always check used gears carefully when purchasing - an unpleasant experience
Long story short:
I purchased a Leica kit in August 2024 (yes, over a year ago) and never carefully inspected it. Last week, when I finally checked it again, I discovered a massive amount of fungus inside the lens—something the seller never mentioned (otherwise I would never have bought it). After reviewing the original photos the seller sent me, I realized the fungus had already been there at the time of sale.
Longer version:
In August 2024, I ordered a Leica M6 Platinum kit from CameraWest with the money I had saved from my summer internship. This was the second Platinum kit they had received within a week—I had missed the first one. Knowing that I was finding one, the staff contacted me about the second when it came in.
Before the purchase, the store sent me photos and described the kit as condition 8+ (camera + lens + outer box, but missing the wooden presentation box). The photos looked clean and professional, taken against a white background, so I went ahead.
The kit arrived while I was traveling in Oregon, so I only gave it a quick glance before storing it in my cabinet. Since it was meant as a gift to myself for finishing my last PhD summer and PhD—a lifelong keepsake—I never meant to use it and therefore never inspected it again.
Last week, while cleaning and organizing my gear, I opened the box and noticed heavy fungus in the lens (see https://imgur.com/a/56ldcpk). My first thought was that the fungus must have grown over the past year from scratch, but that didn’t make sense, because I always store my gear in a dry cabinet, and none of my other equipment developed fungus there. So I revisited the original photos the store had sent me (in the same link https://imgur.com/a/56ldcpk). On closer inspection, the fungus is clearly visible (see 1663988-00.jpg and 1663988-06.jpg). I cropped and adjusted exposure on a few of them (see edited1–edited3.jpg), and the shapes match perfectly with what I see under the flashlight, especially around the “x” and “1.4” markings.
In other words, the fungus was there all along—it didn’t grow over the past year from nothing.
I contacted the store. To their credit, they agreed to repair it at their cost, though they claimed they could not notice the fungus in the original photos. It is great that they offer help and the solution even after one year. I intend to accept because it was partly my fault for not inspecting the gear properly on arrival, though with the fungus there, the value of the kit should have been valued much lower.
This is a huge lesson learned, and I want to share it here - always check used gears carefully when purchasing.
There’s already a post about this store (https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1893404/0) where someone commented, “They can be sloppy with their descriptions.” I think that’s because they’re a big store handling a lot of stock every day. Still, as buyers—especially when paying premium prices—we should always check used gear carefully as soon as we receive it. I have bought from the camera store multiple times (I even just bought a Hasselblad lens last week from their store), especially after I moved to CA. And I think I will still be buying from them, but I would just be careful next time.
always check used gears carefully when purchasing - an unpleasant experience
Long story short:
I purchased a Leica kit in August 2024 (yes, over a year ago) and never carefully inspected it. Last week, when I finally checked it again, I discovered a massive amount of fungus inside the lens—something the seller never mentioned (otherwise I would never have bought it). After reviewing the original photos the seller sent me, I realized the fungus had already been there at the time of sale.
Longer version:
In August 2024, I ordered a Leica M6 Platinum kit from CameraWest with the money I had saved from my summer internship. This was the second Platinum kit they had received within a week—I had missed the first one. Knowing that I was finding one, the staff contacted me about the second when it came in.
Before the purchase, the store sent me photos and described the kit as condition 8+ (camera + lens + outer box, but missing the wooden presentation box). The photos looked clean and professional, taken against a white background, so I went ahead.
The kit arrived while I was traveling in Oregon, so I only gave it a quick glance before storing it in my cabinet. Since it was meant as a gift to myself for finishing my last PhD summer and PhD—a lifelong keepsake—I never meant to use it and therefore never inspected it again.
