? about refurbished lenses: Has anyone had any experience with Canons refurbished lenses? Wanting to buy Canons 15-85mm for my Rebel 2ti. Brand new its 699$ with a Canon rebate of...

masonmike Loc: Vancouver, Washington

Has anyone had any experience with Canons refurbished lenses? Wanting to buy Canons 15-85mm for my Rebel 2ti.
Brand new its 699$ with a Canon rebate of 100$. On there website I can purchase a refurbished one for 549$ with free shipping & a 1year limited warranty. Any advice?

SX2002 Loc: Adelaide, South Australia

Seems very expensive for a second hand refurbished lens Mike...you might be better off (cheaper) just buying a good second hand one.

RocketScientist Loc: Littleton, Colorado

Nothing wrong with refurbished. Do a search here on refurbished. You'll find a lot of good experiences.

gfoxworth

When you buy a new lens from a dealer, that lens has come off of a mass production line and may or may not have been spot-checked for quality and build. When Canon rebuilds a lens, that lens was thoroughly inspected as it was reconstructed.

I have bought two refurbished lenses from Canon and have been very pleased with the price and the guarantee.

Buying a used lens is far more iffy. You never know how it has been treated along the way.

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

masonmike wrote:

Has anyone had any experience with Canons refurbished lenses? Wanting to buy Canons 15-85mm for my Rebel 2ti.
Brand new its 699$ with a Canon rebate of 100$. On there website I can purchase a refurbished one for 549$ with free shipping & a 1year limited warranty. Any advice?

MM, I have owned the 15-85, VERY nice lens. With the rebate, the new one is pretty attractive. I have not looked at the 15-85 refurb at shop.canon but I just bought a refurb last week. I know that currently if you purchase more than $500 you will receive an additional $125 off. Have you factored that into the price? Also you WILL pay tax. Factor that in as well.
If you are within $15-$20 of the new price on BH/Amazon, consider the new lens with the 12mo. warranty. Anything on the Canon site, new or refurb carries tax. Otherwise, I buy most of my cameras and lenses as refurbs at the Canon site. Good luck. SS

SX2002 Loc: Adelaide, South Australia

gfoxworth wrote:

When you buy a new lens from a dealer, that lens has come off of a mass production line and may or may not have been spot-checked for quality and build. When Canon rebuilds a lens, that lens was thoroughly inspected as it was reconstructed.

I have bought two refurbished lenses from Canon and have been very pleased with the price and the guarantee.

Buying a used lens is far more iffy. You never know how it has been treated along the way.

Don't know about Canon quality but I've never had a problem with a new Nikkor lens...

Nikonian72 Loc: Chico CA

SX2002 wrote:

Seems very expensive for a second hand refurbished lens Mike...you might be better off (cheaper) just buying a good second hand one.

Second-hand (used) and Manufacturer Refurbished are completely different status of use. Refurbished means absolutely minimal use, or none at all. Tweaking a setting or adjustment of a brand new lens is usually the reason that the manufacturer sees it a second time.

SX2002 Loc: Adelaide, South Australia

I'd be pretty cheesed off if I had to send a new lens back to the manufacturer for a "refurbish" because it wasn't doing what it should do and then have to pay more for the privilege...

Nikonian72 Loc: Chico CA

SX2002 wrote:

I'd be pretty cheesed off if I had to send a new lens back to the manufacturer for a "refurbish" because it wasn't doing what it should do and then have to pay more for the privilege...

Lens owners do not send lenses back to a manufacture to be re-furbished; distributors (store owners) return cameras & lenses. Sometimes the return is a display lens that simply lost its original box; sometimes it is a recently sold new lens that needs focus tweaking. Both are then returned to original store, who still owns the lens. Now, neither can be sold as new, but neither is used, hence 'Re-furbished'.

SX2002 Loc: Adelaide, South Australia

Oh, OK thanks for the explanation...

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

masonmike wrote:

Has anyone had any experience with Canons refurbished lenses? Wanting to buy Canons 15-85mm for my Rebel 2ti.
Brand new its 699$ with a Canon rebate of 100$. On there website I can purchase a refurbished one for 549$ with free shipping & a 1year limited warranty. Any advice?

Factory Refurbished lenses are a very good deal because most of them are still brand new, and Canon provides a full 1 year warranty with their refurbs when you buy direct. You can buy them cheaper through Adorama or B&H though.
I bought 2 Canon bodies and 4 lenses direct from Canon when I opened my camera store just to have Canons in inventory. They were all refurbs, and all have sold. I am awaiting replacements as I type this, also refurbs direct from Canon.

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

MT Shooter wrote:

Factory Refurbished lenses are a very good deal because most of them are still brand new, and Canon provides a full 1 year warranty with their refurbs when you buy direct. You can buy them cheaper through Adorama or B&H though.
I bought 2 Canon bodies and 4 lenses direct from Canon when I opened my camera store just to have Canons in inventory. They were all refurbs, and all have sold. I am awaiting replacements as I type this, also refurbs direct from Canon.

MT, just a friendly correction, the Canon refurb product has only 90 days, not the full year of the new product, but does retain the 14 day return policy.
And, as mentioned, Canon product is returned for many reasons. And yes, some of it is used, but not very much. Canon's policy is 14 day return and needs no reason. Therefore it can be used by a consumer for 14 days. But it also has to be in absolutely brand new appearance or the dealer will not accept it. Canon then cleans, calibrates and tests the product, puts it into a special white, refurb box and sells it as a refurb, hence it looks brand new, but it has been calibrated and tested twice, as opposed to the once of new product. All of my info is straight from Canon.

PS, MT, congratulations on openning your store. I did not know you had done so. If ever in Montana, I will stop by and make a purchase.
Again MT, congratulations and good luck with the store. SS

masonmike Loc: Vancouver, Washington

Thanks for all the good advice. The cost of the refurb is 558$ with tax. New at my local camera store is 699$ after Canon rebate. Same price on Amazon, B&H & Adorama. Have not checked those sites for refurbished yet. That's a savings of 141$.Enough for a cpl filter & a lens hood. And I second Sharpshooter & wish you much success with your new business Mt Shooter.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

SharpShooter wrote:

MT, just a friendly correction, the Canon refurb p... (show quote)

I see you are unfamiliar with Canons warranty policy. All Canon refurbs bought direct from Canon come with a One Year Warranty.
Look at the last line of each and every listing here:
http://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/cameras/refurbished-eos-digital-slr-cameras
You can apologize when you stop into my store.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

MT Shooter wrote:

I see you are unfamiliar with Canons warranty policy. All Canon refurbs bought direct from Canon come with a One Year Warranty.
Look at the last line of each and every listing here:
http://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/cameras/refurbished-eos-digital-slr-cameras
You can apologize when you stop into my store.

How does a "Refurbished camera warranty" differ from a new camera warranty?