Refurbished Body

[mw]

I am looking into getting a used 5D2 or 3. Is there a way to tell if the camera is refurbished? Someone was telling me that there's a pin hole somewhere at the bottom, but not sure if this is correct or not.

 

[Drizzt321]

Not that I've heard. Only thing I can think of is contacting Canon with the serial number and asking if it has been refurbished or not. I think the more important questions are A) Is it in good condition, B) How many shutter actuations does it have, and are you willing to live with the shutter life that is left, C) Does it have any warranty left on it.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Canon puts a punch mark on the rear of their lenses, I suspect they either put a paint dot in the battery compartment or a punch on the serial number plate.
Being refurbished merely means its a used camera that has been inspected and tested. If you are buying a used camera, there is no warranty, so refurbished really is meaningless.

 

[mw]

Canon puts a punch mark on the rear of their lenses, I suspect they either put a paint dot in the battery compartment or a punch on the serial number plate.
Being refurbished merely means its a used camera that has been inspected and tested. If you are buying a used camera, there is no warranty, so refurbished really is meaningless.

I can certainly live with a refurbished. I just want to make sure the seller is being honest and I get what I pay for.

 

[FTb-n]

I bought a refurbished 7D from Canon last year and have had no problms with it. It's my understanding that these a warranty returns or open box items that have been fully tested by Canon with any parts not up to spec replaced. I don't think they are post warranty used cameras. Does Canon take trade-ins that would give them a stock of used cameras?

My 7D does have a small punch hole to the right of the serial number.

Canon does warranty their refurbished products for 90 days.

 

[unfocused]

I just checked my wife's refurbished T3i, it has an almost imperceptible little pin mark by the serial number. Also checked my refurbished 600 RTs, they also have a little pin mark. So tiny, you'd never notice it if you weren't looking.

Another way to know, I think, would be if the owner still has the original box. Refurbished never come with the original box, but always with the "generic white" Canon refurbished box.

Really though, if you are buying used, it doesn't matter much whether the seller bought it refurbished or bought it new. In either case, you don't really know anything about the history of the camera and can only judge by the apparent condition, the price and what the seller is telling you.

Also consider this, even if the camera was once new, you have no way of knowing if you are buying it from the original owner, or if they just bought it used from someone else.

At any rate, if the seller isn't offering the item at less than what you can buy refurbished then they are asking too much, regardless of whether they bought it new or not.

As an aside, I recently saw a new phenomenon on eBay -- people re-selling refurbished items still in the sealed Canon refurbished box. Looks like they bought them during the recent 15% off sale and then when the items were sold out at the Canon store, they were selling them for a slight markup.