KEH UG rating

[avishek_aiyar]

<p>Hi, <br>

Anyone have any experience buying a UG lens from KEH? <br>

According to their rating system, UG lenses have cosmetic damage and MAY have fungus/haze, but I could have sworn I read someone's post that mentioned that they were happy with their UG buys. <br>

I can always buy and return it thanks to their nice policy, but thought I should elicit your opinion first. <br>

Thanks.<br>

Avi</p>

<p> </p>

[al_derickson]

<p>I bought an UG camera from KEH once. It was nonfunctional but I was able to repair it. It was very dirty but it cleaned up nicely. It did however have front coating damage on the lens and some internal fungus. I also bought a BGN lens that was described as having filter ring damage and was missing its tripod ring mount. The glass was perfect. Both of these items were very very cheap compared to their usual market prices.</p>

[sadanand]

<p>I bought two lenses in UG grade - one was flawless and one was with fungus which I had to return. So it depends ...<br>

Hope this helps</p>

 

[User_276104]

<p>I've never purchased UG, but BGN products have always looked great to me so that's the level I always go for (unless EX is also a good price).</p>

[mtk]

<p>I have purposely purchased UG rated stuff from KEH and for the most part been pleasantly surprised at the bargains I have received.</p>

[tommyinca]

<p>The KEH folks know how to rate lens. My experiences were, BGN can be a bargain for many reasons. An UG lens is plain "don't look good or ulgy". Beauty is off-course in the eyes of .....</p>

[John Crowe]

<p>I have bought a couple of bargains that were extremely good. I did buy one "ugly" one, and I can't remember which one it was, but it had extemely minor scratches on the front element that would never had affected images. </p>

<p>I highly recomend them.</p>

[thomas_k.]

<p>I bought one lens from KEH in "ugly" condition and it had fungus in it. All "bargain" lanses I got from them were fully functional.</p>

[avishek_aiyar]

<p>Folks..thanks a bunch. <br>

I think I am going to skip the UG lenses and stick with BGN. <br>

I wish they could provide us with more details about the condition. But I guess with such a large inventory, that might be a bit unreasonable. <br>

That is also what I like about the Adorama used department. On request, they provide details of the condition and even pictures of the actual item, which helps a lot. <br>

Avi</p>

[Matthew Currie]

<p>I would stick with bargain grade because it's guaranteed functional, whereas Ugly is not. UG is fun if you're in an adventurous mood, and I've done well on a couple of uglies, but it's chancy. I've had very good luck with BGN lenses, especially if they're relatively common types. I sometimes suspect they just toss excellent ones in the bargain bin when they have too many.</p>

[bill_stewart4]

<p>I've never bought any "ugly" gear from KEH, but I called and asked about it. She said "for parts or tinkering....may or may not be fully functional...do not plan on using..." When it comes to bodies, I get EX or better. But I've bought a few BGN lenses and they looked nice cosmetically and the glass was just about flawless on all. With my 2 Pentax 645 lenses, the bargain one was actually in better condition than the Exc-don't understand that one.</p>