From my experience, they are conservative with their rating unlike B&H and Adorama. I have bought a bargain 50 1.4 AF and it was in excellent condition. I am not sure about the camera though.
I bought a bargain rated 35mm f2 and a bargain D1H. Happy with both. What I got was perfectly functional with a slight cosmetic defect on the lens barel and some worn paint on the corners of the camera.
I see no reason to buy a higher rated item from them.
I usually start at BGN and work my way up if a BGN isn't available. They typically under-rate their gear. With KEH BGN is truely a BGN if you're ok with maybe some very minor cosmetic wear . Glass may have some dust inside (what lenses don't?), but they are a safe bet.
Camera gear are like jeans - you really don't want to be see in pristine, dark blue, never seen a washer or sunlight Levis do you?
I just bought a 300 f4 lens rated Bargain, because of the filter ring dent. other than that the lens is in EX+ condition.
I wouldn't hesitate to deal with them again.
I have not purchased a Bargain rated body, but I have picked up several lenses, a tripod and ballhead that exceeded my expectations for "Bargain" condition.
SJCam wrote:
Best bang for the buck in used items. You should have no problems, and if you do,
they have a great return policy.
...unless you request a refund. If you do request a refund instead of exchanging the deffective item you will have to wait a very long time before you get any credit back to your card. I waited several months for a refund of a deffective item I returned and all I kept getting for several months were excuses and "your credit card will be refunded next week". I spoke to several people there and after a few months of excuses I finally got my refund. And no, it was not MY credit card company that took a long time to process the credit, it was KEH that took a very long time to send the credit back to may card.
As far as their BGN rating, it is a matter of luck. I have received BGN items that have been much rougher than I expected. Also, I have purchased DSLR's (D1X's to be exact) from them in EX+ and LN- condition only to find that several of them had scratched sensors. I have purchased numerous items from them including cameras and lenses and I have been a bit luckier when I get something in LN- condition.
