Perhaps I should have been more specific. I wasn't questioning the "refurb" status since the work was performed by Nikon as I'm sure Nikon is a good place to go to have one of their cameras refurbished.
What I was questioning was the cost and to a lesser extent, the original need for the refurb work performed. Did the camera suffer from the BGLOD (Blinking Green Light of Death seen on some early D70s that Nikon repaired as a warranty item), was it abused - dropped in water, on concrete, etc, or was it sent in to merely have the CCD cleaned? The phrase "refurbished" can mean any one of a number of things and the vagueness of it leaves one to wonder (at least I usually do) what happened. Buying a camera someone returned in the original box with the original packaging is much different than buying a refurbished camera and I wasn't including that in my definition of "used". By "used", I meant a camera that has been used and possibly abused. I've pumped about 26,000 or so shots through my D70 and if I were to sell it, I don't think I'd ask or even hope I could get $900 (even if I sent it into Nikon to have them check it out and clean the CCD), but maybe I'm just setting my sights too low. By "abused", I've seen some cameras that have been banged, dropped and generally mistreated that I would have a tough time considering getting even if they were refurbished. If they were and were priced at around $100, then I might consider it, but $900? I'd have a tough time at that price point. Now if the company doing the refurb work were to tell you what they did, what condition the camera was in (what was wrong with it, etc, etc) and maybe include some "before" pictures, then I might start to think about the $400 - $600 range. But $900? I'd still have a tough time going that high. As for the warranty, I'd be careful with a 3rd party warranty. I've seen some that are definitely good and others that really are just added profit for the company selling them. Nikon offers an extended warranty as do most reputable camera stores. I'm split on that. When the camera is down, that can be an issue. I've had my D70 since November 2004 and had to send it in for repair in 2007. It was completely out of warranty but Nikon repaired it for free and got it back to me within 4 days. To me, that spoke volumes of good things about Nikon. I did have a backup camera I was able to use - my old fully manual 35mm film SLR. If I didn't have a backup camera (and working for a paper, I kind of need a camera almost all the time), I'd have had to rent or find someone that would let me borrow their camera. Larry -----Original Message----- From: Computer Guys Discussion List [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of John DeCarlo Sent: Friday, June 06, 2008 11:42 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [CGUYS] DSLR question (was over shooting On Fri, Jun 6, 2008 at 1:33 PM, Larry Sacks <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I had no idea you could still pay pretty close to new price for a > used/refurbished camera. Yes, it does say "refurbished by NIKON > includes warranty" but I don't think that justifies the price. > > When new, the D70 body sold for $1,099 (the "kit" with 18-70mm AF-S lens > was $1,299), so even though they're taking almost $200 off, I'd still > pass. > That is, of course, up to you. It really depends on the company, but most reputable companies offer equipment indistinguishable from new under the "refurb" label. I have purchased half a dozen refurbished items, including a digital camera, and three of them were still in the otriginal packaging. (Including the camera). Someone clearly bought it and returned it wiithout ever opening it. But at that point it is "used". I do agree that warrantees are important. It may well be worth paying $200 for a longer guaranteed replacement period of a year as opposed to 60 days. -- John DeCarlo, My Views Are My Own ************************************************************************ * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** ************************************************************************ * ************************************************************************* ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *************************************************************************
