Refurbished....to buy or not to buy?!

[cailinp]

I have been constantly stuck between the 50mm and the 55-200mm lenses. I know they are 2 different kinds but I want them both....=). I found both refurbished at Adorama for a decent price..

Here is the link.
Adorama

Question is, would you buy these lenses refurbished for $254?

 

[Big Mike]

'Refurbished' products are often as-good or better than 'brand new'. With many refurbished products, they have been pulled out of the assembly stream because they failed some sort of inspection. The problem gets fixed, but it can not be put back into the normal assembly process, so it get's sold as 'refurbished'. And because it's been 'fixed', it's often more accurately assembled than the 'new' ones in the assembly line.
There are also some that have been sold & returned, so they might not look new anymore, but it's likely that they have been 'fixed' and re-inspected, so they are in good working order.

 

[KmH]

Check your link?

 

[HelenOster]

I have been constantly stuck between the 50mm and the 55-200mm lenses. I know they are 2 different kinds but I want them both....=). I found both refurbished at Adorama for a decent price..

Here is the link.
Adorama

Question is, would you buy these lenses refurbished for $254?

All refurbished units sold by Adorama Camera are factory refurbished by the manufacturer; as Big Mike says, they can have simply been pulled from the production line if something appears faulty, or if it hasn't passed the final inspection. Most of the time it is a very minor issue that needs correcting, nevertheless, once it is pulled from the normal flow of production, it gets flagged as a refurbished model, so you may get a unit straight from the factory that has never been used.

A refurb may also be an ex-store demo, possibly used in field tests or sales displays, or it may have been ordered in error and returned to the retailer (who can't then sell it as 'new' so it has to be sent back to the manufacturer for refurbishment).

All refurbished items will have been checked over by the manufacturer by hand, inspected very thoroughly, diagnosed, and calibrated by experienced technicians, and could therefore turn out to be more dependable than a new item - which will only have been checked by a process of systematic quality control protocol (ie by random sampling as it comes off the conveyor belt).

All Canon refurbished products from Adorama come with a 1 year return-to-Adorama warranty; the warranty we give covers anything the manufacturers warranty covers for a new unit, including shutter defects.
All other refurbs sold by Adorama, including Nikon, come with a 90-day return-to-manufacturer warranty.
In addition, Refurbs come into us with the firmware updates and latest fixes which were carried out at whatever stage it was at when we took delivery.

I hope this helps, but I'm only an email away for additional advice and after-sales support.

Helen Oster
Adorama Camera Customer Service Ambassador
helen.oster@adoramacamera.com