Refurb D800s for $2500 at Adorma

<p>Such a deal!</p>

<p>I guess this offer can make the choice for a new D600 a little more difficult!</p>

<p><em>(Keep in mind that the refurbished Nikon bodies only carry a 90 day warranty.)</em></p>

 

<p>Amazon also has used D800s from $2640 offered by a very reputable dealer (no warranty on used).</p>

<p>Independent seller's via Amazon UK has <strong>D5100</strong> refurbs for £299 with <strong>12 months</strong> Nikon Warranty.</p>

<p>Oddly, the NEW price is just a few pounds more than they're going for 2nd hand on Ebay. Go figure...Ebay sillyness!</p>

<p>As far as I know, most members here that have the D800 have no AF issues. I have used both the D800 and D800E and the cameras I have used are as perfect as they can be. However, there is a lot of discussions on various forums about "left AF point problems" on the D800. A few people here did run into that problem. I think it is fair to say that an unusually high percentage of D800 have such issues, and anything more than 4, 5% should be considered high. And some D800 have gone back to Nikon multiple times with some frustrating owners.</p>

<p>Therefore, if you buy a refurbished D800, I would say your chance of running into something that was once upon a time defective is quite high. If you go that route, I would test the D800 you receive very thoroughly and return any defective ones promptly. I would do that anyway with a new D800, but that is especially important for refurbished.</p>

<p>Last year, a friend and I both bought refurbished 70-300mm VR lenses from B&H, and both lenses were not in good condition. In particular, the refurbished lens my friend received rattles when you shake it, indicating that there is some loose screw inside. His focusing mechanism does not work at all; I can't see how that lens could possibly pass inspection. (The screw could have come off during shipping, but the package looked fine.) Those two could be isolated cases, but I don't have very good experience with refurbished Nikon products: <a href="00Y8dY">http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00Y8dY</a></p>

I recently purchased a Nikon factory refurbished D5100 from B&H. It looks an operates like a new one.

<p>I have bought refurbished:</p>

<p><strong>1</strong> Nikon D5100 body</p>

<p><strong>1</strong> Nikon D5000 body</p>

<p><strong>1 </strong> AF-S 40mm f2.8G DX Micro-Nikkor lens</p>

<p>All are working just fine,<em> thank you.</em></p>

<p> </p>

<p>I ordered one. Been holding out with my D700, but at that price it became the sensible option.</p>

<p>Now, when I get it, what do I need to test while within the Adorama return window? Is it just a matter of sticking my 50mm lens on there and comparing shots focused on the far left point to the center and far right points, and if they come out equally accurate, not worrying about it?</p>

<p>Last year I bought two D300s factory refurbs from Adorama for $1249 US each and so far they are perfect. I wonder if UK Nikon has a different warranty than the US, which is 90 days. I buy refurb lenses, computers, many items and so far have never had a problem. To me refurbished means whatever was wrong with it is fixed. I actually bought a brand new (not refurb) Mac laptop a number of years ago and it was defective right out of the box, the video card was no good.</p>

<p>To Andy L., you can check out these threads:</p>

<ul>

<li><a href="00ae4R">http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00ae4R</a></li>

<li><a href="00arOu">http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00arOu</a></li>

</ul>

<p>There are specific tools for checking AF. However, I would say just go out and capture a lot of images with your D800, new or refurbished, and exercise all 51 AF points, especially the left ones. I would check out the images at the pixel level on a large monitor. If your D800 works fine with a few hundred normal images you capture, what else should you worry about?</p>

<p>Nikon sends out new cameras as test samples. I, for one, have received quite a few of them. I may put a few thousand actuations on them and then send them back. Those test cameras could end up as "refurbished," and those are almost as good as new. However, "refurbished" could include some defective returns. Since some D800 can have an AF problem that is hard to fix, when you buy refurbished, you don't want to be stuck with one of those. And since refurbished comes with a 90-day warranty instead of 365 days, you want to find out any problems ASAP or you may have to pay for repair, or worse yet, end up with some "lemon" camera that requires multiple trips to repair.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Andy, I found <a href="

video</a> very clear and helpful in testing for the left focus issue. Thanks to Elliot Bernstein for posting a link to it back in this thread: <a href="00ai5n">http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00ai5n</a>.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Thanks, guys. I'll try the AF tests and put it through the paces and just send it back if anything's off.</p>

<p>Wow the camera just came out and already it's on the Refurbished shelf ? Not a good sign...</p>

<p>Wow the camera just came out and already it's on the Refurbished shelf ? Not a good sign...</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Refurbs can have simply been pulled from the production line if something appears faulty, or if they haven’t passed the final inspection. Most of the time it is a very minor issue that needs correcting, nevertheless, once it is pulled from the normal flow of production, it gets flagged as a refurbished model, so you may get a unit straight from the factory that has never been used. (I have three myself, and for sure they were all factory-fresh!)<br>

A refurb may also be an ex-store demo, possibly used in field tests or sales displays, or it may have been ordered in error and returned to the retailer (who can't then sell it as 'new' so it has to be sent back to the manufacturer for refurbishment).<br>

As to the individual history of a single item, the honest answer is we have no way of knowing. <br>

I hope this helps, but you are most welcome to email me directly: Helen@adorama.com if you need additional information or advice.</p>

<p>Helen Oster<br>

Adorama Camera Customer Service Ambassador</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>For what you get, the D800 is a bargain at is full retail price. This price represents an amazing value. I personally would have no hesitation getting one, <strong>especially from Adorama.</strong> I have ordered many items from them and never had an issue and continue to use them (just ordered a printer last week). </p>

<p> </p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>I personally would have no hesitation getting one, <strong>especially from Adorama.</strong> I have ordered many items from them and never had an issue and continue to use them</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Good to hear - thank you!</p>

<p>Well, I have the camera now, and can attest that mine, at least, is perfect. I'm also pleasantly surprised at how terrible my lenses aren't. Nikon 24-85 VR, 50mm 1.8G, 85mm 1.8G and 55mm 2.8 AIS Micro, and Tamron 28-75 2.8 and 70-300 VC - all doing very well for me, and it does focus in very low light. I'm also becoming fairly adept at picking crop modes on the fly, with one of the buttons assigned to that. I think that's one of the strengths of the camera - when I want more telephoto, it doubles as a D7000.</p>