Shutter Count or Condition ?

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Rake

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Dear all, I am about to purchase a 5D MK iii and have come across 2 units.

1) Has 55K shutter releases but has some abrasion marks as well as what appears to be a dink on the top mode dial, a few scratches in the paint and general wear and tear on the body. The joystick cover is missing too. Its being sold by a shop and comes with 30 day money back.

2) Has minor cosmetic wear and tear marks on the body and a shutter count of 200,000 and is a private sale that has paypal buyer protection.

Option 1 is £150 more expensive.

Which would you go for of the 2 ?

The better condition unit with the high shutter count or the cosmetically inferior with missing joystick and only 55K releases ?

Many thanks
 
Second one is already over it's projected shutter life. That doesn't mean that it is going to fail in the near future but Canon rated the shutter at 150,000 cycles.

Are you trying to buy to a certain budget?
 
Gaz J said:
Second one is already over it's projected shutter life. That doesn't mean that it is going to fail in the near future but Canon rated the shutter at 150,000 cycles.

Are you trying to buy to a certain budget?
Click to expand...

Yes I am trying to get one sub £1000,

Shutter count dosnt worry me if its likely to last longer which a lot of them do but given the choice I am confused as to whats more important, count or condition ?
 
badboy1984 said:
Hang fire and wait for a better one with lower count and decent condition?
Click to expand...

Good call but been trolling these for weeks and have yet to catch one go at my budget.

The prices of the ones I have posted about are £999 for the 55K shutter with wear and £850 for the one with 200418 releases.

A new shutter would be £240 so at £850 + £240 sometime in the future possibly.
 
Both sound poor imo and I would hold out for better. The last 3 dslr`s I bought were used and much older but :

1) 7.5K shutter, near mint.
2) 17.5K mint
3) 20K very good
 
Thanks for the replies, I had a feeling most would suggest waiting for a better one.

The only thing is that all of the ones with a better condition or lower count go for more than I can afford.

Hypothetical question - if these were the last mk iii on the planet which would you choose and why ?
 
How much more you talking about? You can probably save up a bit more and get a better one and be happy. Nothing worse then buying something you absolutely hate and regret the decision not to save up abit more.

Is a bit like buying a car, you wanted the car right now but is not what you got in mind. The classic scenerio would be you buy it then 2 weeks later your ideal car popup but is too late now.
 
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I'm aware, Rake, that you don't have enough posts to visit the Classifieds on here just yet, but I bought a 5D3 there recently for £1,100 delivered, with only 13k shutter count and, except for one small scrape on the bottom, in near mint condition. I would totally recommend biding your time: since the 5D4 was released there are plenty of bargains for the body you're after popping up everywhere.
 
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Thank you all.

I have found one at park and MPB. Park wont tell me the shutter count, MPB - Well used 97K shutter.
 
Agree with most posts here. I recently bought quite an old body and looked around a lot. Some were cheap, for a reason. It'll be worth the wait.
 
Ok it's not as if I am on a shoot tomorrow.

I just hope I won't be holding out for a unicorn
 
If I had to I would go for the lower shutter count. Having said that I bought a hammered 1D2 ages ago, massive shutter counter, battered appearance, still working well.
 
Nice - thank you gives me confidence.

A pro friend told me to ignore body condition so long as it's 100% working it's only cosmetics
 
Up your budget to £1100 and you open up a whole range of better options and it shouldn't be hard to save the difference. Skip a few nights out or takeaways!
 
You should be able to get a 6d for your budget. IMHO a better camera.
 
Unless it's really bad, cosmetic is just that. Doing what I do, I rarely worry about how pristine my equipment looks like. However, they are regularly checked/serviced and thoroughly clean after each trip. So my kits are never 'mint' but are in reliable working order. So unless you want to put your camera in a glass cabinet for display, I'd say go for no.2. Like most pro bodies it has a metal shell for protection so I really don't see why a few scratches would matter, at all.
 
Thanks all I will check the web again today and see what comes up.

Otherwise number 2
 
Just to let you know that I recently bought a Nikon D3S that had 300,000 actuations and there are scratches all over the body - it looks battered basically.

But it works flawlessly and there are no marks on the sensor and one tiny mark on the LCD. Got it for a really good price as I thought as long as it works perfectly, aesthetics don't really matter too much.

I'd say go for no. 2 (y)
 
OP, have you bought one yet? I always stick with wex when buying pre-owned as they come with 12 months warranty.
 
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