"bargain" KEH

Has anyone had any trouble with there "bargain" parts from KEh, and if

so, what parts would be safe (body, back, lense...) to buy at bargain,

and what would keep for excellent or higher?

 

Thanks

Justin

I've bought two BARGAIN items from KEH. Both were lenses.

 

The first purchase was a 40 year old Leica lens. It was in better condition than i expected. Glass, of course, was pristine, and the barrell (chrome) showed less wear than i imagined it would. It's a cleaner lens than i've seen selling in EXC condition. Certainly, rating a lens this old, and with a 'scuffable' finish is difficult. But, i was quite happy with this purchase.

 

The second lens, bought a couple of months later, was a Pentax 67 55mm lens. It arrived, also, with clean glass, but the barrell was scratched and marked significantly. I kept it because the price was what i wanted to pay for a lens i probably won't use very often.

 

I went into both transactions mindful of their return policy. I probably wouldn't buy a camera body in Bargain condition, although i did consider a Hassy body recently. I guess i should say that i wouldn't buy an electronic body in that condition. With a Hassy 503CW, or other all-mechanical body, i think i could assess it better than something like an EOS....

 

I wouldn't buy a Hassy film mag in Bargain condition either, knowing of the light seal issues. It really does depend on the specific component, and what you know about that component's potential failings and weaknesses. For example, i probably wouldn't have a problem buying a Bargain prism, since the glass would be good and it would only be a matter of cosmetics....

KEH has been around for many years (1970's). They sell good stuff at reasonable prices. Their bargain stuff are bargains and is equivalent to the old Shutterbug ugly and fair categories and perhaps even the SB good category. SB standards is what defines used equipment condition. KEH is a great photo provider.

no worries w/barain, either on bodies or lens. i've even been lucky w/"ugly" form them. besides, if you don't like it, send it back and your're only out the shipping.

I have bought a LOT of Bargains from them. Sometimes they are in Excellent (by eBay

standards) and other times you will get something that has a lot of external wear but with

Clean Glass.

 

I have only returned two bargain items that had problems that they didn't catch.

 

RE: Film Backs...pay a bit more for excellent and replace the Light Traps yourself anyway.

 

jmp

Thanks for the help, I am looking at bronica sq-ai stuff, any finiky things to pay the extra money for on that brand (other than film back i guess?)

Thanks

 

justin

Justin, echoing the positive comments others have made, I add that KEH sales team is very responsive to "on-line" customer questions.

 

Having regularly bought a range of items over the past 3 years from them, every experience I have had has been no less than EXCELLENT.

 

My suggestion to you is this: if you have concerns about bargain condition and specific aspects of an item that concern you (eg don't mind a marked lens barrel, but must have mint glass), send an email via their "sales team" email link - state the item number and specific assurance you'd like about the item (eg is the glass fully mark free, if not, tell me exactly the nature of any marks).

 

The response I got in such a situation was very professional: "I have asked for the item to be brought up to me so I can inspect and answer your question, in the meantime you will see it is off our stock list so that you don't miss out". 1 day later I got an email describing the condition and clearly answering my question. What more can we ask when we are buying "blind"? And I live in Australia so the return policy is a reassurance but having to exercise it would be costly and a big nuisance to me.

 

The only item I ever got that was a disappointment was an old Linhof cable release - while it theoretically was perfect, the pin did not extend far enough to fire the lens shutter release. So in response to my email they gave me a full refund and asked me to keep it for other use with their compliments - hence my on-going loyalty to KEH.

 

No, I have no association with KEH - am just a very happy customer.

I've bought a number of bargain items from KEH, and have been pleased with all of them. In particular, two lenses for a Mamiya 645 marked as "bargain" showed up with pristine glass. The only wear I could detect were a few places where the paint was worn on hard edges. One Nikon FE2 body I got from them showed brassing at the corners where the strap had worn through the paint, but that's common on most black bodies. Every other retailer I've ever dealt with would rate KEH bargain items as EX. One thing I got from them that was rated as EX was an N80 body. I could find no evidence of it ever having been used. New in all respects, to my eye.

Don't buy UGLY items. Those are the beat up dogs! My M4-P was aBargain and it really was in exec - condition!

I concur with all of the above. Bargain prisms, bodies and lenses are at least B&H excellent. Almost everything I've gotten as "bargain" has practically no wear except for a little brassing on bayonet lugs for lens hoods. I have yet to return anything in over five years, and [knock on wood]nothing has ever died except for one lens I killed with salt water. For film backs go with excellent or better. They are just too finicky when they are at all worn. Stay away from "ugly". I'm not sure where everything in between goes. Maybe they just don't buy it.

Another satisfied 'bargain' KEH buyer. Got my full Mamiya 645 Super outfit last year from them and I'm pretty sure it was all or mostly bargain condition. It was my first purchase from them and I was shocked at how nice bargain condition actually was. Having an bargain 80mm macro delivered today, am confident it will live up.

I bought a bargain prism from KEH for my Mamiya 645. The prism was perfect and the exterior only had a few superficial scuff marks. It was much better than I'd expected.

 

I also bought a Mamiya 645 film back in excellent condition. It looked good, but the frame spacing was irregular and it jammed a few times. I wiggled the advance lever and freed it. KEH swapped the back out without any problem. And they paid to FedEx the new back to me (I paid return shipping on the defective back).

 

So my experience with KEH have been excellent. Much better than buying on e**y!

