Buying new vs. used?

[kristy_ketterman]

<p>So I am about 90% sure I am going to purchase the Nikon D90 as my first DSLR.<br /> <br /> The question now is- do I buy it new from a store or online store and have the full warranty and all that good stuff, OR do I save some bucks and purchase it used from somewhere like craigs list or ebay?<br /> <br /> Obviously saving some money is appealing....but not having the warranty and trusting a stranger to let me know if there is or isn't anything wrong with the equipment...makes me a little nervous.<br /> <br /> What would you all suggest? Thanks in advance!</p>

[yann1]

<p>The D90 is only one year old, so even a second hand one won't be really cheap. I'd go for a new one with the warranty. If you're a bit lack of money for it, wait for a while, the price will inevitably drop. The D90 is a great camera, it's a good choice, be sure to make a 100% good choice by taking no risk...</p>

[james_symington1]

<p>Give yourself peace of mind and get a new one with a warranty. The D90 is new enough that used prices aren't going to save you such a great amount. My D700 recently died from just sitting in a drawer for 2 weeks and I am gld the new circuit board Nikon put in was at their expense...</p>

[Wouter Willemse]

<p>Personally, with purchases this big (and ~$1000 to 1500 sure is quite some money), I strongly prefer the sense of security that a warranty gives. So no gray market and no second hand...unless the saving is really very substantial. <br>

In addition, the D90 is very new, so the second hand market is relatively small Meaning the price differences between new and used should not yet be very big and hence not a very worthwhile saving.<br>

And remember, especially with eBay, if a deal seems too good to be true, it usually is too good to be true.</p>

[jorish]

<p>New.</p>

<p>Unless... you can buy a demo-model/refurbished/etc. one from a reputable source that still gives you warranty. But even then the price difference would have to be quite large for me to consider it. What I usually do -when considering questions like these- is look at how much it would cost me to get it to a reputable repairshop and back + in this case something like $150. If the secondhand is cheaper than that, then yes, I would buy it.<br>

After all, even manufacturer's warranty is not foolproof. Lot's of stories on the net about people getting a 'this is caused by the user' estimate back.</p>

[vincent_peri]

<p>Another option is to buy a Nikon-refurbished camera. They come with a 90 day warranty, but if you buy from Cameta Camera, they extend the warranty to a full year. NOTE: I've never done any business with Cameta, but I've heard good things about them. You may want to look into it.</p>

[kristy_ketterman]

<p>Thanks for the advice so far everyone!<br /> <br /> Any opinions on Best Buy? I know they have their own special warranty type plan on top of the manufacturer's warranty (forget what it's called...black tie something maybe?) that seemed alright. The salesman I spoke to there yesterday said that they do price-matching...but I'm not opposed to purchasing off of Amazon or B&H if the best buy thing isn't really as great as it sounds.<br /> Any advice on that aspect?<br>

(Not that it makes a gigantic difference but I do have about $200 worth of Amazon gift cards to use lol)</p>

[rossb]

<p>Since you are new to the DSLR you might not be able to determine correct function of the camera when purchasing it. Ebay and Craigs list might be useful for some items but they would offer the highest risk for you expensive purchase. A place such as KEH.com has a 60 day warranty, Cameta camera has a 6 month warranty and Adorama, BHPhoto would also be reliable but I do not know how long their warranty would be for used items. A D90 in top shape would probably save you $200.00 over new. I would buy a new camera which has a 1 year warranty. I would not purchase it on-line from somebody with a special super deal. The places I have listed would be excellent. Also CostCo sell's them at good prices. Possibly you have a nice local camera store to shop at. In addition to the 1 year warranty you would be assured of receiving all the cables, CD's, battery and charger and such a new camera needs to have. You may need to purchase a memory card extra. Look to see if it is included.</p>

[Two23]

<p>I personally would skip Best Buy. I especially wouldn't buy an extended warranty from them. Last fall I bought a refurb D300 from Cameta Auctions on E bay and have been very happy. Prices on newer items sold used tend to run too close to the price of new on E bay etc. I routinely buy lenses, flash, and just about everything else used though.<br>

Kent in SD</p>

[ShunCheung]

<p>Best Bay is one retailer that frequently applies high-pressure tactics to make you buy their extended warranty. Those extended warranties are extremely profitable for the seller and in turn very bad deals for the purchaser.</p>

