chrisg-optical Loc: New York, NY

With the recent Nikon refurbished sale, some chronic GAS, and some money dripping from the cash cow, I bought a refurbished Z7ii that was on sale for $1999 - $1000 off the $2999 regular price. Last year, I bought a refurbished Z6ii with a refurbished 24-70/4 S Z lens (a nice "walkaround" lens for street photography - although sometimes I wish I got the 24-120/4 S for extra reach). In the Z6ii combo I saved over $900 from the regular new price.

Buying refurbished can be a crap shoot, but Nikon offers a 14 day return policy, and a 90 day warranty. So, it's important to unpack everything and test the equipment right away as the clock is ticking. So far, I've been 3 for 3 with refurbished.

The Z7ii and accessories were packed very neatly, and protected with plenty of bubble wrap in their plain refurbished white box. The camera was squeaky clean, no scratches or signs of wear - apparently unused in new condition. Shutter count on my 13th photo was 13 so I started from zero. I don't know if Nikon resets shutter counts like car dealers rolling back odometers, but I doubt it. Most refurbs are packaging refurbs - new equipment that becomes refurbished due to damaged packaging (may even be really minor cosmetic damage). The only item missing from a refurb box is the user manual vs. a new retail box...no biggie I just downloaded the manuals from the Nikon site.

I went to the Atlantic Antic (annual street fair at the start of autumn) today in Brooklyn NY to put the camera through some shakedown shots (total of 60 so far). So far so good. I still have to learn all the nuances yet, as with my Z6ii which is very similar. The resolution on the Z7ii is amazing, offering much cropping ability (of course the Z8/Z9 are amazing too in other ways as well - but I have been holding back on a $4000 Z8.)

Here are some shots from today's Atlantic Antic ==> https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1hPy0qNABdjk6wPw_IKgfnE2TmIzsmizu?usp=sharing

luvmypets Loc: Born & raised Texan living in Fayetteville NC

Congrats on your "new" camera!! I purchased my refurbished D810 from Nikon with 176 on the shutter count. I've had it over a year now and no issues of any kind. I will probably not buy any more cameras but if I do a refurbished will definitely be a top consideration.

Enjoy!!

topcat Loc: Alameda, CA

Nikon Refurb are as good as new, maybe better because they go through a second checkout.
Who told you that they are a crap shoot?

chrisg-optical Loc: New York, NY

Well, there was a recent thread some months ago that covered this topic. I won't mention names but some said that they just repackage refurbs, without any testing or checkout (the discussion centered around Nikon refurbs). My opinion on the matter is it depends what kind of refurb it is - repackaging due to damaged box or incorrect labeling, warranty repair or demo, etc.. I think that person was correct with regards to re-packaging. So lets say B&H receives a pallet of new Nikons, and some of the boxes were damaged (cut across the box, slight crushing, markers, etc.) - but not enough to damage the contents. So B&H returns these to Nikon for credit or replacement. Nikon then takes those returns, does a quick visual check (since they are already new from the factory, no need to test anything), and repacks them as refurbished.

Now if the returns are for warranty repair (a new lemon - camera doesn't work DOA right out of the box), and it requires a deep repair, Nikon may opt to replace the unit. They will put the camera in the repair pipeline, and then re-sell as refurbished when it's fixed as new. I don't know if Nikon would reset the shutter count to -0- in this case.

If it's a demo unit, I don't know if Nikon would put the product through a battery of tests, or a "CLA" process, before repackaging as refurb. In this case too, I don't know if Nikon would reset the shutter count.

So those are three hypothetical situations that might result in a refurb sale. So far, like I said, I'm 3 for 3 and received what appears to be new unused products - Z6ii, Z7ii and a 24-70 S f/4 Z lens. I do feel confident in the 14 day return policy, and a 90 day warranty (wish it was more like 6 months). Anyway, I would buy refurb again from Nikon USA. So far I saved over $1600 on apparently new cameras - it's well worth to check it out.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

I have long been an advocate of buying refurbished products as a way to get nice, (generally) like new products for what is usually a pretty deep discount. A couple of recent personal experiences have cooled my enthusiasm, however, especially for cameras and some other similar products.

