Refurbished Lenses from Canon

Your take on Refurbished Lenses from Canon:

  • Have purchased Canon refurb lens, very happy!

    Votes: 14 43.8%
  • Have purchased Canon refurb lens, NOT happy!

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Have NOT purchased refurb, but would consider.

    Votes: 17 53.1%
  • Have NOT purchased, and never will purchase Canon refurb.

    Votes: 1 3.1%

  • Total voters
    32
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Ew

Mar 21, 2012
153
0
6,126
I'm curious, has what everyones take is on refurbished lenses from the Canon store.
Any ideas where these lenses come from? Returns? QC failures off the factory line?
 
Picked up a refurbished 5DII for 1600 including shipping and taxes and an ef-s 10-22 for about 600 including shipping and taxes (both when the canon store was running sales). Refurbished units carry 90 day warranties. I've been happy with my purchases.
 
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I have not purchased a Canon refurb LENS but my second 7D is a refurb and I cannot tell it from my first 7D that was purchased new.

When the 70-300 L refurbs come out I will probably get one and I keep thinking about the 100 L Macro refurbs. But I just bought a whole 5D3 landscape kit and really should wait 'till the holidays to keep my wonderful wife happy. ;D
 
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I have bought two just recently. A 15mm 2.8 Fisheye. Wonderful lens, could tell a tiny bit that it was not brand new, but glass is perfect. After a few days I took it outside while it was hot and after a few pictures the lens stopped working and gave me an ERR01 message on a 5DII. This kept happening. Sent it back to Canon, they turned it around in two days and said they couldn't find any issues. Tried it again and it failed again. Sent it back, this time mentioning the high heat. They checked it again and found a problem under high temperatures and replaced the whole aperture assembly and I have it back after a few days again. Works perfectly now.

Bought a 24-70 2.8L. Lens looked brand new, except there was a huge amount of some type of dirt, like tiny fibres or something inside the lens. I just sent it back to have them clean it. Otherwise it worked just fine and is pretty sharp.

So all in all, I guess I haven't had that much luck. However, their technical service is very friendly and extremely fast. My lens wasn't gone for longer than 4 days each time. Yeah, I had to pay for shipping it back to them, so that does add to the bill. On the other hand, if you buy the lenses used from someone and a few days later it turns out it doesn't work under high heat, you are on your own. I would purchase from them again. However now I know to inspect them immediately and thoroughly under all sorts of conditions.
 
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I bought a 5DII refurb. Came looking/ smelling brand new and never used, still with all the stickers on it. I recently picked up a S95 refurb, while it looked clean, it definitely had been handled/ used/ returned.

Happy overall. Sometimes you'll get a basically brand new product, while other times you may get a return that has then been refurbished.
 
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michi said:
I have bought two just recently. A 15mm 2.8 Fisheye. Wonderful lens, could tell a tiny bit that it was not brand new, but glass is perfect. After a few days I took it outside while it was hot and after a few pictures the lens stopped working and gave me an ERR01 message on a 5DII. This kept happening. Sent it back to Canon, they turned it around in two days and said they couldn't find any issues. Tried it again and it failed again. Sent it back, this time mentioning the high heat. They checked it again and found a problem under high temperatures and replaced the whole aperture assembly and I have it back after a few days again. Works perfectly now.

I've been waiting for them to have that exact lens. Will know to do some above and beyond checks ! Thanks for sharing!
 
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Ew said:
I've been waiting for them to have that exact lens. Will know to do some above and beyond checks ! Thanks for sharing!

I probably waited three months checking that page several times a day until I found that lens in stock. Definitely worth the wait, it is really sharp and allows you to have so much fun getting creative. Canon should have kept that lens in production, what a bargain at that price. Good luck getting one!
 
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pdirestajr said:
I bought a 5DII refurb. Came looking/ smelling brand new and never used, still with all the stickers on it. I recently picked up a S95 refurb, while it looked clean, it definitely had been handled/ used/ returned.

Happy overall. Sometimes you'll get a basically brand new product, while other times you may get a return that has then been refurbished.

Got my 5DII refurb with about 20 clicks on it. Maybe someone who had buyers remorse and bought a 5diii instead.
 
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I've bought a 15-85mm, a 70-200mm f/2.8 II, a 5D MK II, and a 7D. All looked and worked like new.
However, you need to sign up for e-mail notification of their occasional 15% off sales for lenses, and use the CLP program to get 20% off the bodies if you want a deal. ($1407 for a 5D MK II)
I ordered a 16-35mmL from New Egg for $1351 and free shipping thru one of their customer appreciation deals.
Thats less than the regular refurb price.
Prices on photo gear are dropping like a rock, so keep searching for deals.
 
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I have never purchased from them, but would like to. I am never quick enough on the trigger when the email deals come out etc for something I want. The way I see it, if you buy a refurb it's been checked out by canon and certified as in good shape, plus with 90 days to return, you should know if it is right by three months time. Sometimes pricing with tax isn't much better than new, especially if you can buy from BH or Adorama sans sales tax, but you still should pocket a few $$$ regardless.
 
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I've purchased three refurbished lenses, mostly through B&H, and am very satisfied with them. I just bought a refurbished 7D during Canon Direct's most recent 20% off sale. For a 7D, it's fine but, after using a 5D3 for a few months, the 7D seems archaic. (The coming 7D firmware upgrade convinced me that a 7D2 will not be coming soon and my 40D is getting a bit erratic.)
 
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