Buying Equipment from KEH

Sirius Glass · Mar 10, 2009

Strokebloke said:
This is a transaction you're unlikely to forget, isn't it?
Hope Sover sorts it for you, without too much additional expenditure.
Let us know how you get on.

I bought my FM2n from the States & have vowed that I'll never buy anything [of significance] Stateside again.
The camera's great, but it cost me a packet.

Regards,
Jack

But better than a stick in the eye!

Steve

Strokebloke · Mar 10, 2009

Sirius Glass said:
But better than a stick in the eye!

Infinitely better than a stick in the eye, Steve.
As I said, the camera's great.
The last 5 photo's in my gallery were taken with the FM2n.

And I've since got an FE [from this side of the pond (at half the price) :rolleyes:] and that's even better.

I really do like the F Series Nikons.
And I really do like 35mm as well.
Last night I took some RAW images on the a200. Somehow it just wasn't the same. Very convenient. No real effort. And I guess that says it all. Out of 32 shots taken, I eventually finished up with 12 shots saved, edited and stored. I can't afford to be that cavalier about the way I shoot film.
I have to get it right; first time.
So, it's much more satisfying: knowing that you've put the effort in to create the image that's not going to need 20 minites spent manipulating it.
More & more I'm becoming a film buff

Jack

Martin Aislabie · Mar 15, 2009

Strokebloke said:
I bought my FM2n from the States & have vowed that I'll never buy anything [of significance] Stateside again.
The camera's great, but it cost me a packet.

Regards,
Jack

If you buy internationaly you are always taking a calculated risk.

We all know that.

What we all have to do each and every time is work out if the risk is worth the reward.

With 2nd hand stuff, the risk is quite large, with new stuff almost no risk at all.

I bought quite a lot of LF stuff from the USA last year when the dollar : pound was 2:1 and saved quite a lot.

However, the cost of buying internationally is always greater than first appears, so the cost savings are never quite as large as you imagined they might be.

You pays your money and you takes your choice

Martin

thisismyname09 · May 25, 2009

How "ugly" is ugly? (buying from KEH.com)

There's a prism finder II for an rb67, something i've been eying intently at since i bought my rb, for pretty cheap on KEH. But its listed as "UG". After losing an auction for the same prism on ebay to some *insert fun word here* guy who sniped me at the last minute, i'm getting a bit impatient. Is buying an "ugly" item worth it?

naeroscatu · May 25, 2009

Never bought any "ugly" items from KEH but my understanding is that they have obvious problems and/ or defects which may not let you use same until you CLA or fix the item. Some items even if fixed or CLAd will still look "ugly" due to heavy use. Read carefully the description provided by KEH for these classifications.

dougjgreen · May 25, 2009

My take, is that a prism that's graded UG by KEH might well have some blemishes on the glass that can't be removed. Remember that they say that all used items are functional, but for an UG item,that glass probably has blemishes that impact the image.

A BGN prism is probably beat up with some dings, but the glass is clean and silvering is intact.
An UG prism probably has some imperfections that actually impact the image in the viewfinder.

Of course, you could always call them and ask about the specific item. But I suspect that you don't want to buy anything less than BGN.

The other issue, of course, is how much the shipping is to wherever you are located - because you could very well be looking at eating the shipping both ways if you return the item.

Lee L · May 25, 2009

dougjgreen said:
The other issue, of course, is how much the shipping is to wherever you are located - because you could very well be looking at eating the shipping both ways if you return the item.

I needed to return two camera bodies in sequence to KEH last summer. The first because they mistook which version of the body it was. On the second I didn't like the feel of a switch, felt like the detent was intermittent and close to failing. They refunded the price plus shipping both ways. The only thing you're out with a return is the time it takes them to process the return, which might push any refund on a credit card into your next billing cycle.

Lee

dwdmguy · May 25, 2009

Learn how to snipe...... I feel your pain but I learned that lesson long ago and walk away with more then I loose at good prices because I found that if I bid too early I'm giving my "hand" away. Anyway.....

There is nothing lower then UGLY so please think of that. There is no worse then......

mikebarger · May 25, 2009

Just bid what it is worth to you at the beginning. If it goes for more than what you wanted to pay, who cares if someone outbids you in the last minute.

The only way you get beat out of an item at the last second, is if you hadn't bid what you were willing to pay early on.

Mike

markbau · May 25, 2009

mikebarger said:
Just bid what it is worth to you at the beginning. If it goes for more than what you wanted to pay, who cares if someone outbids you in the last minute.

The only way you get beat out of an item at the last second, is if you hadn't bid what you were willing to pay early on.

Mike

Agree 100%, I never understand people whining about "snipers" If my max bid is $100 that's what I bid, so what if someone gets it for $101?

dwdmguy · May 25, 2009

That's really only 1/2 true. See, if the other person does have a higher number then he/she had put down as their initial max bid and then see's your higher bid, he / she will go back. But, if you wait, he/she will never see that higher bid, leave it alone and then you will grab it for less then what you would pay.

Also, you can indeed pay less then your own max bid in mind. Putting your max bid in makes sence but only at the last moment as it can save you some money.

dougjgreen · May 25, 2009

mikebarger said:
Just bid what it is worth to you at the beginning. If it goes for more than what you wanted to pay, who cares if someone outbids you in the last minute.