<p>I am not sure you should buy new, refuberished or used; there are pros and cons among those options. But I would never buy any extended warranty, especially on Nikon cameras. I have been buying Nikon bodies since 1977 and have more than a dozen of them over the years, 5 of them DSLRs. None has ever broken down within the first year or for that matter within the first 3 years.</p>

<p>Moreover, Nikon is a responsible company. If there are wide-spread issues such as the recent D5000 problem or the ealier D70 circuit board problem, they would fix it out of warranty anyway.</p>

[bethfishkind]

<p>I have also purchased some refurbished Nikon gear (camera body and lenses) at Cameta Camera. I have received both a Nikon (90 days) and Cameta (1 year) warranty with my purchase. Excellent equipment at great savings. They are local to me, so I usually walk in and pick it up from the store.</p>

<p>You may also want to check out a warranty from Square Trade: <a href="http://www.squaretrade.com">http://www.squaretrade.com</a></p>

<p>Square Trade's warranties are sold online and can cover new and refurbished items from Retailers (including such stores as Cameta and Best Buy), as well as purchases off of eBay. Worth a look.</p>

<p>BTW, I have no affiliation with them. I have purchased a couple of 2-year Square Trade warranties for my Cameta refurbs. Much better pricing than in-store extended warranties. Fortunately, I haven't needed them as of yet -- and hopefully never will. :)</p>

[rob_wall]

<p>I bought my D-3 as a demo from Cameta Camera (on eBay) and it's great. It had maybe 200 actuations when I got it.</p>

[joseph_smith3]

<p>Buy a new one, US model, with full warranty from a reputable retailer like B&H or Hunts Photo and Video, whose prices are often lower than B&H's. Call Gary Farber at Hunts at 1-800-221-1830, ex 2332.</p>

<p>Joe Smith</p>

[papa_john]

<p>Stay away from Best Buy; use that place for cables, CD-s, cheap stuff....</p>

[ShunCheung]

<p>Again, I think it is merely a waste of money to buy any type of extended warranty.</p>

<p>Moreover, for places such as Square Trade Beth suggests, what exactly is their capability to fix these products should you need their coverage? Do they send it back to Nikon USA? Other than Nikon themselves, a lot of repair shops simply cannot fix Nikon DSLRs.</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>No extended warranty from a big box store is really worth the money.</p>

<p>Usually these electronic things fail right away or they keep going for a long time. I personally have had as good or better luck buying lightly used items as opposed to "refurbished." I've bought lots of both used and new items, and have yet to have a failure that would have been covered by a warranty (as opposed to one caused by some action on my part like putting on a "focus-confirmation" adapter.</p>

<p>You are unlikely to find honest prices much lower than Adorama or B&H or other similar stores for either new or used.<br /> I have had good luck too with Cameta on eBay, buying new items. It is one of the relatively few ways--if you are patient-- of beating the standard discount price they'd charge in a direct sale. It is much more difficult to get a real bargain anywhere on anything still relatively new to the market, however. Buying from more "private" vendors on eBay also works, but you do have to understand that you take some risk. If you can't afford the risk, don't buy that way. I've only been totally stiffed twice in more than 400 transactions on eBay, and did eventually get my money (not much in fact) back on one of them.</p>

<p><strong>If you buy on-line, never, ever buy from a store without checking their status as a vendor in the consumer-rated</strong> "<a href="http://www.resellerratings.com/">Resellerratings.com</a> "</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>And I should note, be cautious even of the Resellerratings. Some companies, including one that was recently the subject of legal action by the city of New York, have had a history of getting phoney ratings by flacks up for a while until the site discovers what is going on and deletes them. Also look at the long-term ratings under the same or similar names, and do a general Google ™ or whatever search on the name of the company. There are also excellent comments here on this site.</p>

 

[hughw]

<p>Adorama has a relatively good deal on the D90 body<br>

http://www.adorama.com/INKD90.html?searchinfo=Nikon+D90</p>

[bgelfand]

<p>Many credit cards double the manufacturer's warranty up to an extra year. Check with your bank. If your credit card does extend the warranty, you have a two year warranty on a new camera without any additional cost to you. If your credit card does not extend warranties, get one that does.</p>

