is refurbished worth it?
- Thread starter RichF
- Start date
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It seems like the peak sharpness is thinner with rapid falloff on either side. We are in the middle of a storm system right now so any distance shots are soft and I was shooting subjects closer than normal. I was photographing a glass nodule at about 8 feet and was having trouble nailing the focus. Enlarging the photo on the computer, a leaf next to the glass was sharp down to the pixels, wonderful detail.
I think it's a law somewhere, get a new telephoto and the weather goes to hell. Nothing magnifies atmospheric problems like a good telephoto lens.
OwlBeBack
Member
Z50ii.
Any chance you could post a sample or two? Not questioning you, but seeing it may help us better understand what is going on. And were all shots handheld or on a tripod?
--Ken
OwlBeBack
Member
Thanks, Ken. My continued testing has me doubting my initial knee jerk reaction assessment. I'll take you up on that offer to review if I am able to reproduce and share what I was initially seeing.
No worries. I hate trying to evaluate lenses when an issue arises. I know that checking a lens in a controlled situation is often the best way to evaluate for problems, but then I often start second guessing myself and my methods while doing so. My advice is to take it out again and shoot a lot of images in normal (decent) conditions and look through them to see if you still see whatever it was that initially caught your eye. And try to evaluate at 50% on your monitor as well as 100%. The former is probably closer to what a print might look like more than the latter.
Good luck,
--Ken
Calson
Well-known member
Back to the original question as to the value of a Nikon refurbished (repaired) lens that has an extremely short 90-day warranty. I would rather buy a used lens from a private party that has not had to be repaired. If Nikon has so little confidence as to provide such a short warranty it does not instill confidence in the lens.
Nikon has shortened its USA warranty from 5 years to 1 year and at the same time there have been lenses that fail sooner and cost more to get repaired, if parts are even available. I had my 70-200mm f/2.8 and 600mm f/4 lenses fail completely and it was the autofocus module and this was with lenses in their second year of use. It cost me more than $1,000 to have the repairs made for what were clearly defective parts. So many of these modules failed that Nikon USA ran out of parts to repair them.
Nikon has shortened its USA warranty from 5 years to 1 year and at the same time there have been lenses that fail sooner and cost more to get repaired, if parts are even available. I had my 70-200mm f/2.8 and 600mm f/4 lenses fail completely and it was the autofocus module and this was with lenses in their second year of use. It cost me more than $1,000 to have the repairs made for what were clearly defective parts. So many of these modules failed that Nikon USA ran out of parts to repair them.
Nikon Refurbished products are often demo and open box items.
I have purchased Nikon Refurbished products for 8 years and none have required service yet.
I only buy refurbished during sales when the discount is high. The last was 30% below B&H PayBoo.
I always check the Nikon USA site for refurbs before buying new...occasionally they have what I'm looking for and I'll go that route every time. I have yet to have an issue. That said, I *only* buy refurbs directly from Nikon.
I think Nikon USA's 1 year and 90 day warranties reflect a 50+ year old company reducing their exposure to repairs on products they do not manufacture and who's repair is done at a significantly higher labor rate than the items were manufactured under. I don't think it is an expectation of high failure rates but a reduction of overhead by a mature company.
I think it’s fair to say that Nikon USA’s new product and refurb warranties are meant to limit exposure to difficult-to-forecast expenses in today’s margin-limited economic environment.
Of note, for new product purchases, Nikon USA now offers Nikon Care, which is comprised of two year and three year extended warranties with an option for damage from drops and spills. See my post below.
Megaera
Member
On the subject of Nikon refurbished bodies…..Could anyone tell me if Nikon re-set the shutter count when they refurb a body? Is the number of actuations set in stone, as it were - and cannot be modified/zeroed etc?
If a body with, say, 150k actuations was overhauled (new shutter etc) would it then be set to 0 actuations?
Just curious, really……..
If a body with, say, 150k actuations was overhauled (new shutter etc) would it then be set to 0 actuations?
Just curious, really……..
I have owned two refurbished Nikon Z bodies. Both arrived to me with shutter count set to zero. That may not be the experience of others, however.
Based on some comments posted about their refurbished purchases, I am led to believe that Nikon has the ability to reset the shutter and may do so in some circumstances.
--Ken
My refurbished Z7ii came with the file number at 0.
My refurbished Z8 came with the file number at 1476 which leads me to think it was a demo and no repair was performed.
Both looked new.
Megaera
Member
Thank you for that….