After much research on my own and then upon very good advice from some UHH members I made the plunge and ordered a refurb d7200 from Adorama. The camera arrived and it looks amazing ,downloaded the user manual and after looking over the camera and manual I looked in the mirror and said, OH LORD WHAT HAVE YOU DONE. Let me explain. I'm a film guy (actually slides because it was less expensive) from many years ago . I managed to turn out some fairly good ones but then along came life, marriage, kids etc and the camera was put on the shelf and photography was forgotten Then in the late nineties I got the bug again and bought my first digital (an entry level d3000). I thought that was quite a learning curve for me, but going from the d3000 to d7200, for me it is like climbing out of the cockpit of a Piper Cub and into the pilots seat of a B747. To get to the point of this post I NEED HELP and lots of it. So be prepared for lots of stupid and amateurish questions and should you chose to answer any of them, please be gentle for although, technically I'm not a virgin instead I'm old and feeble and bruise easily. Thanks in advance and should I become annoying just tell me and I'll shut up and go buy a book. In fact does anyone have suggestions for a good book to start with.

Rick

In December, I purchased a 5D Mark II rated as excellent from KEH. Received it in an appropriate time frame.

Upon setting it up and test shooting it, the main dial started to slip and not engage in either direction. This went on for ten minutes and then worked as normally expected. I used it as a second set up camera during an event without problem and the following week sent it to CPS for maintenance. I noted the problem with the dial at the time. They contacted me back and said the main dial assembly was bad and needed to be replaced. I declined repair after talking to KEH about the problem with KEH stating that they would set aside another rated excellent camera and replace it under their warranty. CPS returned the body and I repacked it using the return label that KEH provided me.

KEH received it back on the 9th of January. On the 11th, having not heard from KEH, I emailed customer service regarding the status. Response was they were working as fast as possible, but it would be at least 5 working days before it would be processed as received. So I waited. On the 16th, I got an email saying the package was received and being processed. On the 23rd, I got an email saying the package was being shipped that evening. Delivery was this Saturday as FEDEX scheduled it would.

So I open the package and start the set up process again, look in the viewfinder and immediately, something is wrong. Take the lens off, unhook the trap door above the mirror and lo and behold... NO focusing screen!

Now, I have to wait until Monday to talk to someone about this at KEH. I don't want to have to go through another almost 3 week turn around again because someone there rated this camera excellent and didn't even look through the viewfinder! It is obviously a problem when what you see is a circle of light with black corners and you can see light reflecting off the shutter assembly.

I just sent an email to KEH stating my intention to have CPS put in a new focus screen and do a maintenance service on it. That I expect them to pay for the part and will return it under warranty if CPS finds anything else wrong with the camera requiring more repairs.

I am not saying to avoid KEH, I have bought lenses and another body from them before and had only a minor glitch for the most part... I remember I had a previous order show up on my credit card, but when I asked about where it was after not hearing about it for a week, I was told the order had been cancelled because I didn't finish the order. I asked how did my card show a charge if my order wasn't finished? Was told I apparently hadn't clicked the correct button to complete the sale. So I went back to my CC on line and the charge was gone. The things I ordered had a special 1 day discount on them which they didn't offer to reinstate, so I passed on them ,chalking it up to my user error.

I will possibly buy from them again if they have something I really need, after I get over the frustration I am experiencing from this latest episode.

Your choice of 25 is interesting. I chose 45 for two main reasons. First, if you have kids they are most likely no longer in diapers. I know, “little kids, little problems; big kids, big...” but for the most part they are less of a burden of responsibility and care. Second, you probably have more respect and recognition of being an adult, your career path is probably better established, and you should be financially more comfortable.

So, given that we are close in real and admitted age, why 25?

There are 4 “ages” of the members: true age; age reported if asked; age they would like to be; and age like they behave. Sometimes they all come together as one.

It would be interesting to have a good statistical analysis of UHH member profiles. I believe there have been a few threads where members responded with their age, but a broader survey of age, background, experience, education, gear, etc would be interesting to see. Surely we have a member or two with experience in doing surveys (can’t say “profiling” even though it is a perfectly good word that hits the nail on the head) who could find or develop such a survey and conduct it with admin’s permission. Of course, a key statistic would be number of respondents as a percentage of members. Any takers?