amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

A refurbished cameras MIGHT be one that broke and was repaired..... But as often as not it's just a demo unit or out-of-box or part of a kit that's been split up or possibly even just returned overstock. For example, you'll often see Canon USA's stock of available refurbs increase significantly right after major photo trade shows where Canon unboxed a lot as demos or major sporting events where they had gear on hand and ready for use through Canon Professional Services, if needed as 'backups' or 'loaners'.

A FACTORY refurb is likely to be little different from new, to have seen little to no actual use. It's been unpacked and powered up, so can no longer be sold as new. It should have been inspected and tested for proper function by a factory repair tech, which is probably a lot more attention than a brand new camera ever got coming off the assembly line.

BUT it depends upon who did the refurbishing and where it's being sold.

For example, several years ago Canon USA moved all their "real" refurbished camera sales to their own website. They no longer distribute them to their top retailers, the way they did some years ago. As a result, any "refurbished Canon" you might see elsewhere in the US you should ask yourself "refurbished by whom?" and "is it actually just 'used', but 'refurbished' sounds better?" A refurbished Canon bought from their website has the same 1 year warranty as new. If being sold as 'refurbished' elsewhere, see if it has a 90 day warranty, as is often offered for 'used'.

It's harder to say with Nikon because, while Nikon USA has also have started selling refurbs direct from their website too, it's only started doing so recently and there are still a lot of their refurbs being sold at retailers or they're still distributing some of them for sale that way. Plus, Nikon's 'factory refurbs" only have 90 day warranty, same as used. That might be fine, but makes it more difficult to distinguish new from used gear that's being called refurbished or has been refurbished by unknown service people.

I don't know about how refurbs are handled by other manufacturers... Sony, Pentax, Olympus, Sigma, Tamron, Tokina, etc.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Refurbished gear is usually as reliable or more reliable than new, in my experience.

Unless you buy really high-end gear, manufacturers don’t inspect every unit they ship. A few will be defective on first use. Refurbished are often demo units, or fully functional returns. Either way, a factory refurbished camera will be tested and repaired, if necessary.

Used gear, sold by reputable dealers such as KEH, Adorama, B&H, or Cameta, may come with a 30 to 180 day warranty.

jeryh Loc: Oxfordshire UK

There really is no problem with refurbs; make sure they are maker oriented though !

Ron Dial Loc: Cuenca, Ecuador

Depends on who refurbished it and if it has a warranty.

Bear123 Loc: Wild & Wonderful West Virginia

Olympus refurbs have worked well for me. They too have sales on their gear at times.

Brent Rowlett Loc: Atlanta, GA

What are they selling for now?

anotherview Loc: California

I agree. But I say more: A technician at the Canon refurbishment facility very likely will have checked out the whole camera for correct operation. So the camera should perform like new.

missd Loc: Phoenix,AZ

Hi.I to am new to this site and we are in a good place here. My Sony I bought new,my Nikon is a refurbished camera. I certainty am far from being an expert,but I have been told they they both take great shots. Get the refurbished camera and see if it works for you.

missd Loc: Phoenix,AZ

Hi.I to am new to this site and we are in a good place here. My Sony I bought new,my Nikon is a refurbished camera. I certainty am far from being an expert,but I have been told they they both take great shots. Get the refurbished camera and see if it works for you.

John_F Loc: Minneapolis, MN

It depends on who does the refurb and what do they use for replacement parts. In camera factories a small number of camera are selected for inspection to see if their manufacturing standards are being met. Every factory refurb is inspected to see if it meets factory specs. The probably of getting a 'dog' is higher with the factory stream and zero with refurb. I have often wondered where third party refurbers get their spare parts and are they made to factory specifications.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

I've bought them before and had zero problems with them. My last 2 lenses are refurbs directly from Canon. It's a great way to save money. You don't get the retail box nor did I get an instruction manual. But what is there to know about a lens. There's only a few switched on it and you can download the manuals if you need to. Same with a camera.

Bill_de Loc: US

Nikon Rumors recently posted an "unconfirmed" report saying that when Nikon refurbished a camera or lens, it will have two 'dimples', one on either side of the serial number. Has anybody with a refurbished item noticed this?

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latebloomer Loc: Topeka, KS

Several years ago I bought a refurbished Nikon D7100. It had only 57 shutter activations.

Al Freeedman

Purchased A Canon T6I direct from Canon. Looked better then new. so far no problems.

Captain Al

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

From Nikon the warranty is 30 or 90 days. Buying a new one you get a year. Some stores, like B&H or Adorama may offer a one year warranty, but this warranty is NOT from Nikon, it is from one of there repair shops.
MOST of the time refurbished come with low shutter counts, but most of the time you will not know the shutter count ahead of time.
If you buy used off ebay, most sellers will give you a shutter count, but you are limited to a 30 day return policy on ebay but sometimes you can get a better price there than on Refurbished, it depends on how patient you are.
Nikon from time to time puts a 10% discount on all refurbished prices they list on their website, Nikonusa.com.
IMHO, I buy NEW bodies and Mint in the box lenses. Generally speaking, problems occur more often in the body than the lens. But one never knows.
Many folks here have been very happy with refurbished.
Good luck and keep on shooting until the end.