James R. Kyle Loc: Saint Louis, Missouri (A Suburb of Ferguson)

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YES!

I, as well, have a local camera shop (SCHILLER'S Camera) ((and we do have two (2) camera stores)) IS the best choice, for me and almost every professional photographer in the Saint Louis, Missouri area.

I have bought 99% of my lenses (Used) from Schillers - and One Brand Spanking NEW one (Tamron 150-600) from them = In Fact when B&H had a waiting list going I ask one of the fine sales people to "Please let me know when the Tamron arrives" -- And They Did just that - I became the first photographer in the STL area to own a Tamron 150 - 600 -- And B&H still had a waiting list going on). Also, I bought a new 5D Mark II from them. And three other used Canons. (They can to mail order.) ((That is a plug.))

OK back to the point of Used and New....

IF you know the person who is selling the item of your desire and can trust them = Go For It. If You are buying for something like online (i.e. - E-Bay) make SURE to ask a LOT of questions. I must say, that having a brick and mortar store is the best - but nowadays - they are becoming fewer and fewer.

So.....

If you know the seller - and you really - REALLY want THAT particular item, and that item would be a good purchase at the price given, Yeah!!! Go For It.

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Logan1949

Yes and yes. I have always bought new because I could afford it. But some of the new stuff I bought is unusable (e.g. 2 cheap Opteka lenses). It is okay to buy Used (from quality vendors), or refurbished like new quality equipment, or new quality equipment. That said, it all depends on what you want in the way of pictures. I started my journey by reading. My goal was, and still is, 24x36 inch prints at 300 dpi (this implies 80 megapixels, but I did not know there was such a thing as Medium Format cameras until a year later). If you are satisfied with good looking pictures under 8.5x11 inches then most modern lenses will work for you. If you want to take Birds In Flight (BIF) then you need fast continuous Auto Focus. If you want pictures in dim light, you need a quality (larger) High ISO sensor and "fast" large apertures like f/1.4, 1.8, 2.8 etc.; these lenses are more expensive than f/4 to f/6 lenses.

I was impressed with the then-new Sony A7 series of cameras and bought a small Sony point & shoot with the same BIONZ processor because it was on sale for $99. With that camera, I learned the importance of correct white-balance. Then I bought a Sony A7ii, and then an A7Rii. At the same time, I love to reach out and zoom-in a lot. It was much cheaper to buy the Sony HX400V bridge camera ($450) with a 24-1200 equivalent zoom lens than to try to match that reach on an Interchangeable lens camera. (It still cannot be done.) And some of the pictures I have taken with that 20mp camera I can print at 13x19 inches and they look as good as pictures taken with the A7Rii camera. The weaknesses of the HX400V are: 1. Because of the tiny sensor, it does not work well in dim light (without the built-in flash), and 2. It only shoots JPEG, not RAW. Now I also have the Sony RX10iii (and the new RX10iv is even better with faster autofocus). With a 1" sensor, it does well even in medium light, and it can shoot RAW files, but its lens only zooms 24-600mm. But the cost was $1300.

Basically, you need to know what you want as an end result of your picture taking. How many pixels high & wide for the Web, for photo albums, for large gallery prints or what? (I am working toward large gallery prints, 4x6 feet for example.) And you need to know what you are shooting: Action, sports, still scenes, snapshots, Outdoors, Indoors, bright light, dim light? What? (I shoot still things in natural light.) Keeping that in mind, read a lot of reviews or articles (google etc.) about "the best camera for shooting ...". But don't always believe what you read in magazines. Popular Photography (now defunct) and Shutterbug are mostly promoting their advertiser's products, so they use vague abstract adjectives like "excellent" instead of concrete measurable numbers. I don't recall Popular Photography ever mentioning Medium Format cameras, but Shutterbug did.

One of my favorite HX400V pictures:

(Download)

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

I have NEVER had a problem with manufacturer refurbished equipment. Refurbished equipment (for most manufacturers) is checked to make sure is meets the ALL original specs. Often new equipment is only spot checked as part of general quality control. Fully checking every piece of equipment would be very expensive and drive up the price. This means that you NEW camera was "maybe" checked for a few items, but maybe not. Your refurbished camera was checked out completely.

Hbuk66 Loc: Oswego, NY

Do research, compare, make a decision, try to find very good used...

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

Depends. If I can get a mint Nikon 200-400 for 1/2 the cost of new then yea, I did that. Camera bodies get sold after 2 years use so I usually buy them new. One year under warranty, then about a year later I sell it. So, for me it's about the deal. That 200-400 got sold two years later on EBay for about $500.00 less than when I bought it. So, in essence I rented the lens for two years for $500.00.

terry44 Loc: Tuolumne County California, Maui Hawaii

I bought my D7100 new, as well as the B700, all my lenses and the D800, and K=7 are used I really could not tell the difference as all look new after using the equipment for quite a while I find there is no difference in new vs used as long as you take your time to get informed on the price you are buying and then buy from a reputable company such as B&H, Adorama, KEH, Cameta and there are more. Many have bought refurbished here and I sure would not hesitate to go that route also as then you get a good warranty and know the piece has been gone over before putting it on the sales shelf.

terry44 Loc: Tuolumne County California, Maui Hawaii

(My goal was, and still is, 24x36 inch prints at 300 dpi (this implies 80 megapixels, but I did not know there was such a thing as Medium Format cameras until a year later). If you are satisfied with good looking pictures under 8.5x11 inches then most modern lenses will work for you.)

I don't know I have printed many photos at 20x24 and would be hard pressed to tell the difference in quality over medium format (I have shot quite a bit with medium format film cameras over the years but have not yet tried a digital MF though I sure would like to rent one just for fun. Most poster sized prints are meant to be viewed from a distance not close up so the eye should not be able to see a difference from that distance, if the reason you wish to shoot medium format is just the print size that may be a waste of spendable cash in your pocket which at least for me could be spent elsewhere.

davyboy Loc: Anoka Mn.

👍👍

sirlensalot Loc: Arizona

I have new, used, and refurbished. No problems or repairs with either.

PAR4DCR Loc: A Sunny Place

Don

DeanS Loc: Capital City area of North Carolina

I second the local shop in Raleigh, Southeastern Camera.

DMerg10 Loc: Long Island, NY

Thanks all for the responses. I just purchased my first Canon L lens used and for half the cost I couldn't tell when I opened it that it wasn't new. It should serve me well to get me past the shiny and new complex:)

LWW Loc: Banana Republic of America

I have three NIKON F models, an F2, an F3, and FM, an F4s and a D7200 that I bought used and have never had an issue ... in fact still have them all.

I did buy an N8008s and a D50 new, can't remember why ... still have them also.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

Good point regarding the camera. I got an 80D refurb. However, I got one of the first ones on the Refurb market direct from Canon, so it did not have that much use. I too would hesitate on a refurbished camera body that has been on the market for several years. Lenses, however, are a great deal refurbished.

terry44 Loc: Tuolumne County California, Maui Hawaii