Buying Equipment from KEH

Ira Rush · Jul 21, 2009

mikebarger said:
Here's our weekly I love KEH thread!

Mike

Yup, it's back.....

But to the point, I have been happily surprised with "Bargain" grade.
Yes, I do try to get higher grade, but that is not always possible, since the economy tanked.

Recently got a "Bargain" Hassy lens from them, can't find a thing wrong that in my book would make it a "Bargain" lens.

Shutter speeds are on target, aperture smooth as silk, as is focus, lettering clear and crisp. Ran a series of transparency films, great shots, no dust, tiny and I mean tiny speck of dirt in the lens, that had no effect what so ever on the resulting shot, anyway razor sharp lens. Any other place would rate this as Excellent!

Look, bottom line, if you don't like what you get, return it.
I realize that if your not in the states, yes the postage is going to be steep, but that's true with any mail order place. Unless you can find a "brick and morter" shop, mail order/web based is whats left.

Krzys · Jul 21, 2009

Just got a message from KEH

Since there is a big price difference between EX and BGN the BGN one probably does show a lot of wear and possible external fungus

Paul Sorensen · Jul 21, 2009

External fungus? Didn't realize there was such a thing!

Krzys · Jul 21, 2009

Just more vagueness. It seems you should be weary if there is a large price gap between BGN and EX. Not so much a of bargain to me now....

David A. Goldfarb · Jul 21, 2009

Many threads merged, title updated, and thread stuck, since this seems to be a very popular topic. I suspect that part of the reason we've had so many redundant and overlapping threads about KEH.com aside from its popularity, is that it doesn't seem possible to search on "keh" with the APUG search engine, though you can turn up many references in Google.

Sirius Glass · Jul 22, 2009

Thanks Dave.

But now we will not get our weekly new thread on KEH.

Steve

Paul Sorensen · Jul 22, 2009

You could call it "KEH Love Fest" and that way we could have a "KEH Hate Fest" to balance things out. That would be fun! (Just kidding, I know that the moderators are too smart to take my advice to heart.)

aldevo · Jul 22, 2009

aldevo said:
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.

It gets worse...

KEH told me problem is limited to the ME prism and it most likely just needs to be recalibrated. But they told me all they could offer me was a refund because:

"Tamron no longer does repairs on the SQ-series...so neither do we"

That really rubbed me the wrong way, as it's a lie. Tamron will offer repair support on all SQ equipment until 10/31/2011. In fact a seven year continuation of repair support for the time of discontinuation is a legal requirement.

Anyhow, the KEHsalesman told me I could phone Tamron USA and they would only confirm what he said.

Well, I did make that call and Tamron USA backed ME up 100%. They sent me an email, in fact, which I then forwarded to KEH.

The response to that email from KEH was along the lines of "Sorry, you must have misphrased the question, because Tamron hasn't serviced the cameras since October, 2004".

Insulting. Nevertheless, I tried to proceed....

Since they were dead sure the problem was limited to the prism I asked if they could swap the defective prism for another EXC ME prism available on the site - wiith an appropriate price adjustment for the better condition of the prism. They declined. Perhaps it's just more profitable for them to sell the body, lens, film back and 120 insert separately.

I'm gonna think long and hard before going back to KEH.

Sirius Glass · Jul 22, 2009

I just received a Hasselblad RMfx reflex prism for the Hasselblad 903 SWC. It was rated at LN- and came well packed and exactly as promised.

Steve

aldevo · Jul 22, 2009

Sirius Glass said:
I just received a Hasselblad RMfx reflex prism for the Hasselblad 903 SWC. It was rated at LN- and came well packed and exactly as promised.

Steve

I'm glad your experience has been better than my own. At this point I'm finding them about as useful as mammary glands on male cattle...

(PS - Please verify the kit actually works; do not assume as much regardless of what its cosmetic condition suggests )

Sirius Glass · Jul 22, 2009

aldevo said:
(PS - Please verify the kit actually works; do not assume as much regardless of what its cosmetic condition suggests )

Excellent point, I will check it when I pick up the camera tomorrow.

Steve

bibowj · Aug 10, 2009

Hi- I will add my input about KEH.

