but I'm not sure if I should buy new, or if I should save about $600 and buy the demo refurb. On top of that, if I do buy new, I'm considering getting the 3-yr. extended service warranty (the refurb only comes with a 90-day dealer warranty). All told, the difference between buying new vs. buying a refurbished demo is around $1000. My question is, is it worth the extra $$$ and peace of mind to buy new, or should I take that extra money and get some extra gear (the $$$'s been earmarked for photo gear anyway)?
All suggestions are appreciated. |
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Mike Burley, Photographer
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Honolulu | HI | USA | Posted: 4:15 PM on 03.07.09 |
| ->> I've bought 2-3 refurb Canon 1D series bodies from Samy's is LA, and I've never had a problem. Not sure what other's experiences are though... |
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Kevin Leas, Photographer, Assistant
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Rochester | NY | USA | Posted: 4:17 PM on 03.07.09 |
->> Well, what's their definition of refurb? Has it been inspected and brought back to factory spec by Nikon, or has the store just swabbed the sensor, dusted the finger prints, and put it back in the box?
Either way, one thing to consider is this: you're looking to save $1,000 off the purchase price by buying used. If it breaks during the first year (outside of the 90 day warranty), is it likely to cost over $1,000 to fix? Do you have another body you can shoot with if that happens? |
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David Seelig, Photographer
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Hailey | ID | USA | Posted: 4:20 PM on 03.07.09 |
| ->> Do you have good insurance? Many times insurance will cover brakes in equipment minus a deductible. Also if you buy withsome credit cards they will double the warranty. |
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Kristopher Wilson, Photographer
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Virginia Beach | VA | USA | Posted: 6:28 PM on 03.07.09 |
->> The camera is a factory refurb, according to B&H. Thus it's been refurbished by Nikon and not the dealer, which is somewhat more comforting.
Since this would be my first personal body, I have no idea what repair costs would be if I were to send it in outside of the warranty. Likewise, I don't have a secondary personal body to use as backup, only our work-issued D300 (or D200, depending on what gets checked out from supply before I deploy). That being said, I'll be using this body while I'm deployed for 6-7 months over to the Gulf, so if something were to happen, I don't know how quickly I'd be able to send it in (ship's mail is kinda slow).
Also, we don't have homeowner's insurance, so I wouldn't be able to add my gear to such a policy at this point. I don't think our renter's insurance would cover anything if something happened to my camera while I was halfway around the world in a war zone. Oh, and we won't be using a credit card to purchase, so that option is out as far as doubling the warranty.
I don't mind buying refurb gear, and I really like the idea of saving money, but I'm still trying to decide whether it's worth it to spend the extra money on the new to get the extended warranty as a "just-in-case", since it's not even offered with the refurb.
Thank you guys for the input. I don't like to drop this kind of money without weighing others' experiences in similar situations. |
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Joseph Molieri, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Ardmore | PA | US | Posted: 9:14 PM on 03.07.09 |
->> On the upside buying refurbed can be better than buying used. You know it's been inspected, cleaned, and brought up to par. Atleast if it was done right anyway.
I've bought most of my stuff used or refurbed and have had zero problems. It's actually only the stuff I bought new that I've ever experienced an issue with. I think it's really a toss up and buying refurbed woln't put you at greater risk of malfunction.
Maybe other's have had different experiences but from mine I say go for it. |
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Michael Fischer, Photographer
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Spencer | Ia | USA | Posted: 12:42 AM on 03.08.09 |
->> For me, it is a price value relationship. In looking at the D3 that Samy's offered, I didn't think there was enough of a price difference between new and refurb to justify the purchase.
Besides, I wanted to pay cash and I didn't have that much saved up.
The other thing to check out is the price of the extended warranty. Is the price the same if the camera doesn't have a one year parts and labor warranty? I've have had good experience with refurbs (the imac I'm typing on is a refurb; I have had some issues with refurbs from Apple that were purchased from a third party. |
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Samuel Lewis, Photographer
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Miami | FL | USA | Posted: 9:24 AM on 03.08.09 |
->> One thing to keep in mind is that if you send in the camera to NPS for priority repair service, you pre-authorize up to $650 per body (regardless of whether it is new or a refurb). While NPS may honor the warranty, it is not obligated to do so.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the warranty on a new D3 is only one year. Cameta sells what it calls "factory demo" bodies (which have been refurbished by Nikon), it offers the refurbs with the Nikon 90 day warranty and a one year dealer warranty. Granted, you may end up sending the camera to Nikon for repair rather than to Cameta, but at least that option is there.
I had purchased a few D2x "factory demo" bodies from Cameta, and other than the fact that the box and warranty card were different, you would have a hard time telling the difference between the refurb and new. The only other discernible difference was that the factory demos had a higher shutter count than new (the demos were usually around 100, and new bodies are closer to 1). Of course, the other difference was that the factory demos were selling around $3200-$3500 when the new D2x was selling around $5000.