<p>I think the extension is for new products only.</p>

<p>I have used the extended warranty with MasterCard once. It took a bit of paperwork, but they do pay.</p>

 

[dynoflyer]

<p>For the cost of a D90 I have puchased three D70's at online auction (college daughter, art student son and me). <br>

None had more than 9,000 shutter actuations and all are performing flawlessly. <br>

I have just as much difficulty learning how to correctly utilize a used camera as a new camera, and just as much fun when I get it right. Save your money for lenses! </p>

[craig_shearman1]

<p>I've had good experience with Cameta -- they replaced an MD-11 or MD-12 motor drive after I turned the thumb screw on the battery compartment too tight and it broke off. The drive was bought used but was still in their warranty (six months I believe) and there was no dispute, no questions asked. As for the D90 I agree with those who say buy new. You're not going to save enough on a used one yet to make it work the potential problems of buying used. For myself, I have no problem buying older camera equipment used, especially things like classic manual film cameras. The savings is tremendous and once you have it in your hands you know right away whether it works or doesn't. There just aren't that many functions to check and they either work or they don't. But I've always been hesitant about newer cameras that are full of electronics, which obviously includes digital. There are just too many things that might not be obvious. So for me to buy a digital camera used it would have to be from someone I know, a very reputable dealer or an incredible price.</p>

[sebastianmoran]

<p>Cameta is terrific, really straight-shooters, and you can actually reach someone on the phone. They've done very well for me, including being very accommodating when I made a mistake and ordered the wrong thing.<br>

For your first DSLR, I suggest you buy new from any of the responsible outfits, or get a refurb/demo from Cameta. </p>

[kristy_ketterman]

<p>Well, there's a place called Cord Camera here in town (I live in Bloomington, IN) They have locations here, Indianapolis, and then a BUNCH all throughout Ohio. Has anyone heard of them?<br>

Anyway this past weekend I stopped by there just to check it out and ended up talking to one of the people that worked there for a good while about general advice on picking my camera, etc. etc.<br>

I called him today and he again was very very helpful, gave me the pricing on the camera and different lenses I've ben considering, made some recommendations. He said they do price-matching and would also work to put together a good deal with bundling other things that wouldn't come in the kit, etc.<br>

He also said that if I want to come there, even if I don't buy from them, then they'd be happy to help me learn how to use my camera and help me with anything I needed, free of charge of course.<br>

ANYWAY it's not a huge nationwide place, just 2 states, but so far I've been pretty impressed with them, at least the local one.<br>

He said they have their own 3 year warranty (forgot what he called it but it would cover stuff I did to it, that kind of thing) - not sure if I'd take advantage of that, the manufacturer one might be enough.<br>

Opinions on if this would still be a fine place to go with?</p>

[diego_di_michele]

<p>In some years of photography I only purchased Canon 20D new... Then I have had<br>

Canon A1<br /> Canon EOS Elan II<br /> Canon XT<br /> Canon XTI<br /> Canon 5D<br /> Voigtlander Bessamatic Deluxe<br /> Hasselblad 500 C/M<br /> Contax G2<br /> Contax T2<br /> Mamiya 7ii<br /> <br /> I still keep most of these, all bought used, and I had never a problem with them, or the bunch of lenses I have bought used also. I've had Hasselblad 500, Canon A1, Voigtlander CLA and are like new now. These are cameras at least 30 years old.<br>

I would recommend buying used, I don't know about ebay, but here in photo.net I think you can get a good one...<br>

Best!</p>

[steve_in_l.a.]

<p>I'm a film photographer contemplating my first DSLR purchase. In film days I considered buying used Nikon gear a great investment as long as you educated yourself about identifying abused gear. But, in the case of DSLR bodies, I feel its best to think of them like PCs. It's a bunch of circuit boards that have a significant wear factor, obsolecence factor, and hidden damage factor (was it ever dunked in water?) that exceeds the liabilities with film gear (a bit more straight-ahead mechanical). A 3 year old PC is essentially obsolete, dust-filled, and ready for hardware failure at any instant, which makes its value on the used market almost zero. I would tend to feel similarly about DSLR bodies, even though I would expect that, well cared for, they should last me between 5 and 10 years (as with PCs). This would make me reluctant to consider buying a used DSLR body. Does this approach seem reasonable to more experienced DSLR users?</p>