The problem with cameras, especially my chosen brand, is that they are manufactured in one country, by one company, but the source of those products to me, is actually a completely independent company located in my country. Nikon cameras imported and distributed by NikonUSA is a great example of this. While things generally go very well, if there is a major problem, there is no direct link from the final customer to the original source. I suspect that there are many locations in the world where this extra link is not present.

Anyway...the result of all this is that in the US, NikonUSA, not Nikon Corporation, determines what constitutes a refurbished product. While there may be some consultation, NikonUSAdesigns and executes the refurbishment process. While their resources are undoubtedly extensive, they are not the resources of the Nikon corporation. They do what they can do, as they are able to do it. They do not have an assembly line to run refurbs down to do final testing. They most likely do not have the same equipment to accomplish such testing.

Rerbished sales remain an extremely smart way to buy items at very attractive savings. Just be aware of the risks and possible limitations.

chrisg-optical Loc: New York, NY

NikonUSA and their authorized repair centers would have basic tooling and test equipment to repair and bring the cameras up to spec, perhaps not exactly as in the factories in Thailand or wherever the equipment is manufactured (not Japan though, for the most part), as they are not geared up for mass production runs in the thousands, but rather special cases to determine what part needs to be adjusted or replaced. What happens if I return a Nikon camera for let's say a stuck shutter? They will have to completely disassemble the camera, remove the bad shutter and replace it with a good/new one (which they get via the Nikon supply chain accessible only to authorized centers). Then after re-assembly they have to verify it all works. I would have a hard time believing they would just throw it back in the box without doing some testing. Nikon USA also does offer a service to clean and tune recent models of DSLRs and mirrorless. So they would have to have at the very least, basic equipment to test functions and accuracy of the meter and AF functionality, for example. Some diagnostic functions are probably built into the firmware and only accessible to repair techs - I'm sure via the USB port they can hook up diagnostic equipment to put the camera through its paces. In the end I am comforted by the 14 return/90 day warranty policies - if they did not offer these for refurbished, I would not buy refurbished ever. As I understand it, some time ago Nikon did not have a return policy for refurbished.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

They absolutely have what they need to completely repair and verify individual items sent for correction. What they do not have is the capacity or motivation to do this for the quantities of items which are accumulated before being offered and promoted in their periodic refurb sales. These are cleaned a little, repackaged, and stacked on a shelf in anticipation of the sale. Otherwise the lens I bought last year, which very obviously had been dropped and returned, would never have escaped out their door. They fortunately were able to correct the problem and make everything right, but it required a return at my expense and almost a month without the lens, most of it while awaiting parts from Japan.

chrisg-optical Loc: New York, NY

Actually, for the re-packaging refurbs, Nikon is making boat loads of money, potentially - its a big incentive. Shipping insurance covers the full cost of the "damaged" product in many cases - that's how they can offer a $3000 camera for $2000, in new condition. The bulk of the $2000 is profit - their cost being only overhead. While it's not a core profit center for Nikon or any company selling refurbs, it provides an additional revenue stream and could potentially attract new customers or keep existing customers buying new or almost new equipment at deep discount.

Yes, I have heard here on this forum and elsewhere, both good and bad experiences with refurbs, but mostly positive.

Yep, I would not recommend buying refurbished in a professional setting where it's "do or die", especially when the cost of the item is a tax write off. That's what the 14 day return policy is for...if I detected any signs of abuse, dropping, etc., on any of the bodies or lens, I would have returned it for a full refund, to try again another day to dip into the refurbished pool. I would not have missed the Z6ii or Z7ii if I had to return either. But, after carefully inspecting everything, I could not see any signs of use, abuse, or wear on any of the refurbs so far - everything was squeaky clean new with -0- on the shutter count. In the field everything worked 100%. It is a crap shoot with loaded dice, mostly in favor of the buyer.