I don't know anything about the refurbs that Samy's is selling, but I find it odd that they received some and Cameta did not. I'm also not sure I would go with a refurb if the price differential is not significant (particularly when considering the possibility of sending the camera for NPS priority repair). |
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Samuel Lewis, Photographer
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John Tucker, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Cordova | TN | USA | Posted: 11:54 AM on 03.08.09 |
| ->> I have bought several factory demos from Cameta and can honestly say that I have never had an issue with any of them. Their customer service was great and their shipping was quick. The items came to me looking like a brand new item and shutter counts were really low. Try the refurb/demo and you'll be happy with the savings! |
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Karsten Moran, Photographer, Photo Editor
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New York | NY | United States of America | Posted: 3:55 PM on 03.08.09 |
| ->> Own a D200 and a D300, which I both bought refurbished from Adorama. My D300 is still selling used, for more than I bought it for. |
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Christopher Rossi, Photographer
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Olney | MD | United States | Posted: 9:41 AM on 03.10.09 |
| ->> Are all refurbs from Adorama factory refurbs? They state a few are Refurbed by Canon/Nikon and some just say refurb. |
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Geoff Miller, Photographer
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Portage | MI | USA | Posted: 11:24 AM on 03.10.09 |
| ->> Not that this would apply to the D3, but if the "refurb" you're thinking about buying is a not-too-long-ago discontinued model, it may in fact be a 100% new body. Nikon in the past has slapped "refurb" stickers on new inventory to help clear inventory. This allows them to move them at a lower price by eliminating their "cost" exposure of providing factory warranty service for the full period vs. the 30 days you get with "refurbs". This was the case with my Nikon D1. It was a brand spanking new "refurb" when I got it. But the D2h was on its way and Nikon wanted to move their D1 inventory that they still had sitting around. |
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Eric Canha, Photographer
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Brockton | MA | United States | Posted: 11:56 AM on 03.10.09 |
| ->> I'm willing to bet that a good number of these refurbs are cameras that were used at the Olympics. |
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Mike Shepherd, Photographer
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Wichita | KS | USA | Posted: 12:07 PM on 03.10.09 |
| ->> Those those of you throwing out ideas as to where/how these bodies came to be "refurbs," is there anyway to find out such information? |
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Jeff Stanton, Photographer
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Princeton | IN | USA | Posted: 12:34 PM on 03.10.09 |
->> I've bought a D300 new and one as a refurb plus I bought a SB800 as a refurb. No issues with any. I bought both refurbs from Robert's.
Just an FYI if anyone wasn't aware of this: If you are considering purchasing used gear and you want to know if it was purchased new or as a refurb, Nikon places small dots on either side of the serial number of its gear. For example, the number may say, .439534540. My D300 and Sb800 both have these.
Gear purchased new will not have the dots. |
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Rich Cruse, Photographer
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Laguna Niguel | CA | USA | Posted: 1:25 PM on 03.10.09 |
| ->> In my experience, a refurb "could" be a camera that has: been repaired, a demo, open box or an item that has been returned to the store. The deal is you do not get to choose "which" camera you get. You could receive a camera in new condition or one with some nicks or scratches. Savings of $500 to $1000 on a D3 refurb. is worth it to many. It is important to ask the questions about "who" did the refurbishing and where the warranty is coming from. |
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Steve Ueckert, Photographer
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Houston | TX | | Posted: 8:32 PM on 03.10.09 |
->> Eric--
Excellent point.
A tech rep's sample could have 6 - 7 thousand actuations. A return from the Olympics might have 60 - 70 thousand actuations.
I know this as the first D3's I used were exactly that. Smiley Pool let me test drive the D3's he brought back from China which prompted me to go out and get a pair for myself. We opened a couple of images in PM to check the actuations just before I left the HouChron and the actuations on one was ~60K and the other ~10K less.
But then the D3 shutter is rated at 250K actuations so that could be considered just a warm-up.
However, food for thought. New gray market D3's can be had for about the same price. The refurbs come with a 90 day warranty. So what is the better deal, new with (essentially) no warranty or refurbed with 90 days of coverage? |
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Eric Canha, Photographer
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Brockton | MA | United States | Posted: 12:40 AM on 03.11.09 |
| ->> My heavy hitter D3 has 385,000+ clicks on the shutter. Got it new about a year ago. |
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Steve Ueckert, Photographer
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Houston | TX | | Posted: 10:28 AM on 03.11.09 |
->> Eric--
That's more than a thousand images a day, every day! Do you ever get a day off?
Digital has certainly changed the way we work, I can't imagine shooting 30 rolls of film a day, every single day. |
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Eric Canha, Photographer
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Brockton | MA | United States | Posted: 11:15 AM on 03.11.09 |
->> I went 28 straight days without a day off Jan-Feb.... The majority of those being 16+ hour days..... That was the joke between me and Clark when we were talking about 'only' working 60 hour weeks.
In a 16 hour day I'll shoot 12 hockey games (I am Soooooo hockey'ed out) at a tourney. The truth is that when you're sitting with a roster of kids and HAVE TO bring back 'money' shots of each the numbers start to get silly big.
You don't want to work my schedule, and saying all of that, there is one member here who will beat my shot count easily..... |
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Jeff Snyder, Photographer
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Metro DC Region | MD | USA | Posted: 1:52 PM on 03.11.09 |
->> To all...
In these tough economic times, purchasing "refurbished" gear is a terrific way to save some serious $$. I've been in this business for 30+ years, and I've been selling "Refurbished" products from Nikon & Canon for as long. The cameras & lenses that are shipped to us have been "refurbished" by the manufacturer, not the dealer. They are generally supplied with a 90 Day Warranty from the manufacturer, so you are safe there as well.
I'd urge you to check with me if you are in the market and want to save some $ on your gear. Many times, these items do not make it to our website, because they are gobbled up. Like many of you have pointed out in this thread, you've had zero problems with any of the "refurbed" gear that you've purchased from you dealer of choice.
I'm always available for questions--
Jeff Snyder - Adorama Camera
SportsShooter Sponsor since day one |
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Michael Cavazos, Photographer
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Longview | TX | USA | Posted: 2:42 PM on 03.11.09 |
| ->> I purchased a Canon 20D referb when they first came out and I still use it today and have never had a problem out of it. |
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Rich Cruse, Photographer
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Laguna Niguel | CA | USA | Posted: 2:47 PM on 03.11.09 |
| ->> Thanks to Jeff for the information. I am looking into a D3 refurb now. |
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