New or used? Which do you prefer?

DBT85

DBT85

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In the next few weeks I'll be adding a few new lenses to my bag. For the most part I've always gone with new equipment, but for these ones a large saving can be made buying used.

Do you prefer to always buy new, or used? Or do you just find whichever fits your budget at the time you want it?
 
I've had both, I think it does tend to be whatever fits my budget at the time - an example at the moment -> I'd love a 300mm F2.8, but can't afford a new one, so am looking for a good 2nd hand one...
 
I prefer to buy new but if there's someone (be it private or dealer) selling a lens in great condition at a good price then I'll go for that.
 
Used, as I have made savings of up to 50% on the new price. But when the price difference/saving is minimal I will buy new.
 
New, used, refurbished.. whatever is the best value at the time.
 
applemint said:
Used, as I have made savings of up to 50% on the new price. But when the price difference/saving is minimal I will buy new.
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Same here. When it comes to lenses hobbyists pamper them so used is often almost like new.
 
I've purchased both new and used, depends on budget but always been pleased with my used purchases!
 
So far I have bought all four of my Canon L previously loved lenses here from TP Classifieds and have had no problems (and have met some nice men from the internet in car parks, as my daughter likes to point out!)

However, I am inclined to buy camera bodies new because of the warranty - Just peace of mind.

I would never buy from eBay etc but I trust TP and of course apply my own criteria and gut feeling about the seller.
 
Thanks for your replies everyone.

I've had a few off ebay with no problems at all. However the lenses I'm looking at this time are the Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 and the 70-200mm f2.8, both far more money than I'm comfortable spilling on ebay sellers.

I realised that if I went with good quality used I could get the Nikon 12-24mm f2.8 as well, for the same price as the other two new. Once I've sold my Tamron 12-28mm f4 as well of course.
 
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I used to buy used for my Olympus as there was a big difference between the cost of new and used lenses. With my D5100 however, there's little in it with some lenses, saw a 35mm f/1.8 sell used for £118 the other day, but I decided to buy it new for £150 instead for the sake of £30 - Got warranty and £20 cash back too :D
 
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I also faced this dilemma when buying my 24-70mm and 70-200mm lenses. In the end, I felt the warranty and fact that these would be lenses I kept forever was good enough reason to buy new. I couldn't justify saving ± £200 buying a secondhand lens for proper money (£800 and £1200) which may or may not fail. I faced a similar choice with my 85mm f/1.8 and decided to buy new again as the saving was < £60 on secondhand lenses.

When I bought my D800, the new price was only slightly more than the used price. These days, it can be quite a bit cheaper than the new price so perhaps I would have considered a secondhand one if I was buying now.

The one time I did buy secondhand was when I bought my 80-200mm. I got it at a great price and knew that I would sell it on one day so I wanted to minimise the depreciation hit I would take when I did so. I still lost ± £250 over just more than a year of owning it!
 
I buy pretty much everything I need second hand. I don't like to have the absolute latest, up-to-the-minute gear and I'd much rather let early adopters test everything for me and discover any major issues before I get around to buying something.

I'd rather have pro gear that was top-spec five years ago than bleeding edge prosumer kit and as Ed Sutton says above:

Ed Sutton said:
When it comes to lenses hobbyists pamper them so used is often almost like new.
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My favorite kind of second hand sellers are rich lawyers, dentists, architects or whatever who just have to own the latest pro gear for their holiday snaps and are selling their older gear to fund it ;)
 
Lyope said:
My favorite kind of second hand sellers are rich lawyers, dentists, architects or whatever who just have to own the latest pro gear for their holiday snaps and are selling their older gear to fund it ;)
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:plus1:
 
I've bought both new and used in the past and have been happy with all of my purchases. Given my tendency to sell things on again after a while buying secondhand makes more sense as it minimises my loses.
 
Bought both my Nikon D90 and 18-55 G lens off ebay and both have been great and would mean I'd get most of what I paid for back which is nice.

Recently purchase a Fuji X-E1 that was a run out deal I suppose with a free lens that I intend to sell once it arrives so for that one buying new should work out at about the same as second hand, although it will still be downhill from here.

For the future, I still have full frame in mind but have concerns over buying 3rd party lenses second hand. An example being the new-ish Tamron 24-70 VC lens which seems to be well thought of but there were reports of poor copies being around initially so makes you wonder if that's what you'd be buying 2nd hand. Buying a 2nd hand 'big brand' lens feels less risky I suppose!
 
Both. My D700, grip and all the batteries where bought on the used market, either private sale or from used dealers.

But most of my lenses where new, though not all. For REALLY big purchases like the 300 2.8 and when I get a 70-200 I prefer new so I have the manufacturer backing me up. I hate to think what the repair bills would be for all the work I've had done on my 300 (I managed to buy a Friday night special apparently). My macro was used though to keep the cost down and see if it got used, now my wife uses it a lot I am considering getting her an upgrade, new, for Christmas.

