Buying used lenses is a great way to save some money, yet get a perfectly good piece of gear. But you want to make sure that the lens you’re buying is in good condition and that it will serve you well. Some problems are easy to spot, but others can be very sneaky and you may discover them too late. So, before buying that second-hand lens, make sure to watch this video from ZY Productions. It will tell you about seven things you should check to make sure that the lens is worth your money.
Five things to look out for when buying a used lens
As we all know, lenses can be pretty expensive, and a good way to save some cash is buying them used. To help you make the best choice, Artur Fin shares five things to look out for when buying a used lens. These tips will help you to make sure that you spend less money, yet get the lens that’s in a good condition and that you’ll use for a long time.
Want to buy used gear? This website will tell you its market value
No matter if you’re selling or buying used gear, I’m sure you’d like to get a good price. Bokeh Market is a website which will tell you the market value of used gear: cameras, lenses and bundles. This way, you’ll get the insight into the real-time value of used gear, so you can determine the price to sell it or make sure not to overpay when buying.
A forgotten solution for tack sharp photos
For a few years now, I’ve had in my collection one very strange lens. I bought it primarily for it’s value as a collectible so, up until now, I haven’t really spent much time playing with it. Made in 1975, this manual focus Minolta MC Rokkor-X 40-80mm f/2.8 lens is one strange puppy. When it was first introduced, no other zoom lens could top its image quality and it really didn’t have much competition until more recent years. This is largely due to its very unique Gearbox design that sought to overcome the problem with zoom lenses that we still face today.
NEX-7 With a 140mm f1.8 Projector Lens Makes The Most Beautiful Photos
With lenses getting more and more expensive, here is a nice trick for getting wonderful photos with an f/1.8 140mm lens for less than 100$.
Austria based photographer Attila Fricz of mflenses hacked together an old KO 140mm f1.8 projector lens to a Sony NEX-7 and the results are a delight.
Best Tips for Buying Used Lenses
Let’s face it– photography is expensive. It doesn’t matter if you’re a hobbyist or working professional. We use a lot of stuff and none of it’s cheap. Camera bodies, speedlights, reflectors, memory cards, lighting equipment, backdrops, batteries, stands, hard drives, tripods, back-ups, gear bags, hard cases, the latest gadget-that-you-seriously-cannot-possibly-live-without. And, of course, don’t forget the glass. Next to the camera itself, quality lenses make up the most expensive component of just about any gear closet. In an ideal world money would be no object and pesky things like gear budgets would be non-existent, paving the way for me to purchase all of the shiny, brand-new lenses I could possibly want (“Hi, Nikon? I’ll take one of everything!”). The reality, though, is that I have to balance my lust for gear against how many meals my rapidly growing 13-year-old son gets to eat each week. The truth is, the buying and selling of used lenses has almost become an industry all its own. There are a lot of high-quality second-hand lenses out there, which means you can satisfy your “need” and still save a good bit of money if you’re smart.
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