Buying from Canon Refurbished

[Leopard Lupus]

Hello!
I am interested in buying a camera body, and possibly a couple of lenses from the Canon refurbished site. Does anyone have pros/cons about doing this? I find myself upgrading camera bodies and lenses every six months, which can be costly due to always buying new.
When buying a camera body refurbished online, without first holding, how is the consumer able to find out the shutter actuations? Are the inner workings restored/replaced? Is it cosmetically comparable to a new copy? Are the EOS Utilities disks and manual included?
Do the lenses go through a great deal of testing?
And finally, what is the primary reason these refurbished items are here? Have they been floor models or someones daily walk-around kit?
I know Canon USA comes with a 90day warranty which is great, but I am just curious if anyone here has positives or negatives to say about their purchases.
Thanks in advance!

[chuckjr]

I purchased a 50F.12 from adorama refurbished and a 35MM F1.4 directly from canon. In both cases They were cosmetically and operationally perfect. In the case of the recent 35mm purchase I saved $200 with the confidence that if something wasn't right I could return it.

[thejoyofsobe]

I've purchased the following from the Canon refurb store:
60D body only
24-105mm f/4L
50mm f/1.4

Cosmetically all three looked brand new and they came with everything a brand new item would  have (lens hood, software, cable, manuals, pouch, etc) just not in the same packaging and only a 90 day warranty. For bodies there's no way to tell ahead of time how many actuations. My 60D for example had just shy of 600.

Very pleased with my experience with the refurb store (especially the 50mm f/1.4 because I caught it on sale for $270) and when possible I will try to make all my purchases in the future through it (waiting patiently for the 70-300mm f/4-5.6L to show up).

Don't know the extent of testing but whether they are returned items, in-store demos or failed their initial QA they've had a Canon tech hands on and given it the okay. I feel more comfortable with my chances that route than with the amount of variance allowed through the normal assembly line.

[Leopard Lupus]

Wonderful!
In the case of Canon USA refurbished bodies, does it include the battery? When I add the body to my shopping cart it gives the option of a battery for an addition $99

[thejoyofsobe]

Wonderful!
In the case of Canon USA refurbished bodies, does it include the battery? When I add the body to my shopping cart it gives the option of a battery for an addition $99

yes. the battery is included along with a charger. Canon is just trying to sell you an overpriced spare.

the 'What's in the box' tab on the bottom of the item page should give you a list of everything that's included.

[bchernicoff]

I have had a mixed experience. My first purchase was a 70-200 f/2.8 IS Mk II. It appears that I was sent a lens that had come in for refurbishment and was sent back out as it came in. The weather seal around the base was torn, the rear lens cap was off and loose in the package, a large piece of something (not dust) was on the rear element, the front element was filthy. The return process was a huge pain in the ass... in the end I just asked for a refund. I promised myself I would never order from them again. Then, they were offering 15% off certain items and I was able to buy the 60D 18-200 kit for $849 for my brother. It was too good a price to pass up. It arrived absolutely perfect... it was truly indistinguishable from new. Based on that I decided to buy a second 5D Mk II from them. It too came pretty much perfect. There was the tiniest scuff on the top LCD that is not visible in normal viewing conditions. The shutter count on the body was not reset to zero, but was like 1300 or something very low.

TL;DR Canon Refurb is great as long as you don't have to deal with their return process.

[WildBill]

   Several months back I started looking for a camera for my daughter.  After I decided on a T2i and started comparing prices, I checked out Canon refurbished hoping to find a good deal.   Initially it did look like a better price through the Canon store.  However by the time I got to the end of the checkout process, I realized that it was about $30 cheaper to buy a new body from B&H than it was to get a reconditioned one from Canon.  The difference was shipping and sales tax.  Canon was charging me them and B&H was not.  So what started out looking like a cost savings really wasn't once everything thing was totaled up. 
   I'm sure the balance sheet will vary depending upon the exact situation. I'm just advising to make sure you check out the final price out the door not just the listed price.
   Have fun shopping.

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I've bought three items from Canon Refurb store this year, a 7D, a 15-85mm, and a 70-200mm f/2.8 MK II lens.  All were functionnally and cosmetically like new with all the manuals, batteries, cords, straps, etc that a new one has.

For Cameras, you can trade in a old broken film SLR and get about 15-20% off the refurb price on select models by going thru the Canon customer loyalty program. 

I've been very happy so far.

I did return the 70-200mmL because it was too heavy.  The return was painless, just called and got a RMA number, and shipped it back. Money was refunded immediately after they received it.

I was sorry to see such a sharp lens go, but I was avoiding using it due to the weight.

[distant.star]

My Canon refurb experiences have been good, but I've had the same questions, and I've made many presumptions.

Where do they get this stuff? I've guessed most are returns to retail sales outlets. A lot of that would be buyer's remorse, misunderstanding of technical issues (This damn thing doesn't work!), actual defects, not performing as expected, or just not liking it. Perhaps some floor models or demo stuff gets thrown into the mix. I've always presumed it just all goes back to Canon USA.

From there I've presumed all items are checked, tested and given limited remanufacture as needed and repackaged as new (except for being clearly marked refurb). Except for being marked on the box as refurb, what I've gotten looks just like new -- product, packaging, etc. And everything is included -- discs, batteries, hoods, etc.

I also had a confusing time when I bought the 100-400L lens. They wanted to add a hood and pouch, but I declined and they came with the lens. I think this is more a piece of bad computer programming than Canon trying to force more stuff on you. Probably my biggest complaint is the dinosaur-like behavior of all their Web functions.

I had to return one item for exchange. The S95 would slip into S mode from A, and the button was very hard to move overall. I called, told them I wanted an exchange and they were helpful, even cheerful. They even sent a replacement overnight before I returned the first one.

Overall, I think it's a great way to go, especially when they put what you want on sale. I got my S95 for $250 when usual street price was $400. Same good deal with the 100-400 lens.

Hello!
I am interested in buying a camera body, and possibly a couple of lenses from the Canon refurbished site. Does anyone have pros/cons about doing this? I find myself upgrading camera bodies and lenses every six months, which can be costly due to always buying new.
When buying a camera body refurbished online, without first holding, how is the consumer able to find out the shutter actuations? Are the inner workings restored/replaced? Is it cosmetically comparable to a new copy? Are the EOS Utilities disks and manual included?
Do the lenses go through a great deal of testing?
And finally, what is the primary reason these refurbished items are here? Have they been floor models or someones daily walk-around kit?
I know Canon USA comes with a 90day warranty which is great, but I am just curious if anyone here has positives or negatives to say about their purchases.
Thanks in advance!