Last week, while cleaning and organizing my gear, I opened the box and noticed heavy fungus in the lens (see the “under_flashlight_sept2025” folder: https://tinyurl.com/nzvnwxzs). My first thought was that the fungus must have grown over the past year from scratch, but that didn’t make sense, because I always store my gear in a dry cabinet, and none of my other equipment developed fungus there. So I revisited the original photos the store had sent me (“seller_photos_aug2024” in the same link). On closer inspection, the fungus is clearly visible (see 1663988-00.jpg and 1663988-06.jpg). I cropped and adjusted exposure on a few of them (see edited1–edited3.jpg), and the shapes match perfectly with what I see under the flashlight, especially around the “x” and “1.4” markings.
In other words, the fungus was there all along—it didn’t grow over the past year from nothing.
I contacted the store. To their credit, they agreed to repair it at their cost, though they claimed they could not notice the fungus in the original photos. It is great that they offer help and the solution even after one year. I intend to accept because it was partly my fault for not inspecting the gear properly on arrival, though with the fungus there, the value of the kit should have been valued much lower.
This is a huge lesson learned, and I want to share it here - always check used gears carefully when purchasing.
There’s already a post about this store (https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1893404/0) where someone commented, “They can be sloppy with their descriptions.” I think that’s because they’re a big store handling a lot of stock every day. Still, as buyers—especially when paying premium prices—we should always check used gear carefully as soon as we receive it. I have bought from the camera store multiple times (I even just bought a Hasselblad lens last week from their store), especially after I moved to CA. And I think I will still be buying from them, but I would just be careful next time.
always check used gears carefully when purchasing - an unpleasant experience
Long story short:
I purchased a Leica kit in August 2024 (yes, over a year ago) and never carefully inspected it. Last week, when I finally checked it again, I discovered a massive amount of fungus inside the lens—something the seller never mentioned (otherwise I would never have bought it). After reviewing the original photos the seller sent me, I realized the fungus had already been there at the time of sale.
Longer version:
In August 2024, I ordered a Leica M6 Platinum kit from CameraWest with the money I had saved from my summer internship. This was the second Platinum kit they had received within a week—I had missed the first one. Knowing that I was finding one, the staff contacted me about the second when it came in.
Before the purchase, the store sent me photos and described the kit as condition 8+ (camera + lens + outer box, but missing the wooden presentation box). The photos looked clean and professional, taken against a white background, so I went ahead.
The kit arrived while I was traveling in Oregon, so I only gave it a quick glance before storing it in my cabinet. Since it was meant as a gift to myself for finishing my last PhD summer and PhD—a lifelong keepsake—I never meant to use it and therefore never inspected it again.
Last week, while cleaning and organizing my gear, I opened the box and noticed heavy fungus in the lens (see the “under_flashlight_sept2025” folder: https://tinyurl.com/nzvnwxzs). My first thought was that the fungus must have grown over the past year from scratch, but that didn’t make sense, because I always store my gear in a dry cabinet, and none of my other equipment developed fungus there. So I revisited the original photos the store had sent me (“seller_photos_aug2024” in the same link). On closer inspection, the fungus is clearly visible (see 1663988-00.jpg and 1663988-06.jpg). I cropped and adjusted exposure on a few of them (see edited1–edited3.jpg), and the shapes match perfectly with what I see under the flashlight, especially around the “x” and “1.4” markings.
In other words, the fungus was there all along—it didn’t grow over the past year from nothing.
I contacted the store. To their credit, they agreed to repair it at their cost, though they claimed they could not notice the fungus in the original photos. I intend to accept because it was partly my fault for not inspecting the gear properly on arrival though with the fungus there, the value of the kit should have been valued much lower.
This is a huge lesson learned, and I want to share it here - always check used gears carefully when purchasing.
There’s already a post about this store (https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1893404/0) where someone commented, “They can be sloppy with their descriptions.” I think that’s because they’re a big store handling a lot of stock every day. Still, as buyers—especially when paying premium prices—we should always check used gear carefully as soon as we receive it. I have bought from the camera store multiple times (I even just bought a Hasselblad lens last week from their store), especially after I moved to CA. And I think I will still be buying from them, but I would just be careful next time.
Sep 08, 2025 at 11:45 AM
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