Advice needed on buying a used 7D

Jwar1976 · 17 Jun 2015

Hi all,

I am looking to get a 7D in the next few weeks as it does look a great camera, however the thing I am debating on is how much I should spend on one. One of my local dealers (WEX), do them from £318 to £440 but have various cosmetic damage and quite a high shutter count, for example.

"Body shows moderate wear, body will exhibit more noticeable signs of use including shining to the edges, light scratches to the rear LCD, heavier shining to the memory card door, light wear to the grips. The sensor is clean and free of dust, marks and scratches. Shutter count is approx. 83,085".

I have mainly chosen WEX as not only are they local to me, but they have also offered me a really good trade in price of almost £100 for my 450D, so that way I don't need to worry about packaging it up and posting it to someone through a free ad or ebay etc. The thing I am wondering is that is it worth getting a cheaper one with high shutter count, or is it worth me saving more for one in higher condition ?. The other thing I am wondering is that, is there a high possibility that the value of my 450D will drop further if I have to save more for a cosmetically better condition 7D ?.

I was considering the 60D as have been told that the 7D is a far superior model due to it's dual sensor and more focal points, and is also weather sealed.

Many Thanks

John

troutfisher · 17 Jun 2015

Have a look at MPB they seem to have a fair few at the moment, see what they offer your for a trade in on your 450D but in all fairness you might be better off selling it on here

badboy1984 · 17 Jun 2015

My friend got both and I prefer the 7D better simply because the body is bigger and feels tougher in my hands.

gary43 · 17 Jun 2015

A 7D is better than the 60D in virtually every respect. I too would recommend MPB or, if possible, get one used here from the For Sale section.

Jwar1976 · 17 Jun 2015

troutfisher said:
Have a look at MPB they seem to have a fair few at the moment, see what they offer your for a trade in on your 450D but in all fairness you might be better off selling it on here

badboy1984 said:
My friend got both and I prefer the 7D better simply because the body is bigger and feels tougher in my hands.

gary43 said:
A 7D is better than the 60D in virtually every respect. I too would recommend MPB or, if possible, get one used here from the For Sale section.

Thanks for the reply everyone

, I have contacted MPB and see what they offer me for the 450D. In regards to the 7D should I go for one with the lowest possible shutter count, or does the unit itself have a really good shutter lifeline ?

jeff127 · 17 Jun 2015

Jwar1976 said:
Thanks for the reply everyone , I have contacted MPB and see what they offer me for the 450D. In regards to the 7D should I go for one with the lowest possible shutter count, or does the unit itself have a really good shutter lifeline ?

Shutter rating on the 7d is 150,000 I believe. I'd always suggest going for the lowest possible shutter count, having said that I recently bought one with a count of almost 75000 but for the price I wasn't too concerned.

Jwar1976 · 17 Jun 2015

jeff127 said:
Shutter rating on the 7d is 150,000 I believe. I'd always suggest going for the lowest possible shutter count, having said that I recently bought one with a count of almost 75000 but for the price I wasn't too concerned.

Thanks for that information

, I guess that as it is quite an old model now, you would be lucky to get one with a really low shutter count.

badboy1984 · 17 Jun 2015

I would try get onr approx 50k or lower if possible.

Jwar1976 · 17 Jun 2015

badboy1984 said:
I would try get onr approx 50k or lower if possible.

I have had a look and they have a few priced between £340 & £375 that have under 50k shots, around the 38k-48k range, they all vary with cosmetic damage like paint wearing etc, with the cheapest having specs of dust in the viewfinder but the sensor is clear. But yes it makes sense in paying that little bit extra for one with a lower shutter count.

Jwar1976 · 18 Jun 2015

MPB have replied with a quote & have offered me a maximum of £80, despite it having original box and accessories. I also used the EOS Info utility earlier and found that the shutter count was at 3877, so that in itself is pretty good but then I could be wrong there. I will have a think about placing it on here or take Wex up on there offer of £90, as that way it would save packing it up & posting it somewhere if there is nobody local able to collect. I also realised that I will also need to get a decent sized CF Card as I only have SD.

jeff127 · 18 Jun 2015

Not sure how much the 450D is worth but if you think it's worth much more than the local offers why not try it on here or elsewhere for a bit? In response to a question in your original post, the price of the 450D won't drop much in the near future.

killwilly · 19 Jun 2015

Jwar1976 said:
MPB have replied with a quote & have offered me a maximum of £80, despite it having original box and accessories. I also used the EOS Info utility earlier and found that the shutter count was at 3877, so that in itself is pretty good but then I could be wrong there. I will have a think about placing it on here or take Wex up on there offer of £90, as that way it would save packing it up & posting it somewhere if there is nobody local able to collect. I also realised that I will also need to get a decent sized CF Card as I only have SD.

£80 is too cheap for your camera, it's still a great camera and I wish I still had mine. I sold mine when I bought my 7D, but regret it. I'm not quite sure why, but I find the images taken with the 450D using vintage manual lenses much better than ones taken with the 7D using the same lenses.

badboy1984 · 19 Jun 2015

MPB sell the used 450d for around £130. They do business at the end of the day so £80 is about right for them. Of course if you sell the camera on here or ebay yourself you will probably get more.

killwilly · 19 Jun 2015

badboy1984 said:
MPB sell the used 450d for around £130. They do business at the end of the day so £80 is about right for them. Of course if you sell the camera on here or ebay yourself you will probably get more.

I agree, but for £80, providing the OP has the funds, then they would be better off keeping the 450D as a backup.

badboy1984 · 19 Jun 2015

Of course, sell or keep is OP decision. If the OP want quick sale then £80 is what he will get. If patient enough then sell private or like you said just keep it as backup.

Jwar1976 · 19 Jun 2015

Thanks for the advice everyone, it seems that most places and free ads are around the £80-£100 range for the body without lenses, some people are making a bit more with kit lens / extra battery / battery grip, so I have decided to take it to WEX first of all & see what kind of grading they give it & then decide from there who to sell it to, as even tho it looks in excellent condition to me, a specialist would be able to do a more thorough check for dust and cosmetic damage.

Thanks again to everyone that has replied it is much appreciated.