Ebay and lens buying

PaPa

PaPa

Major Contributor
I tried searching around but i didn't find any answers that made me any wiser when it comes to buying lenses off of ebay.

i want to pick up a 24mm, 85mm, and maybe a 105mm, but i guess the problem is you enver know the quality of the lens and rely solely on the persons feedback and item description.

has anyone ever bought lenses from ebay? It seems as though you can pick some up for really cheap but am scared that i will be disapointed with the product ( scratches and so on )

Anyone have anything to say? I really need some lenses for when the extreme comes by.
 
I bought a 82mm CPL lens filter off of ebay. Paid by check to avoid paypal fees, and waited 15 days to get it. It works great, and even came with a sleeve.

You pretty much answer yoru own question. Check the feedback, buy new and not used. If they are selling name brand that is good too, vs. buying an off brand that might be crap quality.

Usually good sellers have pics of the lenses to prove there are no cracks/scratches.
 
Papa, have you ever tried www.keh.com Timur sent me to them awhile back. They are bit more pricey, but they have a pretty extensive rating system and you can trust them.

Check it out if you haven't.

Later,
Jason
 
thank you for that jason.

( just gave it a shot and it says search returned no items on nikkon manual focus lenses lol )
 
Yeah. there are a bunch.

When you do the advanced search on the left: The first box you should scroll down to the 35mm category and then choose (in this case) nikon manual focus. Then, in the second box choose the red "Lenses" category, or select a specific category from within the "Lenses" category... Then you can Narrow from there, and so on. If you just do the generic like I listed, it will actually return too many results and some will be omitted.

Hope that helps.
Jason
 
Yeah, I've bought three lenses off eBay now and I haven't had any problems at all. I started out looking at prices on Keh.com, then going on eBay and seeing what was competitive. The seller I bought my last couple lenses from had very high seller ratings and supplied many pictures of each lens, along with an honest assessment of their condition and their performance. I bought a 24mm f/2.0 that had a few spots on it, visible in the pictures, but the seller mentioned it did not affect performance, and putting some faith into the feedback system, I believed him, and the lens is great! So it's about finding a trustworthy seller and doing some research into what a good price is, plus Googling for reviews of a particular lens. That should do it.
 
hey Oedipax, How about some more footage. You must be doing something over these weekends.
 
DON'T USE EBAY.

I am in the middle of a nightmare.

I bought a Nikon 28 f/2.8 from a seller in Ontario. He did not send send the lens until 6 days after the auction ended, and I didn't receive it until 8 days later (2 weeks total).

It had too much internal dust so I asked if I could return it. He said yes, but while it was in transit he told me his 7 day return policy had expired. Now he has the lens and my money and, last I heard, he was unwilling to refund any percentage of my money.

On the flip side, I ordered a Nikon 50 f/1.4 from KEH and received it two days later in perfect condition :)

Use KEH. They are very legitimate.
 
bwest said:
hey Oedipax, How about some more footage. You must be doing something over these weekends.
Click to expand...

Ha, yes I am... going out of town this weekend for a music shoot (filming the artist in the studio recording some new tracks). I'm bringing the SGpro along of course. When it's all done, I'll post up the finished video, or at least some footage...
 
I've used KEH and Ebay -- KEH's rating system is WAY conservative; I bought a "user" grade prism for my Mamiya 6x7 that looked almost mint; they know their gear there, and I've bought plenty of lenses & accessories, all used, all sweet, and no return hassles either. KEH should always be your first look. You can call and talk to a friendly person who really knows the gear, and they'll tell you exactly what's wrong with that specific "ugly" grade lens you're looking at; often the cheaper stuff there is very useable.

I've had good luck with eBay, but you need to watch your step. Don't buy from pawn shops, or those eBay storefronts; not that they're dishonest - they simply don't know what they've got. (Some storefronts do post plenty of info from the item owner & you can do OK). Check the feedback and read the description carefully; serach early enough that you can email questions with a reasonable time for a reply; be wary of people who don't respond to emailed questions, too. If it's a pricey item (up to you to define "pricey") always email a question, even if you know the answer... I generally trust people more if they reply quickly with a courteous & knowledgeable answer.

Another great ebay tool is to save your searches with email notification - naturally this works for pretty specific items - you don't want to get an email every time someone posts a "Nikkor lens", do ya? But if you know the model number of your dream-lens, try that as well. Knowledgeable sellers tend to use the full item name, such as "AF Nikkor 80-200mm 2.8 EDIF" and so on.

There's a lot of classic, non-AF glass out there; some of it is decades old, but when pros embraced AF they dumped a lot of beautiful lenses.
 
Ebay worked great for me. Just do your research on the seller and you should be fine. I have bought a 24mm, 50mm, and a 85mm off ebay from 3 different sellers, and plan to buy a 105mm when I get the money.
 
I just bought an AIS 50mm 1.4 Nikon and an AIS 85mm 1.8 on Ebay. Both were in almost brand new condition and came promptly in the mail.

Dan
 
Ive located aNikon Nikkor Ai-s 24mm F2.8

lense on ebay. Now I'm really new to this whole lense/adapter business, and I really want to get a good wide angle lense. I've bought a 50mm f1.8 and wide angle is my next purchase..

Everyones advice is to get a 28mm lense for wide angles, but I can't seem to locate any on ebay.com.au or in my state.
This 24mm f2.8 is the only one I could locate. Will this do for my wide angle needs? or will it be too wide and have distortion? and is it too slow at f2.8?

Any advice would be ace...

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Hey Jigga:

Most would opt for a 24mm instead of a 28mm, the extra width is helpful in most wide angle shots. Keep in mind that depending on which adapter you are using, a 2.8 may be too slow for interiors. I have the 28mm 2.8 and it's great for exteriors but a little dark for interiors unless I use a full lighting setup.

Best,

Dan
 
thanks for the response, puredrifting. My letus Economy should arrive in the mail next week sometime. I'm most likely gonna be using my 50mm f1.8 most of the time but I'd still really like to have a wide angle lense available in my collection. So it sounds like this lense should do the trick. Now hopefully the bidding on it doenst go out of control!
 
Adorama is also a good source for used lenses. I've bought all my lenses from Adorama or KEH with no hitches and a great return policy. It's worth the extra to get rid of the hassle of bidding, waiting and dealing with dishonest vendors. I stay away from Ebay these days.
 
I saw on another post someone was going to sell a 55mm 1.2 nikon lens. I cant find that post and dont remember why he wanted to sell it either. Is it a bad choice for using with 35mm adapters? I have one and now dont know if I made a good choice getting it. IG
 
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