About to upgrade to a 5d. New or Refurbished?

William Petruzzo · Sep 2, 2008

What do you think? I'm about to purchase a new camera. I can save about 600 dollars if I go with a refurbished camera body. Anyone know of the risks involved?

Big Mike · Sep 2, 2008

Would you get a warranty with the refurbished model? If so, I'd say it's probably a good deal.

William Petruzzo · Sep 2, 2008

It comes with a 90 day retailers warranty. But it's refurbished by Canon USA. It doesn't say anything about a manufacturer's warranty though. Thumbs up, thumbs down?

SchnellFowVay · Sep 2, 2008

I realize this has nothing to do with your specific situation, so take it with a grain of salt, but I jsut bought a refurbed Nikon dSLR.

It is in PERFECT condition. I question if it was ever actually used before I got it. The casing, LCD screen, buttons, and flash are unquestionably brand new. The image sensor may be the only refurbed portion.

But the point is: It is basically brand new. And I got a huge discount. I would give it a shot.

Big Mike · Sep 2, 2008

The only down side that I can think of, is that you don't get the full one year warranty, like you would with a new one...but for $600 less, I'd go for it.

Moglex · Sep 2, 2008

bpetruzzo said:
It comes with a 90 day retailers warranty. But it's refurbished by Canon USA. It doesn't say anything about a manufacturer's warranty though. Thumbs up, thumbs down?

I nearly answered this before but I didn't want to be negative.

If it were a non digital I'd go for it in a heartbeat.

As it's were digital I don't think I'd be happy unless there was an extended warranty available. (i.e. two years or more).

This is probably unnecessarily cautious on my part as I've never had any problems with camera electronics (and there was a fair bit and a lot more mechanical stuff in the last film SLR's).

I guess the thing to do would be to do a little research and find out how many people have had the early Canon DSLR's die on them after the three month 'infant mortality' period. If it seems a pretty rare occurance then you'll probably feel it's worth a shot.

William Petruzzo · Sep 2, 2008

I haven't done much reading about new camera models since I bought current body several years back. But now, reading some, I'm finding that there's a lot of people who seem to think the 5D successor is going to be released very soon. I guess based on the fact that the 5D will be 3 years old this fall. I suppose the wisest thing for me to do would be to wait until after Photokina and see if the new model's waiting.

I always seem to be the guy who waits a long time to upgrade, then when I do I find out I bought like a month too early.

Although I'm now feigning for the new body, it seems that it'd be wise to sit and wait for more information to be released.

Moglex · Sep 2, 2008

Well, if you do wait for the new body it will give you two advantages.

1) You'll have some time to research reliablity.
2) Once the new body is released there will almost certainly be a reduction in prices for the old body both new and used.

William Petruzzo · Sep 2, 2008

Good call. Plus, in the meantime the new 16-35mm will keep me occupied.

Big Mike · Sep 2, 2008

I doubt the 'retail' price of the 5D will fall much. It's already a lot lower than it was when it first came out. Although, you might get a deal if retailers want to clear their inventory. And of course, a new model does usually mean that plenty of used models hit the used market.

I like the idea of waiting to see what the new model will be...but it will probably be a long time until that model is avaliable to purchase. The 5D is a great camera, regardless of what the new model is.

William Petruzzo · Sep 2, 2008

The 50D was announced on August 26th and BH has it estimated to arrive in October. That doesn't seem too bad. If the new 5d model were announced at the end of this month, it might physically show up around November - December. That's not too bad. Plus, if nothing else the announcement will send the 5d prices down significantly.

I just don't want to kick myself a month from now, you know? And, I'd like to stay reasonably current with my technology. I'm not about jumping on every new technology release, but if I'm going to drop of few thousand dollars, I'd like it to keep me relatively current for the next several years.

Big Mike · Sep 2, 2008

The 50D was announced on August 26th and BH has it estimated to arrive in October. That doesn't seem too bad. If the new 5d model were announced at the end of this month, it might physically show up around November - December.

Yes, but unless you are at the 'front of the line'...you may have trouble getting one right away. A lot of people have been waiting for this.

Plus, if nothing else the announcement will send the 5d prices down significantly.

Like I said, the price has already dropped quite a bit, I doubt it will do down too much further, unless it's on the used market.

I just don't want to kick myself a month from now, you know? And, I'd like to stay reasonably current with my technology. I'm not about jumping on every new technology release, but if I'm going to drop of few thousand dollars, I'd like it to keep me relatively current for the next several years.

I know exactly what you mean. I recently bought a Honda FIT, which is mostly unchanged from it's initial release in Japan, many years ago. A month after I bought it, heard that the 2009 FIT will be a significant redesign with a more rigid design and better handling.
It's a little bit frustrating but I try not to worry too much about it.

If you were considering the 40D or the 50D, I'd be more temped to say; just go for the 40D, it's only one year old technology. But the 5D is three year old technology, so it would make sense to see what the new model has to offer, before making your decision.

William Petruzzo · Sep 2, 2008

Yeah, the shift is primarily because for print purposes I'm starting to feel the effects of a lower megapixel camera which a number of my contemporaries don't feel, plus I'm about fed up with the small sensor size and I'm ready for a full frame camera.

I wonder what it will take to get to the "front of the line"?

Big Mike · Sep 2, 2008

I wonder what it will take to get to the "front of the line"?

Many places (B&H and Adorama included) should let you pre-order, so if you are sure about it, you can probably put in an order, shortly after it's officially released.