Ebay optics

D.S.

D.S.

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Hi guys, quick question regarding buying optics from ebay.

I do a bit of rifle shooting as another hobby, in the shooting circles people are very weary buying new optics / scopes off ebay sellers as there are apparently loads of fake scopes copied and badged up as the real deal, mass produced in china and the likes being sold new for a song compared to UK shop prices. The quality of these items is very dubious to say the least

Is there any of this to watch out for in the lens market?
 
I have yet to hear of any copies/fakes/replicas of any lenses from the major manufacturers.

There is a Russian copy of the Nikon 300 2.8 IFED (Kiev) available in Europe, and I've seen one or two on Ebay. They fetch around £1000 new, and by all acounts are very good, but it is NOT badged as Nikon.

IIRC, it was tested on 'Shutterbug' a year or so ago, and it was rated exceptionally well.

I think that you'll be fairly safe buying a lens on ebay. Buy the seller though, as well as the lens. Check feedback carefully. If he is a Paypal UK verified member, you can check his Paypal feedback too.

Good Luck.
 
Its the usual sort of 'buyer beware' thing isn't it. If in doubt ask the seller a question about the lens, their response should indicate if they know much about it and whether its real.

Of course you could always check the for sale board on here to see whats on offer from other trusted members :)
 
Stick with an eBay seller that has a good reputation, like Kerso or Digital Rev where the stock is less likely to be fake and you have some comeback if it is.
 
I've never heard of anything like this....I'd have imagined with the electronics involved it'd be fairly difficult to copy??
 
Cool cheers guys.

What all this talk about "I dont do grey imports"?
 
Lens wise you're pretty safe. They're far too complicated to copy at a reasonable price.

The only photography related things that are regularly faked are memory cards and accessories such as remote releases and battery grips. Steer well clear of the memory cards but the 3rd part accessories can actually be quite good.
 
You can get Opteka lenses on Ebay..just type Opteka in the search box and you'll see quite a few of them come up. Manual focus only IIRC
 
purpleclouds said:
I've never heard of anything like this....I'd have imagined with the electronics involved it'd be fairly difficult to copy??
Click to expand...

It's quite simple, they copy the lens formula (they've been doing this for many, many years, and the best Russian glass is quite simply superb), and the design for the lens body is pragmatic, copy the Nikon design again. As these lenses are manual, the speed is set on the camera body, and aperture on the lens, so no complicated electronics are necessary.

I'd love to get my hands on one for the right price. There was one on ebay a few weeks ago, which went for not a lot over £300.
 
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