Ever wondered what keh.com 'BGN' lenses look like?

[Antithesis]

This is what $430 will get you from keh.com, shipped to your door.

It was in 'BGN' condition on their website, and it looks like it's been lightly used, if that. There doesn't look like any brassing that I've noticed so far. Some of the 'EX' coating is starting to rub off a little on certain edges, but no metal peeping through. The mount is pristine and so are the contacts. It doesn't have the hood or tripod ring, which is going to cost me about $100 new from sigma ($25 for the hood, $75 for the ring). Still, these are hitting the used market at about $600-650, so I saved myself a hundred bucks, not too bad. Plus, I'd have to deal with ebay for those where I don't have a 14 day, no questions asked return policy.

A lot of people were wondering how this lens performs, and it's true, it's soft at f2.8 @ 200mm, but probably still usable (I thought it was just the macro version that was soft). It's nice and sharp at f4, and it'll most certainly hold me over a year or two until I can cough up for the Nikon. The autofocus is plenty fast too, I haven't used an AF-S lens for a while but I think it's nearly as fast as that. Certainly faster than AF-D, atleast on the d80.

 

[frXnz kafka]

Wow that looks pretty good. How's the glass?

 

[Antithesis]

Wow that looks pretty good. How's the glass?

From what I can tell, flawless. The rear element's coating is pristine, but I can't really tell on the front. It looks good though, no scratches or dust at all.

 

[eravedesigns]

I bought a 50mm in EX condition for $75 and then 91 shipped

 

[Antithesis]

I've been playing around with my lens a bit more, and I'm pretty happy with it. The focus is extremely fast if there is good light. I was playing around today focusing between two objects about 15 feet apart (depth-wise), and it was very quick, like half a second or less and silent to boot. It is pretty darn soft at f2.8 @ 200mm, but I can live with it. It's as sharp at f4 as it is at f8, and I have yet to test it at 70mm.

 

[rmh159]

Good to hear a review on the equpiment from that site. I've checked out previously but have been a little hesitant to buy something that's used.

 

[keith204]

I saw a 28-135 IS Canon BGN lens there for $235..

I need a "beater" lens to go with my 20D for when I loan it out to people, or use it at the track for victory lane shots. Hearing a good review of a BGN lens is a good thing to hear.

 

[skipper34]

Back in my days of OM and Zuiko lenses, I used to buy all of my stuff from KEH. Most of the bodies and lenses were BGN rated and of those, never had one that didn't look almost new. KEH ratings are very conservative. They are by far the best source of used equipment on the planet.

 

[Mav]

Thanks for the report! Yeah BGN rated KEH stuff is usually pretty good.

 

[Antithesis]

Yeah, the more I look at it, the front and rear elements of the lens look absolutely pristine. I'm sure a few weeks with me and that will change, I tend not to put UV filters on and end up with little water spots and spots in the coating.

But yeah, they definetely have a return customer in me.