refurbished 5d III, what do you think?

[Rienzphotoz]

There are two advantages in buying a refurbished Canon or Nikon gear:

1. Lower Price

2. All refurbished items will have been checked over by the manufacturer by hand, inspected very thoroughly, diagnosed, and calibrated by experienced technicians, and could therefore turn out to be more dependable than a new item - which will only have been checked by a process of systematic quality control protocol (ie by random sampling as it comes off the conveyor belt).

I bought a refurbished Nikon D7000 and it works perfectly. If I were you, I'd buy it right away.

[Wildfire]

I've bought both refurbished lenses and bodies directly from Canon. They were always indistinguishable from new items and worked great.

[Freddie]

I bought a 100-400L refurb from Canon not too many months ago and it's the sharpest one I've had with no problems yet. I just pulled the trigger on a 5D3 refurb on Monday, arriving Thursday. I'll post my impressions when it arrives. The price is great at US$2380.
We buy all our Macintoshes refurb too. So far so good.
Fred

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Also, Canon refurbs aren't necessarily returns of defective or demo units; they can be units that failed some QC check during the actual manufacturing process, and were deemed feasible to adjust to factory specifications (i.e., you could very well have a brand new camera that just took a minor adjustment to make it through the process of being built).

Sorry, but if a camera doesn't pass a QC test during production, it is sent to rework, repaired, and sold as a new camera (which it is).  This is the case with Cameras, TV sets, automobiles, airplanes, satellites, ... virtually everything.
Even food is reworked and sold as new and is only sometimes marked as reprocessed.
 
Canon has a refurb facility in the USA which does testing and repacking.  You should get a camera in very nice condition, but the battery will be used, and the manuals likely also used.  I've bought a few and they were excellent cameras and never had a problem, but they were not new.

[Rienzphotoz]

Also, Canon refurbs aren't necessarily returns of defective or demo units; they can be units that failed some QC check during the actual manufacturing process, and were deemed feasible to adjust to factory specifications (i.e., you could very well have a brand new camera that just took a minor adjustment to make it through the process of being built).

Sorry, but if a camera doesn't pass a QC test during production, it is sent to rework, repaired, and sold as a new camera (which it is).  This is the case with Cameras, TV sets, automobiles, airplanes, satellites, ... virtually everything.
Even food is reworked and sold as new and is only sometimes marked as reprocessed.
 
Canon has a refurb facility in the USA which does testing and repacking.  You should get a camera in very nice condition, but the battery will be used, and the manuals likely also used.  I've bought a few and they were excellent cameras and never had a problem, but they were not new.

+1

[Freddie]

It's here!

Beautifully boxed and pillowed in custom shaped foam container. All new sealed accessories and books. The camera itself is immaculate and the battery had 80% of full charge. Long serial number, 0820200606.

I won't have time to test it until tomorrow, unfortunately. When I have something further to report, I'll post here. No idea of picture count, of course.

Fred

[Rienzphotoz]

It's here!

Beautifully boxed and pillowed in custom shaped foam container. All new sealed accessories and books. The camera itself is immaculate and the battery had 80% of full charge. Long serial number, 0820200606.

I won't have time to test it until tomorrow, unfortunately. When I have something further to report, I'll post here. No idea of picture count, of course.

Fred

CONGRATULATIONS! Welcome to the exciting full frame world of 5D MK III

[twagn]

I think you ought to buy one while they're still in stock

http://shop.usa.canon.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/subCategory_10051_10051_-1_29252

[jrh]

I am a big fan of the high end refurbished gear (when the price is right) and purchased a 5Dmk3 earlier this week.  The L lenses and high end bodies are built to perform in environments beyond what I will use them in.  There is no reason for me to pay full price for a tool I use for a hobby and pleasure if I can get a moderately used one at a good savings.  If they have been thoroughly reviewed by a Canon technician and certified to meet specs I will buy these items all day when they are 15% or more marked down off the refurb price.  The only time I buy new is if Canon or Apple release a game changer product - and neither has done so recently IMHO - or the new product is discounted significantly.  Another good source, I have found, for used items is LensRentals.com.  Watch their sale listing as they will mark items down that don't move.

[Rienzphotoz]

Another good source, I have found, for used items is LensRentals.com.  Watch their sale listing as they will mark items down that don't move.

+1

[Freddie]

Although not really very far so far.
It works fine and have managed to RTFM several times and feel comfortable with the operation of it.
The images are slightly different from and maybe accept a bit more sharpening than the files from my 2008 vintage 5D MK II. Only time will tell. I do like the new feature set.
The MK II will become a single purpose tool for a while doing real estate HDR while I shoot the more fun things with the MK III. If the MK III turns out to be a decent wildlife body, I might sell the 1D MK IV. I never shoot at the full 10fps speed anyway.
Hopefully, I can do the MFA this week and see how accurate the MK III AF really is. First tests with the 500 looked very good. Unfortunately, we won't be going anywhere I can really test for a couple of weeks while the 90-day warranty ticks down.
Fred

[jonathan7007]

Out of stock as of Sunday night. That really is a tempting price: imagine...$1100 less than what I paid in May last year.

[scrappydog]

I bought my 5D2 refurbished from Canon and it was a great deal.  The camera has served me well.  No issues.

[Rienzphotoz]

Out of stock as of Sunday night.

That's the problem with good products like 5D MK III that are refurbished and selling for a discounted price, they get lapped up real fast.

[Freddie]

I bought my 5D2 refurbished from Canon and it was a great deal.  The camera has served me well.  No issues.

I was hoping for the full 20% discount they offered late last year. However, after the 15% discount showed up over the weekend, I called at 6AM our time on Monday morning and ordered the camera because they can run out of stock very quickly sometimes. Their website won't accept our small town address as being in the FedEx database so I always have to call.
It looks like the stock lasted for a week this time. Not too bad.
Fred