Re-Conditioned Cameras Worth It?

[DailyLunatic]

Hey All,

Looking at an Oly C5050 right now and am seeing the occasional re-conditioned camera for sale at prices significantly lower than the 'regular' models. I'm looking for problems and comments on getting one of these re-conditioned models.

I have heard that many times they are cameras returned for reasons other than a defective camera (box busted, opened, missing parts, etc.) True?

What was typically wrong with them before they were re-conditioned?

Are they worth the price markdown?

Thanks
DL

 

[Dee]

I would buy a reconditioned camera from Olympus. It would come with a regular 1 yr. warranty. If you're looking at C-5050's I would think you were pretty safe. Over the last year, I have heard of very, very few of them with real problems that required warranty repairs or exchanges. On that alone, I would chance it. Also the 5050 is not a simple camera to learn and folks looking for an easy digital don't realize that so they return the camera. There's nothing wrong with it but it can no longer be sold as new so stors return them to Olympus.

I just bought a wide angle lens (topside) for my C-4040 from the Olympus eBay store. It's brand new but the box has been crinkled. I paid less than half what the camera stores in Houston wanted for it.

So I would say it depends on who offering the reconditioned merchandise. Directly from Olympus USA, I'd say go for it.

 

[Gilligan]

For what it's worth I bought my reconditioned Oly 2040 off ebay in March of 2002 and it is still working fine. It was from some camera outfit in Brooklyn, NY. That scared me more than anything (I can say that as I was born there). There was a bit of false advertising involved as the remote control did not come with it as advertised. The price was still worth it. It came with a warranty from Olympus America. I am under the impression that reconditioned can also include a customer merely returning the camera after a short period of time and it cannot be sold as new again.