Archive 2015 · Refurbished camera from manufacturer... risky?

walt1
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Refurbished camera from manufacturer... risky?

This subject may have been hashed over here before however if so I missed it.

I'm tempted to purchase a camera from the manufacturer as it is approximately $250 less than a new one.
My concern is that there is only a 90 day warranty and 30 day return policy.
Also it states that these are returned from retailers for whatever reasons which they don't disclose.

Any experiences here and those who have bought refurbished in the past I would appreciate your opinions.

Thanks in advance.

Jun 02, 2015 at 05:07 PM

thedruid
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Refurbished camera from manufacturer... risky?

There's always a risk, you have to decide if it's worth $250 to you. You could get a refurb with 6, 600, 6,000
or 36,000 clicks on it..you don't know until you get it in your hands. I've bought close to 20 body/ lens refurbs over the years and only had issues twice, one body came heavily used with 36K clicks another with a piece missing, the rest were great and looked like new. It's easier to return IF you use a store like Adorama or B+H and Cameta offers a 1year warranty on refurbs. Adorama has a VIP program for a few $ you can join and receive extended warranty on refurbs...this service you most likely will not get form the manufacturer.

Jun 02, 2015 at 05:59 PM

rscheffler
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Refurbished camera from manufacturer... risky?

Probably depends on the manufacturer and how used the camera is. Many on the Canon forum seem to like buying refurbs from Canon. I've only done it with Leica, and it seemed to go OK, both for a camera and a lens. Also have had good refurb experiences with Apple computers.

With electronics, such as computers and digital cameras, a primary concern for me is it being DOA or obviously defective during early use. The 90 day warranty would be sufficient for either concern. I've rarely had anything break within the normal warranty period (eg. one year).

Also, what percentage of a discount from new is $250. If it's normally a $1000 camera, then it's not bad, but if it was a $2500 camera, then the discount isn't that significant. Sure, it's still $250, but with a higher cost device, it could be more reassuring to have a full warranty and brand new out of the box, never used by anyone previously, etc.

Jun 02, 2015 at 06:42 PM

Mike Ganz
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Refurbished camera from manufacturer... risky?

My impression is that refurbs are more than likely certified to spec by the manufacturer before being re-sold, hence the 90-day warranty/30-day return policy. This should be enough time to put it through its paces and get past the infant mortality stage. The only question would be if the $250 is worth it to you, and its probably a better deal than buying used off Craigslist or a buy/sell board.

Jun 04, 2015 at 07:15 AM

Helen Oster
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Refurbished camera from manufacturer... risky?

walt1 wrote:
I'm tempted to purchase a camera from the manufacturer as it is approximately $250 less than a new one.
My concern is that there is only a 90 day warranty and 30 day return policy.
Also it states that these are returned from retailers for whatever reasons which they don't disclose.

Any experiences here and those who have bought refurbished in the past I would appreciate your opinions.

All refurbished Canon units sold by Adorama Camera come with a 30-day returns period - and have been factory refurbished by the manufacturer.

Canon cameras are refurbished at their manufacturing plant in Newport News, VA.; the room that houses Canon’s entire refurb process is said to be completely dust-free, and with every employee working in there being required to wear special booties!

They will have been checked over by the manufacturer by hand, inspected very thoroughly, diagnosed, and calibrated by experienced technicians, and could therefore turn out to be more dependable than a new item - which will only have been checked by a process of systematic quality control protocol (ie by random sampling as it comes off the conveyor belt).

Refurbs can have simply been pulled from the production line if something appears faulty, or if they haven’t passed the final inspection. Most of the time it is a very minor issue that needs correcting, nevertheless, once it is pulled from the normal flow of production, it gets flagged as a refurbished model, so you may get a unit straight from the factory that has never been used. (I have three myself, and for sure they were all factory-fresh!)

A refurb may also be an ex-store demo, possibly used in field tests or sales displays, or it may have been ordered in error and returned to the retailer (who can't then sell it as 'new' so it has to be sent back to the manufacturer for refurbishment).

In addition, Refurbs come into us with the firmware updates and latest fixes which were carried out at whatever stage it was at when we took delivery.

If you need additional firmware updates you can download them, but for any hardware fixes the unit would have to be sent to Canon.
[By the way, if you send a camera (any camera) to Canon for any hardware work, they will always update the firmware].
As to the individual history of a single item, the honest answer is we have no way of knowing. Refurbished equipment is not like new inventory; the manufacturers contact us when they have a batch to sell, and the availability is unpredictable.
However, if you were to ask my personal opinion on whether the equipment that Adorama offers as refurbished is typically less than a year old, based on the regularity with which we receive batches, I'd be inclined to think it is all relatively new.

I hope this helps, but you are most welcome to email me directly: [email protected] if you need additional information or advice

Helen Oster
Adorama Camera

Jun 07, 2015 at 08:48 AM

WhyFi
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Refurbished camera from manufacturer... risky?

I've had no problem buying Canon refurbs. I wouldn't be surprised if the failure rate of refurbs was as good or better than that of new units.

Jun 07, 2015 at 08:51 AM

Aaron D
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Refurbished camera from manufacturer... risky?

WhyFi wrote:
I've had no problem buying Canon refurbs. I wouldn't be surprised if the failure rate of refurbs was as good or better than that of new units.
Same here.

Here's my thoughts on the process. During mass manufacturing, only 1 in so many units (lets say 100) is pulled and has specs checked. There is a tolerance, where specs are allowed to be off, but still considered within acceptable tolerance. Since not every unit is inspected, some may, and do, slip past that are out of tolerated specification.
With a refurb, each unit will be inspected by a tech, just not 1 in 100 or 1 in 1000.

Ive bought 1 camera, and 1 lens, that were refurbs. Both Canon, from BH. I believe BH has a 90 day return on Canon refurbs. But dont quote me on that, as it was about 5 years ago.

Aaron

There is also a big difference between refurbished and remanufactured. I never buy reman'd goods.

Jun 07, 2015 at 02:03 PM

miguel_13
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Refurbished camera from manufacturer... risky?

I too, have always subscribed to the theory that factory refurbs are better than off-the-shelf new. When I shot Canon I had several refurb bodies and lenses and never had an issue and I bought them direct from Canon USA so there was some warranty (although I can't recall the details).

Jun 07, 2015 at 02:34 PM


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