> > Yesterday I attended a Camera Show/Swap in Toronto, there were > about 50-100 > vendors selling alot of gear. One guy had at least 4 A2Es at $500 each no > tax another had a EOS 5 with grip very clean for $800 and still > another with > a Refurb 7E with 1 yr Canon war. for $500 if anyone can shed some light on > the general reliabilty of gear from these type of shows it would > be greatly > appreciated. All prices in $CDN
Hi Russell, It depends, using common sense and careful observation of your potential purchases you can make some incredible deals when buying used EOS gear. When looking at a potential used camera body look for signs of obvious abuse, dents, cracks, splits near screws, these are all camera killers because they are signs of impact damage. Obviously you are buying a used camera so some wear may be acceptable to you but this should all be reflected in the price you are willing to pay. If you don't like the way a body looks of get a bad vibe, walk away, there is ALWAYS another body popping up for sale just around the corner. For Canon's pro class bodies some signs of use externally are not a problem unless you are after a beauty queen. Extremely heavy use will produce wear on the film rails and pressure plate and indicates a body to avoid. Look for a clean film chamber, a shutter with no damage, wear or lubricant showing on the shutter blades (front AND rear), and film rails and pressure plate that show no groves or marks, these are more than likely lightly used bodies. Check for as many operational details as you can and if in doubt ask. In this regard, it's better to know what you are looking for with a specific body. It helps to be familiar with the particular body type you are interested in purchasing, if you don't know how a body is supposed to operate it will be impossible for you to ascertain correct operation. Canon's modern pro class bodies like the EOS 1, EOS 1n, EOS 1nRS, EOS 1V and EOS 1D are built like tanks and proven on the battlefield, literally. They are designed to survive and continue to operate under high environmental stress. BUT they also require service and cleaning if used in this manner continuously. I've bought all of my EOS 1, EOS 1n and EOS 1nRS bodies used (7 in all, 2 EOS 1's, 3 EOS 1n's and 2 EOS 1nRS's), some from the local camera shows/swaps and some through eBay auctions. None have given me serious trouble and I only mention it at all because one of the body/booster combinations I bought had some gaffer's tape residue that made the shutter lock on an E1 power booster and DOFF preview buttons sticky. CPS will be fixing this problem at the Super Bowl. I use my bodies plenty and expect them to work for a long time with regular checkups by Canon. Canon's modern entry level pro class bodies like the EOS 5/A2/A2E and EOS 3 while rugged are not capable of sustained heavy use/abuse and will breakdown much faster. They also tend to have many "features" and these are just more things to fail in the field, and they do. The semi-pro bodies are rugged but built much lighter and show the signs of impact more readily, scratches are usually only cosmetic but look where the scratch ends and you will often find an impact mark and or divot. Even a moderate impact on this class of body can often lead to cracks in the body shells and cause intermittent failures in operation. Use caution, these are often the best looking deals but only if in MINT or like new condition. I have frequently found these heavily used and abused at high prices, I have also seen many that were babied since new and have less than 20 rolls of film through them like they were afraid to use it or something. Canon's entry level or novice cameras can take some use but if I were buying one I would accept nothing but a MINT body with no signs of impact of any kind. These cameras are very lightly built and have all types of openings in the body to admit dust, sand and water. If these plastic bodied cameras are used much at all they start to show wear externally and in the film chamber very quickly. The plastic film rails wear quickly, if you see any wear on the rails pass on this body. Hope this helps you out some! Regards, Chip Louie * **** ******* *********************************************************** * For list instructions, including unsubscribe, see: * http://www.a1.nl/phomepag/markerink/eos_list.htm ***********************************************************
