50mm f4.5 for Bronica GS-1

Well, the PG 50mm I got from KEH passed the film test with flying colors. I couldn't pass KEH's big holiday discount and pulled the trigger. Or should I say, took a gamble. It was rated at "UGLY" and with the discount came out to a few pennies over $91.00. The condition was really great with no external marks and the glass was excellent. Only thing is it didn't come with caps so I just order some of the big auction. I have bought many items from KEH and only one came in the condition they rated it at. All the rest were much, much better than the rating. Some of the Japanese sellers on the big auction could and should take lessons from KEH.

John Wiegerink said:

. Some of the Japanese sellers on the big auction could and should take lessons from KEH.

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Yes.... A favorite of mine is having "mint" in the title and describe some lens hazing in the description. Actually, I've had good results on the items I've purchased from Japan and am amazed at how quickly things arrive. Have ordered on Saturday and in-hand on Tuesday!

craigclu said:

Yes.... A favorite of mine is having "mint" in the title and describe some lens hazing in the description. Actually, I've had good results on the items I've purchased from Japan and am amazed at how quickly things arrive. Have ordered on Saturday and in-hand on Tuesday!

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Yes, they sure have an efficient postal system that's for sure. My experience with Japanese sellers is that it's either one way or the other. It's either extremely accurate or ten miles off. I bought a Mamiya 100mm f3.5 lens for the Press camera that was described as EXC++ that was full of fungus and some rear scratches. The real kicker was that I ask about the lenses glass condition before I bought it. Sellers reply was working perfectly. That should have been a clue, but I thought maybe his answer was a little bit of a language barrier type thing and went ahead with the purchase. What really got me was this was a camera dealer and not an individual I was dealing with. Something like this makes someone just a little gun shy.

the thing I like about most Japanese sellers is they use this sort of template where they will say "shutter is working correctly" or "lens has no separation"

if you buy from ebay and shutter and glass condition isn't mentioned in the listing then if it doesn't work, or has some issue, then you're probably out of luck, and a return is more just "unsatisfied" than "misrepresented." But if there are factual claims in the listing--"lens has no fungus"--and the lens has fungus then your claim has more weight and you can argue the item was misrepresented in that ad.

Ignore the word "MINT" as that is an opinion and is meaningless. Look at all the factual statement because thats what they will be held to--if has a thin haze, but there are no scratches, fungus, separation, etc.. I wish USA sellers would use this template. Its one of the reasons that most of my eBay camera and lens purcahses are from Japanese sellers.

I'll also add that I've had good and bad luck with KEH. Most people will recount that their BGN grade purchase was in near perfect condition, and I've had similar experiences sometimes. But they have to do that because you don't get to see what you're buying. So you feel your bargain item seems excellent you'll dismiss the light cleaning scratches on the rear element. But if they had called it excellent, you would be far more picky.

It doesn't always work that way. I ordered an excellent Gitzo tripod, when it arrived I'd have listed it as ugly. It had peeling stickers, was missing one of the rubber grips to turn a leg lock, and jut looked heavily worn. Unfortunately I ordered it a week before a trip so when it arrived it didn't have time to complain or return it, so I ended keeping it.