 

Robert

I've purchased some Bronica SQ-Ai items from KEH and been very satisfied. The only item that I returned was by my own choice. I bought a ME prism in bargain condition, without realizing that their published definition of "bargain" said that some accessory parts might not be included. It turned out that the rubber eyepiece for the prism, was such a non-included part. They cheerfully exchanged it for a complete prism in excellent condition when I paid the additional amount for the upgrade. I've also sold to them with good results. IMO, very few internet businesses can claim a reputation as good or as widely held as KEH. Congratulations to them!

My RB67 Pro-S system was a KEH "Bargain" grade. There was some wear on the back of the camera body, but otherwise (the lens, finder, and film back) were easily in Excelent+ condition by any eBayers standards.

 

I also picked up a Bargain grade 90mm Zeiss lens for my Contax G1. It took me five minutes to figure out why the lens wasn't "Like New". There was a small (as in the siz-of-a-pin-point small) dimple on the very edge of the front of the lens barrel. It might have been there when the lens left the factory. Otherwise the lens was absolutely mint.

 

I've also picked up Bargain condition LF lenses from them, and other than some wear marks on the shutters the lenses have all been fantastic.

 

Unless I really want something that they just don't have in stock in Bargain condition, I always buy Bargain from KEH. I've purchased bodies, lenses, backs, finders, flashes...you name it. I'd not hesitate for a moment to buy something they've rated as "Bargain".

 

Echoing statements made above: If you want to know the condition of a specific item, give them a call. They're very good at telling you exactly what got an item a "Bargain" grade. If anything, they'll make the item sound worse than it will be when you get it.

 

I figure that Bargain grade at KEH means that it's something you can happily use, ugly means you'll probably use it for parts but you might get lucky, and all of the other grades are for people who'd rather look at their equipment than use it.

I believe KEH to be a good outfit, but the previous post about the dimple on the lens barrel

reminded me of an experience I had with KEH. I bought a Mamiya 6 body with a 50mm

lens. The camera arrived with a cracked rangefinder window. It was so well packed I

couldn't believe that this could've happened in shipment. I was sorry to send it back

because it was in fabulous condition. They sent a replacement; the replacement had a

large amount of scratched finish on the body underneath the lens; this was supposedly

EXC or EXC + (I can't remember which). I later ordered another lens for this camera, also

in EXC condition. The lens arrived and I couldn't put a filter on it. I looked closely and

saw that the barrel had a dent in the end of it, just big enough to keep a filter from

mounting. This lens was also in EXC condition. Every one of the defects I've mentioned I

blame on the way items were being handled in the shipping department at KEH, or else

just the way they were handled in the warehouse. I believe KEH is moving a huge amount

of product and that stuff is getting tossed around. For what it's worth, that is only my

opinion; I have no evidence other than a string of three consecutive purchases that had

problems.

 

Ed

Everthing that I've received from KEH has been nicely packaged - bagged and then bubble wrapped. I'd be surprised if they were tossing things about in the shipping department. It's more likely that gear was damaged before they bought it.

 

Robert

I found KEH's bargain equipment (two sales from them in that category) to be great condition for the price. Both were lenses, with no scratches on the glass but lots of brassing. Best

I've bought quite a bit of stuff from them. Everything has been totally satisfactory. I usually try to find "excellent" items or better but for user equipment, "bargain" is fine. A recent "bargain" camera body was every bit as nice as an "excellent plus" one I bought a year earlier except for a couple of scratches in the finish. Function is perfect.

Well, I took to MF leap. I just ordered a SQ-Ai system (body,WLF, older 120 back, not 120-i, 80mm ps, and 150mm s lens) Also a SEKONIC L-358 meter. I hope to have years of great fun with this system.

 

PS, the reason I got a 120 back, rather than a 120-i was that the text describing the 120-i back on KEH led me to beleive that the insert and darkslide did not come with it. Im not sure if that is the case, but I wanted to be safe.

 

http://www.keh.com/shop/SHOWPRODUCT.CFM?CRID=10985821&SKID=SQ1100903483304&SID=newused&BID=SQ&CID=11&SOID=N&curpic=0&dpsp=0

I've bought a number of Bargin items. The only one I was kind of unhappy with was a

Canon A1 body which had the (brass?) top plate worn through to the polycarbonate below

on the corners and around the strap lugs - it looked pretty "Ugly" to me. It *was* in

perfect condition electronically and mechanically, though.

Simon (way above): That's a really interesting story regarding getting specific answers about items that they have in stock. I was told by the sales team that they "don't really do that" (or words to that effect) but when I pressed regarding a lens that I was interested in, and wanting to know which "variant" of the lens it was (in this case it was the 75-150 series e, chrome or black colored) the salesperson said that they would look into it. I got a phone call three days later, stating that it was the chrome version. So I ordered. When it showed up it was the black version.

 

In regard to "bargain" grade - it can have scratches on the glass. I have also recieved bargain lenses with some visible spots of soot or dirt within the elements. But all of the bargain lenses I've recieved have had relatively significant brassing. I don't believe for one moment when people state that they recieve flawless bargain equipment. KEH bargain is at least in my opinion in the strictest sense functional, but certainly not pretty. You can also kiss resale value goodbye if it's a lens with marks on the glass. At that point it's basically a keeper because you'll never get anywhere near what you paid for it even in bargain grade on the infamous auction website.

 

Also, I bought a 20mm "Excellent" lens from them once and it had 3 nice and neat scrapes running through the middle of the front element. When I spoke to the salesman about the lens he told me about a disturbing 'trend' within the equipment inspection department. Hopefully they've dealt with those issues since then (I haven't ordered from them since, too weary of dissapointment) because their reputation is based around their grading system, and IMO their continued success is going to rely on keeping their grading policy firm.