Nikon Refurbished Lenses?

<p>I've seen Nikon refurbished lenses for sale through a number of different outlets, B&H Photo, Adorama, and Nikon USA's own web site, among others. I've also heard that some folks have had bad experiences with Nikon refurbished lenses and I was wondering if anyone would be willing to share their experience and how it was resolved.</p>

<p>There are a few lenses available through B&H and through Nikon's web site that I might be interested in, but I wonder how warranty issues are handled if there is something wrong with the lens right out of the box.</p>

<p>Thanks for any and all input.</p>

<p>Best,<br>

-Tim</p>

<p>"Refurbished" does not mean that a highly skilled optical technician has tested and adjusted the lens to meet tight manufacturer tolerances. It means a vender has a lens that cannot be lawfully sold as new for some reason. Usually, it was sold & returned, or demo'd, or used in some kind of promotion. So think of "refurb" as somewhat used. The risk comes from the fact that some of the lenses were bought, tested by an end user and found to be unsatisfactory, and then returned. The lens is then repackaged and sold as a "refurb".</p>

<p>I think "refurb" is OK if you buy from a reputable dealer with a "no questions asked" return policy.</p>

<p>When I took the plunge on a D800, I bought a refurb that had something like 6000 shutter actuations. I immediately returned it and bought a new D800 because I felt 6000 actuations was way too many for what it was.</p>

<p>I have had good luck with Nikon refurb'd items sold through the main line dealers. I think it's especially attractive when there's a return privilege in case there's a problem.</p>

<p>I have bought probably a hundred Nikon items over the years, and I have experienced only one bad item, and that was regular new stock, not a refurb (a camera body, in this case).</p>

<p>I am not a fan of refurbished gear. I bought a D300s from Nikon USA as a refurb. It was DOA. I sent it in to be repaired thinking that the repair technicians would give the camera a good once over before it was sent back to me. The camera has been fine since then but I still have trust issues with it.</p>

<p>Thanks guys. </p>

<p>It's interesting what you say Dan, as the two places I am looking at lenses both state that the lenses are brought back to factory spec. B&H: "Refurbished by the Manufacturer to original company's specifications" and Nikon USA: "Nikon refurbished products have been restored to factory specifications . . ."</p>

<p>But you may be right, they may mostly be demo's, returns, or promotion items. And I wonder if they are actually inspected by a tech, or just re-packaged and sold.</p>

<p>Michael,</p>

<p>So you bought the D300s from the Nikon USA web site? Was there any hassle from them when you wanted to send it in for repair?</p>

<p>In the US, Nikon USA provides a 90-day warranty on Nikon USA refurbished products, instead of the normal one year from camera bodies and five years for lenses.</p>

<p>You can read Helen Oster's comment on refurb products on this thread: http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00bMUW<br>

Please keep in mind that she represents Adorama and I think she puts a positive spin on refurbs.</p>

<p>If the refurb items arrives DOA (dead on arrival), you can immediately return it to Adorama or B&H, etc. They are pretty good at taking the items back, but some other stores might not be as customer friendly. If you would like to exchange for another one, that would depend on whether there is another identical refurb item in stock; that is the difference from buying new, as it can potentially take a long long time to find another refurb item.</p>

<p>Otherwise, you have 90 days instead of a full year (or 5 years for lenses) to send the item to Nikon USA for warranty repair should that be necessary.</p>

<p>Essentially, you can save some money but may have some more hassle. If you are lucky, a refurb item could be almost as good as new. If you don't want the hassle, pay full price for new, which is not always hassle free either. That is why they have warranties.</p>

<p>I worked at the USA HQ of a Japanese consumer electronics manufacturer for about a decade, and we dealt with this issue a lot. These refurb'd items are already bastards because the refurb discount cuts directly into the profit. So, they don't spend money on them, they turn them around and get rid of them ASAP. We used minimum wage hires to stuff them back in boxes with the correct packaging and sold them. If they were on the shelf very long, they were dumped into South America markets as "new" because the trade laws are far less restrictive down there. It's a crap shoot, just make sure you have return privileges.</p>

<p>Tim<br>

Yes I bought it off the Nikon USA web site. There was no problem sending it in to be repaired or just returning it. I sent it in for repair thinking it would get a better inspection then it obviously did when it was refurbished...I also question the fact that they only give you 90 days. If it was brought back to full as new spec then I would have thought that there should be no problem giving you a full one year warranty..</p>

<blockquote>

<p>"Refurbished" does not mean that a highly skilled optical technician has tested and adjusted the lens to meet tight manufacturer tolerances. It means a vender has a lens that cannot be lawfully sold as new for some reason. Usually, it was sold & returned, or demo'd, or used in some kind of promotion. So think of "refurb" as somewhat used. The risk comes from the fact that some of the lenses were bought, tested by an end user and found to be unsatisfactory, and then returned. The lens is then repackaged and sold as a "refurb".</p>

</blockquote>

<p>None of this is correct. What this paragraph refers to is returned or open-box or demo items. A respectable retailer would carefully inspect each and only offer for sale those items the retailer felt confident enough in to stake their name and reputation upon.<br /> A "refurb" camera or lens went back to the authorized US distributor and was individually inspected, tuned if necessary and given an individual "bill of health" from the US distributor before being sold to an authorized US retailer.<br /> "Refurbished" means that a highly skilled technician employed by the authorized US distributor has tested and adjusted the camera or lens to meet tight manufacturer tolerances.<br /> I have owned one refurbished Nikon D5000 camera and two refurbished Nikon lenses. All were in pristine as-new condition when I received them and each has performed flawlessly from the date of purchase to today.</p>