Ultimately I look at prices for new and used, and if I feel the new premium is worth the difference I go new. When I got my 35mm 1.8DX it was actually cheaper new than used either private sale or from a dealer.
 
On some further thinking I'm holding off on the 12-24 f2.8. With the inability to take any filters it'll limit me a bit more than I'd like.

The only other Nikon with that kind of range is the 12-24 f4, and I already have the Tokina 12-28 f4 which I'm very happy with.

That will only change if I ever went FX.

Regarding peoples comments about warranty, if Nikon were to back their expensive products with decent length warranties then it would do a lot more to discourage people going used.
 
DBT85 said:
Thanks for your replies everyone.

I've had a few off ebay with no problems at all. However the lenses I'm looking at this time are the Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 and the 70-200mm f2.8, both far more money than I'm comfortable spilling on ebay sellers.

I realised that if I went with good quality used I could get the Nikon 12-24mm f2.8 as well, for the same price as the other two new. Once I've sold my Tamron 12-28mm f4 as well of course.
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I have bought most of my equipment used including the D300 and the D3. I have been pleased with equipment I bought from TP classified, camera world and MPB.

I gave up waiting for a good 70-200m f2.8 to come up secondhand so bought a new f4 version. As soon as I had done that every other advert seemed to be for a Nikon 70-200mm F2.8!
 
I've never bought anything used and probably would only consider doing so if I was buying a long L series prime which costs thousands new.
 
Depends on the quality of the lens and how much abuse a second hand one 'might' have taken. Get a 24-70 f2.8 off a pro wedding tog and chances are it's been used and abused quite a lot. Buy a 100-400 off the same guy chances are it'll look like it's come out a showroom. For the more 'expensive' lenses I've bought (24-70 f2.8L II, 70-200 f2.8L IS II and 300 f4L IS) I've bought new but for the lesser expensive ones (50 f1.4, 35 f2, 85 f1.8) I've bought second hand. I just like the fall back of a guarentee with expensive things but I have to say 'ALL' of the items I've bought second hand have been excellent and none have broken so far.
 
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For me, it is not just only money being one factor, there are other factors involved, in addition to worrying about if I got enough money in my band to afford new, or have to save money by going for second hand, my other reasons are...

Availability of specific model/type. For example, if the new lenses on the market don't have what I want (I'll make up some examples for illustration purpose...) like a 24mm lens but there are no new 24mm lens, only 28mm or they're usually part of a zoom, so I look to the second hand market because there are some 24mm lens out there. No new lens using a pre-19XX system, but plenty of those on the second hand market.

Doing my bit for Earth. I can image it's not going to have much of an impact and it may sounds silly, but I would rather sometimes buy a second hand lens and keep using it until it finally falls apart. Why throw away a used lens that is still in good working order? If I have to drive a 4x4 and Greenpeace attempts to bite my head off for not doing my bit for Earth, I could try telling them "Sorry I have to drive a 4x4, but hey, I'm trying to do my best, I recycle my rubbish and even buy used clothes and stuff, including that lens!" I know it sounds silly but well it sometimes makes me feel a little better, trying to give old lenses a chance to keep going rather than be wasted.

I do like to have new lenses, but sometimes it is nice to have second hand lens, to have a classic look, or to enjoy wondering if the lens's previous owner happens to have been someone famous. I know that's a silly thing, but it can't hurt!

Sometimes it is nice to have second hand kit rather than new, but of course, it depends on the condition of the lens.

Same for any other kit, be it camera body or flashgun, etc.
 
used, i've only had 3 new camera bodies i think, and 2 of those came via insurance after being burgled.
In fact i'd talked myself into buying a new EOS 6D today but there was a perfectly fine used 5D mk2 for several hundred pounds less in the cabinet, so i came home with that and a second battery for it. :)
 
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Not bothered about new stuff at all so long as its in good condition, would only buy new for the warranty. Not to mention the savings from buying second hand! Sometimes availability comes into play as well, bought a Tamron 70-300 new because none were available second hand. Echo what has been said about older pro gear vs new consumer gear as well :)
 
There's something a little bit special about opening a new sealed box! There's also some pleasure in getting anything new to you, even if it is preowned. Personally, I usually only buy new stuff unseen and prefer to buy second hand kit from dealers so I have some sort of warranty and can inspect/test the kit before forking out for it. For real bargains, I'm usually happy to take a punt on things that aren't too expensive and buy based on the seller's honesty but that's relatively rare (not the honesty when I buy kit via the classifieds here but me buying unseen!)
 
Lenses, prefer new, unless proven to be clean and nearly dust and scratch-free. Previously, I purchased several 'clean' lenses that proved, later, to be less so.
 
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