The only way you get beat out of an item at the last second, is if you hadn't bid what you were willing to pay early on.

Mike

It's actually significantly less than half true. The fact is, many ebay bidders do not ever bid the maximum that they would pay on an item. It's irrational, but it is a clearly observable bidding phenomena. If you bid your max early, others will keep bidding until they either top your bid, or reach their max. But if you don't bid, most folks who bid early do NOT bid their maximum unless they perceive that they need to.

The stuff that I have sniped and won, I have almost always gotten for significantly less than the bid that I actually was willing to pay. I've almost never gotten an item I bid on early for significantly less than I was willing to pay.

Sirius Glass · May 25, 2009

Buy it as "ugly" from KEH. If you do not like it, exchange for another ugly or upgrade to a "bargain". You will get what you want, for the money you want, and for the qualilty that will satisfy you. Because of their return policies, you will not get stuck with something that you are unhappy with. It beats the evilBay guarentees [of which there are none].

Steve

3 Olives · May 25, 2009

I have bought from KEH numerous times and have been very happy with their ratings. However, ugly really means what it says.

Paul Sorensen · May 25, 2009

I purchased an Ugly rated Minolta Flashmeter that was great, and I am still using it. I am at a loss as to why it is ugly. However, I would expect in most cases that an ugly item will have issues with the glass or something that actually could be a functional issue. They still give you the guarantee, so it might be worth a try, if you don't mind something which looks beat up, it might be just what you need.

vdonovan · May 25, 2009

I bought an ugly prism from KEH for my Bronica SQ. $12. It works great, but makes a funny noise when I shake it, so I don't shake it.

I think with ugly you get what you get. (true in life, as well as in cameras) I would never get an ugly lens, but I do buy ugly backs, because I know I can fix them.

I am also an unapologetic Ebay sniper.

Mike_E · May 26, 2009

You could just call them and ask about it, they can generally put their hands on it or ask the person in charge of that department about it. Their customer service reps have always been friendly and helpful to me, I don't see why they wouldn't extend the same courtesy to you.

sv@diycamerakit.com · May 26, 2009

The two UGLY things I bought from KEH were working fine and they didn't look as bad as most of the stuff I own. But I don't care how ugly something is. I actually buy UGLY glass, since a single scratch on the front element will likely be practically irrelevant for the picture quality but it will likely allow me to buy it for at last half of one of the same condition without the scratch would cost.

thisismyname09 · May 26, 2009

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to give ebay sniping a shot (I feel like I shouldn't say that, it sounds so sinister.) before I go ahead and spend more money on something that may be in even worse condition than something cheaper. If I still can't get ahold of one I'll probably end up trying to ask them for more specific info.

fschifano · May 26, 2009

thisismyname09 said:
After losing an auction for the same prism on ebay to some *insert fun word here* guy who sniped me at the last minute...

http://www.esnipe.com/

Level the playing field.

sidearm613 · May 27, 2009

fschifano said:
http://www.esnipe.com/

Level the playing field.

For lack of a better term, LOL!

aldevo · Jul 11, 2009

And now another unhappy post-post-mortem....

I just received my Bronica SQ-Ai outiift from KEH ($500 BGN condition) which contained an ME Finder Prism S.

- The eyecup is missing
- The meter measures 4EV too low

So I'm now returning a purchase to them for the 4th time in a row because it's defective.

My three earlier purchases were M42 SLRs for under $100. OK, those won't net them much money so perhaps I can accept the fact they weren't tested.

But a $500 outfit should not have defects that even the most superficial of inspections will reveal.

aldevo · Jul 11, 2009

Move this thread?

PS to the moderator - This thread is in "Product Availability" and, perhaps, this is not appropriate.

PhotoJim · Jul 11, 2009

BGN-graded stuff is more likely to have defects. The missing eyecup would make the item qualify for "BGN". The meter deficiency should have probably been caught, but things happen.

aldevo · Jul 11, 2009

PhotoJim said:
BGN-graded stuff is more likely to have defects. The missing eyecup would make the item qualify for "BGN". The meter deficiency should have probably been caught, but things happen.

Well there were enough scuffes and scratches on the finder to qualify for "BGN" already - even with an eyecup. KEH does sell Prism Finders missing the eyecup - but they typically note that explicitly (in fact there are current examples of this on their site as I type this).

Any "BGN" Bronica SQ-AI with a ME Prism Finder S has probably been a wedding photo work horse - I knew this before the purchase. It may not have had the sheer number of rolls put through it as an outfit in a studio (one with a WLF), but it's probably been knocked about a bit.

I think the underlying problem is two-fold:

a) A BGN grade MF outfit was likely professionally used. It, therefore, requires a bit more inspection. MF outfits typically involve a coupling of different parts; the parts cannot be tested in isolation and - unless the inspector is very familiar with the outfit - the outfit can be time-consuming to set up for functional testing.

b) A BGN outfit is sold for less money (the margins are less than on better-condition equipment). There is, therefore, less incentive to invest the time to inspect it.

Anyhow, KEH said they will take it back and try to see if the problem can be addressed. If not, I can elect for a return for a full refund.

This sort of flexibility is why I continue to put up with KEH.

Buying Equipment from KEH

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