[NeedHelp] Nikon D40 but without guarantee

[Valis]

Hi,

I'm looking for a new camera to start a new hobby...
yeah you got it right- photography.
Anyhow I'm looking for a cheap entry level SLR camera, the D40 came across as very recommended in this genre.

I have found on a second hand board the D40, after 2k clicks, with kit lens, "as new".
In a price about 100 lower (I could get him lower) then the usual local price.
BUT it has no guarantee!

Other then that I'm thinking of other cameras like the G10.

what do you think generally about second hand cameras?
And what do you think I should do in these case?

Thank you, Valis

 

[PatrickHMS]

If you are looking to pay less for a camera = buy used, usually they come without a guarantee.

If you are looking to get a camera with a guarantee = buy a new camera, and you will get one.

Or you can buy a refurbished camera, with a warranty, from several different retailers on the internet or on eBay.

If YOU were selling something as used, would YOU be willing to offer a guarantee?

You say "cheap", but photography is not by any means a cheap hobby. Do you want to pay cheap for a good camera, or do you actually want a cheap camera?

When someone mentions the term cheap, to me it reflects on them, and makes me think of THEM as cheap. I wish people would use the word inexpensive instead, as there is nothing at all wrong with being thrifty, but nobody really likes a cheapskate.

 

[Goontz]

The D40 and kit lens will be great to start out with. 2,000 shutter actuations isn't much at all, so you should be pretty safe. What I would recommend is having the seller tell you the Serial number of the camera, and to take a picture (of anything) with the camera so that you can view the EXIF data. With that, you can verify exactly how many pictures have been taken on it (as well as the serial number). With the serial number, you can call Nikon and verify if it's a US-model camera. If it is US, Nikon USA will perform work on it if anything were ever to happen on it, whereas if it is non-US (grey market), they would not touch it.

As Patrick mentioned, another option for saving a few bucks would be to buy a refurbished one. Places like Adorama or B&H sell them.

 

[PatrickHMS]

The D40 and kit lens will be great to start out with. 2,000 shutter actuations isn't much at all, so you should be pretty safe. What I would recommend is having the seller tell you the Serial number of the camera, and to take a picture (of anything) with the camera so that you can view the EXIF data. With that, you can verify exactly how many pictures have been taken on it (as well as the serial number). With the serial number, you can call Nikon and verify if it's a US-model camera. If it is US, Nikon USA will perform work on it if anything were ever to happen on it, whereas if it is non-US (grey market), they would not touch it.

As Patrick mentioned, another option for saving a few bucks would be to buy a refurbished one. Places like Adorama or B&H sell them.

Problem is, if HE did not buy the camera new (refurbished with a warranty), there IS no valid warranty from Nikon. Nikon will NOT warranty their products to anyone other than the original retail purchaser. Will not transfer the factory warranty to anyone.

Those "BestBuy" transferrable extended warranties are not actual factory warranties as far as I know.

If you have a receipt so that it appears that you are original owner, you might can get warranty coverage. Without proof of purchase, bet not...

Buying a used camera with a blank warranty card, you are probably SOL. The blank warranty card people use as enticement to buy their used stuff means nothing, as people can register online nowadays without writing in the card, but the Serial # shows as registered to someone else.

Only sure way is to call Nikon, but then it can raise a red flag that that camera might be being sold as a used one. Not sure of this part, but someone told me that Nikon can track that by Serial #, but they don't want us to know that.

Only way I know of to be sure to get a Nikon factory warranty is to buy retail.

 

[Goontz]

Problem is, if HE did not buy the camera new (refurbished with a warranty), there IS no valid warranty from Nikon. Nikon will NOT warranty their products to anyone other than the original retail purchaser. Will not transfer the factory warranty to anyone.

Correct, but if it's a US model, Nikon USA would still perform work on it, albeit outside of warranty. Nikon USA will not even do fee-based repairs on a grey market item; it would have to be sent to be serviced in its country of origin.

 

[PatrickHMS]

Problem is, if HE did not buy the camera new (refurbished with a warranty), there IS no valid warranty from Nikon. Nikon will NOT warranty their products to anyone other than the original retail purchaser. Will not transfer the factory warranty to anyone.

Correct, but if it's a US model, Nikon USA would still perform work on it, albeit outside of warranty. Nikon USA will not even do fee-based repairs on a grey market item; it would have to be sent to be serviced in its country of origin.

My bad...lol

When you mentioned "work" I inferred warranty work.

Any other non-warranty work I would have done locally by Authorized Nikon repair location. The Nikon factory is so danged 'spensive that I haven't seen much work for pay from Nikon factory that buying another used camera body wasn't a viable alternative, economically speaking.

And most times I have seen lenses needing repaired, I have seen repair tickets of no more than $100.00 or so, so I would just make choice if lens is worth it or not.

But in 41 years of shooting Nikon, personally, I have only needed repair service two times in all those years.

 

[epp_b]

My D40 has just over 50,000 shutter actuations and still works like new. 2,000 is nothing to worry about

 

[Valis]

Thank you for the replies.
I'm trying to get the price lower and checking a refurbished one out at a pretty decent price.

Anyhow how bad could it be NOT to get an SLR and to get a point and shoot
like a Canon g10?

Photography maybe ain't a cheap hobby, but spending more money on a cmaera won't get you better pictuers.
I've just looking at Alfred Eisenstaed's work, and I'm sure it's not a D40 SLRbut much less...
I'm sure you had already this 'philosophical' debate here, I'm on the photographer side on the debate.

 

[themedicine]

id still say try and get something like a d40 (slr) just for future expandability. why limit yourself right out the box with a camera that has just the built in lens?

 

[Goontz]

As far as getting an SLR vs. getting a P&S, that's really more of a personal choice and will depend on what you want and where you want to take your photography. An SLR will obviously have more options and give more control, the ability to change lenses, and generally give better image quality (sensor size being a huge factor in that, but also lens quality and other factors). I would argue that, in the case of going from any P&S to an SLR, spending more money will get you better pictures (assuming, of course, that you know how to get those pictures with the SLR).

In the case of something like the Canon G10 that you mentioned, you could actually spend less money and have a great entry-level DSLR. The decision again comes down to what you want in a camera, etc.

 

[djacobox372]

id still say try and get something like a d40 (slr) just for future expandability. why limit yourself right out the box with a camera that has just the built in lens?

And with the d40 you're limiting yourself to just AFS lenses, which are plentiful, but expensive.

Buy a d70 and you'll get the same quality camera for about the same as the d40, but you can buy the much cheaper AF lenses, and still use afs lenses if you like. D70 also has much better external controls, but with an admittedly small lcd screen.

Buy a d200, and you can even use AIS lenses.

 

[KmH]

My D40 has just over 50,000 shutter actuations and still works like new.

You may get another 50,000 actuations, you may only get another 100.

 

[benhasajeep]

I can recommend Cameta on Ebay for refurbished cameras. 3 of my DSLR's came from them as refurbished cameras. All work / looked like new. Oldest one is now about 5 years old now. Not a single issue with any of the 3 so far.

I tend to buy a new body and then a refurbished body as a spare when I upgrade.