<p>Henry Posner<br /><strong>B&H Photo-Video</strong></p>

<p>All of my Nikon equipment was refurb, and all was just fine. (D5000, D5100, D3300, 18-55, 55-300, 55-200)</p>

<p>New items can arrive DOA or have an issue crop up in a short time - they are not immune to problems. How much savings is there?</p>

<p>Keep in mind that when it comes to lenses, new Nikon USA lenses have a 5 year warranty. </p>

<p>I'm refurbishing 30 years of AIS lenses, returning focusing action, and lenses element cleaning back to like new. At first it started out as an experiment, wondering if the cash outlay would prove good enough results. So after 4 lenses into this, it is my impression that there are positive results. Better local contrast in images. It seems obvious that when looking through an old lens that has visual murkiness, or milkiness to the appearance of the lens elements thereby shining light through one end while looking through the other, that it stands to reason that getting each element cleaned is going to provide results. It's entirely possible that when private lens tests are done, between old AIS lenses, and newer, that the AIS lenses that mare probably dirty, are not going to deliver an honest result.</p>

<p>Bought only one refurbished lens directly from the Nikon site. Have had it now for about 4 years, and it still performs like new.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>If it was brought back to full as new spec then I would have thought that there should be no problem giving you a full one year warranty.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>As well as charge you the full new price.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, you can't have it both ways. Usually, there are good reasons that something is less expensive. The 90-day warranty period essentially gives you sufficient time to find out whether there is something still wrong after refurb, but the item is not exactly new. There could be a few thousand to 20K, 30K shutter actuations for cameras, for example, as Dan Brown found out.</p>

<p>The truth probably lies somewhere in between. It is certainly not in Nikon USA or B&H's interest to sell you a damaged lens as refurbished. A few years ago, a friend of mine bought a refurbished 70-300mm AF-S VR from B&H because the price was quite low. When it arrived, we opened the box and when he shook the lens, something rattled inside. Apparently some screw was loose, and the entire focusing mechanism didn't work, AF or manual focus. Maybe that screw came off during shipping, but it is hard for me to believe that lens was thoroughly checked out by a Nikon technician. He returned it back to B&H for a full refund, and they paid for shipping. Clearly, defective refurbs like that merely generates more shipping business for UPS and FedEx. B&H actually lost money on shipping and clearly Nikon didn't make a penny.</p>

<p>I can understand there is some lapse in quality control occasionally on Nikon's part (B&H is merely the reseller), and I would like to think cases like that are not the norm or both Nikon USA and B&H would be losing money with that business model.</p>

<p>I have had a refurb D90 and a refurb 70-300, both worked great for me for years until I sold them recently to move to a different platform. Both were spotless when I received them.</p>

<p>So that's one in the "good experience" column.</p>

<p>I have bought several refurb cameras in the past, always from a reputable dealer. I've had no issues. I might consider it for Nikon lenses that don't have VR, if the price was right. A lens with VR spooks me a little because they seem so tempermental. I would feel better with a 5 yr. warranty on those. But then again, if I spent the extra money and then had to send it in, Nikon just might claim, "Impact Damage!" Crying out loud.</p>

<p>Kent in sD</p>

<p>I've bought several Nikon refurbed products. All worked perfectly. Any product that has less than the full warranty obviously increases the risk to the purchaser. But that does not mean that "officially" refurbished Nikon products are not at spec. I believe refurbished means, repaired, restored and checked to be at spec. </p>

<p>I bought a refurb D7000 and a refurb lens (forgot which) from Nikon and would have absolutely no problem buying another one. A risk of 9 months of warranty is one I am willing to take.</p>

<p>(Sorry - I don't want to hijack this thread, but this question seems to fit well with Tim's and keeps the related topics in one thread.)<br>

What about bodies? Any special refurb considerations vs. lenses? For example, I'm thinking about picking up a refurb D7000 which are pretty old now. Should I expect that the refurbs that are left probably will have high shutter actuations and show more wear than they might have a year or two ago? Should this be a consideration for getting a refurb D7100 instead?<br>

Thanks!</p>

<p>Concerning refurbished Nikon bodies, there was this thread started by <a href="/photodb/user?user_id=692072">Rick M.</a> back in March: http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00cU5k</p>

<p>In Rick's case, he bought a refurbished D3 in early 2014. The D3 was in production from 2007 to 2009, when it was replaced by the D3S. Therefore, by 2014, any D3 would be at least 4 to 5 years old. For a professional sports/news DSLR, you would expect a lot of usage over so many years.</p>

<p>Concerning the D7000, it was introduced in late 2010 and they were still selling new ones in 2013, not sure about this year. How many shutter actuations you may expect on a refurb D7000 is strictly the luck of the draw.</p>

<p>In particular, Helen Oster from Adorama wrote on that thread:</p>

<blockquote>

<p>With regard to opening the boxes of refurbs: we are not permitted to do so, which is why we cannot give a shutter count.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I think the point is that when an authorized Nikon dealer is selling refurb cameras, if they tell people the actuation count, consumers would only pick the ones with a low count, leaving those with high counts very difficult to sell.</p>

<p>For lenses, since there is no "odometer" on them, this question doesn't apply. Sometimes I feel that it is better that way, as some people are very fixated on the actuation count.</p>

<p>My brand new FM had the shutter/winding mechanism lock up not long after I bought it. New items can also have problems.<br>

For refurbished items, you would blame it on it being refurbished.<br>

I have bought Apple factory refurbished items with the tracking data back to the factory.<br>

But I agree, "Factory Refurbished" isn't the same as just "Refurbished".</p>

<p>I purchased a refurbished D800. It had 35 actuations! It has performed flawlessly. I am now selling it to go to the D810.</p>