Not convinced. They have this one at £700 marked as 'excellent' and 'only lightest signs of use' when the lens hood is visibly marked. Mine was in better condition than that for around £500 a couple of years ago.
They're taking them in PX just as if you buy off eBay so no real knowledge of how its been treated or how intensively it has been used other than appearance. Also no pics of the lens cap (edge v centre pinch) so you can't get a feel for how old it is or any pics of the box or accessories.
As long as you're buying from someone with good feedback, detailed pictures and description you more often than not get what you think you're getting, IME, YMMV etc.
[mention]Rich B[/mention], MBP gives a 6 month warranty clicky, GG said they charged 10-15% more than eBay as pure profit for MBP and don’t even provide a warranty. GG’s point doesn’t stand about it being comparable to eBay.
I think you could do better from eBay. They look to be an extra 10-15% more expensive just for MBP's profit margin and you aren't getting any warranty with them.
Other than overall condition and coming complete with box, hood, leather pouch, etc. you need to keep an eye out for the centre pinch lens caps which signify it is a more recent production run.
[mention]GG.[/mention] I don’t think you can say it’s over priced when they’re running a company and offering a service over and above what a typical eBay price is. Someone may be happy to accept a lens cover, or other bits of kit with a mark on but be happier knowing about it prior to purchase with the option to return the item if they don’t like it or it breaks within 6 months. You’d struggle to find a private eBay seller that generous!
Sure, just personal choice whether to take more of a risk on eBay or pay more, knowing more.
In other related news, I now have an EOS 620 on the way
Best get some more film in then, probably Portra 400 as had some nice results with that on Dad's Voightlander.
Orange Cola wrote: ↑Wed Jun 03, 2020 8:02 pm
@GG. I don’t think you can say it’s over priced when they’re running a company and offering a service over and above what a typical eBay price is. Someone may be happy to accept a lens cover, or other bits of kit with a mark on but be happier knowing about it prior to purchase with the option to return the item if they don’t like it or it breaks within 6 months. You’d struggle to find a private eBay seller that generous!
Ah yes - mea culpa - does look like there is a 6 month warranty. Odd that they don't highlight it anywhere other than their T's & C's as far as I could see. It would be a major factor in justifying the extra money so you'd think they'd publicise it...
I would take it with a pinch of salt though as the wear and tear exclusion on a 10 year old lens would be capable of applying to a lot of issues. Still, better than nothing.
Personally I'd still take a better condition one without a warranty than one which has clearly been used more, with one (for a premium), knowing that the one in pristine condition is not likely to break. Having now had mine for two years and using it intensively without issue, it worked for me.
Orange Cola wrote: ↑Wed Jun 03, 2020 8:02 pm
@GG. I don’t think you can say it’s over priced when they’re running a company and offering a service over and above what a typical eBay price is. Someone may be happy to accept a lens cover, or other bits of kit with a mark on but be happier knowing about it prior to purchase with the option to return the item if they don’t like it or it breaks within 6 months. You’d struggle to find a private eBay seller that generous!
Ah yes - mea culpa - does look like there is a 6 month warranty. Odd that they don't highlight it anywhere other than their T's & C's as far as I could see. It would be a major factor in justifying the extra money so you'd think they'd publicise it...
I would take it with a pinch of salt though as the wear and tear exclusion on a 10 year old lens would be capable of applying to a lot of issues. Still, better than nothing.
Personally I'd still take a better condition one without a warranty than one which has clearly been used more, with one (for a premium), knowing that the one in pristine condition is not likely to break. Having now had mine for two years and using it intensively without issue, it worked for me.
I’m not disagreeing about shopping around for condition, but if one came up on MPB or somewhere else e.g. CEX it’d be hard for me to ignore the extra protection (fnarr). I bought my last lens from HDEW and accepted the ‘risk’ of a grey import with their own warranty compared to paying full price for a UK official one at ~40% more money.
I am considering a very long lens next, looking at prices used ones seem to be the best bang for money as it won’t be my main lens.
I was thinking at least 600mm but reading some reviews on different lenses on my camera body I might be better off dropping to a 400mm and cropping
what are you using it for?
Wildlife, aircraft and the odd Astro shot.
You're ok using a mono/tripod as a 600mm is going be be heavy. I hate lugging a stand around personally, took a 75-300mm f5.6 to RIAT in 2018 and it was pretty good at filling the frame a lot of the time. Stood about ~100m back from the runway I was shooting at 180mm or so for the F-35 takeoff. The main problem I had was how fast and accurate the autofocus was on the old (2002) lense.
I think Astrophotography is often better done with a short fast lense as without tracking the star trails are going to mess up any photo.
Rich B wrote: ↑Thu Jun 04, 2020 1:10 pm
what are you using it for?
Wildlife, aircraft and the odd Astro shot.
You're ok using a mono/tripod as a 600mm is going be be heavy. I hate lugging a stand around personally, took a 75-300mm f5.6 to RIAT in 2018 and it was pretty good at filling the frame a lot of the time. Stood about ~100m back from the runway I was shooting at 180mm or so for the F-35 takeoff. The main problem I had was how fast and accurate the autofocus was on the old (2002) lense.
I think Astrophotography is often better done with a short fast lense as without tracking the star trails are going to mess up any photo.
Yeah I’ve got a tripod so I’m ok with that, and that’s where the argument for a Canon 100-400mm comes in because is lighter and a clearer lens whereas the reach on a Sigma 600mm is better but it isn’t great for standing there trying to snap aircraft. However the 600mm is good for the moon, getting proper close up to wildlife.
I’ve already got other lenses for photographing stars with wider fields of view, just nothing which get into closer stuff
autofocus will suck based on my experience.