[UserAccessDenied]

I have been shooting for a few years now. I have acquired a lot of gear, and sold a decent amount already.

ALL my critical camera gear (aside from batteries), including camera body, lenses, battery grip, filters, teleconverters, etc. has been purchased USED>

I have never bought a brand new lens or camera...
Only batteries...


I know people that REFUSE to buy used gear. They cringe when I talk about a lens I've purchased from the marketplace and am excitedly waiting for it to arrive!

What's in your bag and why?

Do you buy brand new for a particular reason?
Do you like having the latest and greatest before anyone else?
Or do you not trust anyone to buy used?

Do you guy used gear for a particular reason?
Do you like the discounted price?
Do you like meeting people in the marketplace and sharing experiences along with the purchase?
Do you not care about the newest release and just want to wait until the price drops in the used market?



I'm the latter.

I don't need the latest and greatest tech. And would rather wait until reviews come out and prices drop.
I like meeting people on the forum and trading gear. Buying used gear has a different level of interaction.
The cost savings is great too!

[serothis]

I have a mix of new and used lenses. The first couple of lenses I bought for the K-1 were all new. But my most recent 4 lenses have been bought used on ebay.

When it comes to electronics I tend to gravitate more towards new simply because it's harder to tell what condition the item is in. Even if the Seller is 100% honest, it's just hard to tell. Non electronic devices like lenses, I'm much more comfortable buying used.

[aaacb]

The film cameras I have, and few older lenses, are used for obvious reasons. Otherwise most of my current digital camera and lenses are new, I had bought a couple used da lenses but sold them in the meantime.

[roberrl]

Mixed, I bought my K-S2 body new because I wanted some of its features but my K-5iiS and most of my lenses secondhand - usually from one forum or another.
A lifetime in the IT industry has made me wary of being close to the leading edge.

[08amczb]

If something is available used I buy it used.
There were some lenses which started in the service, but the cost was still marginal or the eBay seller payed it for me.

[Neuse River Sailor]

Some things are too small and cheap to buy used, because the shipping will kill you. So I piggyback them on Amazon orders. Things like UV filters, adapters and lens caps. Most everything else I buy used, mostly from Ebay. That would include extension tubes, bellows, and lenses. I have bought a couple of Takumars and a film-era Canon and been pleased with them all. I also bought a K100D from a Pentax Forums seller and was happy with the transaction. As far as Ebay goes, though I have heard horror stories I have never had a bad transaction myself - and I have bought hundreds of pocket knives, many hand tools, a few boat parts - all used. My impression is that most old stuff is better built than new, and there is such an accumulation of things on shelves and in garages that should meet most people's needs for years to come. As far as photography equipment goes, I don't think you can really see a difference in image quality between a Takumar and the newest Pentax lens except at the very highest levels of achievement, which I don't aspire to. So I will happily continue collecting my used Takumars and make nice pictures to put on my websites and send to my friends and family.

[pres589]

Mixed, mostly used. I'm a hobbyist and cannot justify buying all new everything.

[DeadJohn]

I have a mix of new and used gear. I will buy used to save money or to obtain a discontinued lens.

I expect a minimum of 20% savings for used. If the market is offering smaller savings I buy new to get a warranty.

Watch new sale prices. If you are patient, keep a wishlist of lenses, and if there's a good sale might be able to get a new lens for the same price as used.

[pathdoc]

All of my film gear is used, for obvious reasons. Much of it has come from a small selection of forum members, with whom I am more than happy regarding the products they sold me. The rest has come from E-bay, and I have been fortunate with my purchases there. I don't mind scratches and dents which do not affect function, or names engraved in cameras or suchlike.

My DA18-135 was either new or barely used via Amazon; my DA18-250, DFA 100 WR Macro and all my DA Limited primes were bought new, as were my K-1 and K-5, my DFA* 70-200 and my 540FGZ-II flash; my now-dead *istDL was a new-in-box insurance replacement for a stolen Nikon fixed-lens zoom camera. My *istDS was bought secondhand.

I tend to buy the really expensive stuff new, so I know I'm not inheriting someone else's problems (whether unknown or known/undeclared), and so that I know I have warranty on it (and in some cases extended warranty, including drop protection).

I waited for a year after release before buying the K-1; I wanted to know what all the potential problems were.

The only really awful camera I ever bought used, I did so deliberately; I was so surprised by how well my parts camera for practice disassembly still worked that I haven't had the heart to tear it down yet.

[UncleVanya]

Mix, but largely used. My k-3 was new. My fa 77 was new. My Panasonic 35-100 f4-5.6 was new. My hd da 70 was new. My k50 and 18-135 were new (k50 since sold). All my da* lenses were used. My fa 31 was used. My fa* 300 was used. My gx-1 was used. This list goes on and on.

[othar]

For my first DSLR I actually thought about buying used but there was no K-5 or K-5ii for sale in my region and I didn't want to buy a used one from half around the world. I came accross a K-3 during that time, liked the ergonomic handle, and was a lost case for the used market.

My lenses are a mixture of both:
The 18-55mm kit lens came with the camera as WR solution.
And if lenses I am interested in arn't available used at the time I buy new (Samyang 35mm + 8mm).
And then there are my impulse purchases when I see lenses for cheap and can't resist (quite a few when you check my signature )

[Ronald Oakes]

I buy NEW on the expensive critical items like Limited lenses and Flagship Camera bodies.
I buy USED for manual era film primes and less costly items like a 7 yr old backup body.
Its the costly items I want to go with a brick and mortar store in case something needs returning or replaced.
The rest is all just cold Biscuits and Gravy in my bag.

[CarlJF]

I buy both new and used. It's mostly a matter of price. When new, it's always because it's on sale with a good discount.

[timw4mail]

Mostly used, especially since my film camera collection far outnumbers my digital stuff.

On the other hand, most of my adapters and accessories I bought new.

[jeallen01]

Mainly used from UK forum members, although the 10-20 Sigma was new 8+ yrs ago, and bought a new PLM earlier this year to go with "now fixed although it never failed" K-30 which was new in 2013. Only used real "lemon" was the K-3 which needed an (expensive!) recal by the UK Agent (Johnsons Photopia - rarely if ever again will I use them) to get it working correctly.

Hoya filters and so on normally bought new because there are reputedly so many fakes around - and batteries, of course.