Ive stopped buying from them and thats only because of my specific situation. I live at an APO address overseas, and while KEH does deliever to that address no problem like the other major site do, they dont have a standard method of doing so. The last order I made took 10 days for it to even LEAVE the warehouse and it took me 4 or 5 emails before I could get an answer as to why. Once the lens got here, it turns out that they sent me the wrong version of the lens and the one I wanted was no longer in stock. Pretty big hassle overall. I admit however that this case again is specific to my situation, and their quality is generally GREAT. The wrong lens was certainly in great condition, i just feel the customer service is lacking.
Ive just taken a chance and ordered some used stuff from Adorama that was rated E and above, and we will see. I can get stuff from them in 5 days and so far the service has been perfect.

IVe made 10 orders from KEH in the last few months and on thier website, all say PENDING still...crazy.

PhotoJim · Aug 10, 2009

bibowj said:
IVe made 10 orders from KEH in the last few months and on thier website, all say PENDING still...crazy.

They handle their international orders manually. Every order I've made from KEH on their website still shows as "pending" but they have all arrived here.

mikebarger · Aug 10, 2009

Hey this is neat, this weeks I love KEH is green. We recycled an old thread.

Mike

John Koehrer · Aug 10, 2009

Couple of things. Shipping to an APO has to be USPS and a customs declaration must be filled out. Still, the delay doesn't make a lot of sense.
Re: The Bronica prism, They offered a refund & you didn't want that. You wanted the transaction handled YOUR way. Sometimes the customer isn't right for whatever reason, you don't know why they wouldn't do an exchange + $$ neither do I.
Take the refund & be glad it wasn't some Bozo on Eprey that told you to get bent.

PhotoJim · Aug 10, 2009

As far as I know, KEH's only procedure for returning goods is to return the article for a refund (which is provided once the item is received). They will let you buy a replacement, charging for the item but not shipping, but the charge is made upon ordering. Since KEH doesn't know for certain that I posted the return item, I think this is reasonable.

I'm not sure if this is the original poster's issue, but this has been my experience.

Jeff Kubach · Aug 10, 2009

I have always had good results from KEH.

Jeff

aldevo · Aug 12, 2009

PhotoJim said:
As far as I know, KEH's only procedure for returning goods is to return the article for a refund (which is provided once the item is received). They will let you buy a replacement, charging for the item but not shipping, but the charge is made upon ordering. Since KEH doesn't know for certain that I posted the return item, I think this is reasonable.

I'm not sure if this is the original poster's issue, but this has been my experience.

Not true. Look at the back of any invoice you receive from them.

There are sections for "Return for Repair" and "Return for Exchange".

Anyhow, my own tale of woe continues...

This time I finally wised up. Instead of buying an "outfit", I purchased the Bronica SQ-Ai system items as separate pieces. I highly recommend this practice because:

a) Buying an outfit saves you no money at all. Believe me, if you compose the outift from separate items in equivalent condition it will cost EXACTLY the same

b) If there's a problem that is clearly attributable to a single item in the outfit - you can return it independently of the others (Mind you, this isn't always evident in a modular MF kit. A metering problem, for example, could be a problem with the body, the metering prism, or the film back).

Anyhow, the latest SQ-Ai body came with a focusing screen with some scratches. That, in theory, is ok because I knew I was purchasing BGN-grade equipment. The problem was that one of these wasn't a scratch...it was an attempt by the former owner to "fill in" a chip using a clear epoxy. That caused terrible scintillating reflections when focusing in a brightly-lit scene and those reflections distorted the meter reading by multiple stops.

So I'm returning the SQ-Ai body (and just the body) to exchange it for an EXC-grade body. KEH will pay for both the cost of shipping the item back and shipping the replacment body to me.

But I have to admit with SIX straight returned items, I'm feeling just a bit unlucky...

naeroscatu · Aug 12, 2009

But I have to admit with SIX straight returned items, I'm feeling just a bit unlucky...

I've done about 6-7 transactions with KEH in the last couple of years. Never had a problem with the any of the cameras or lenses (mostly "bargain" rated). There seams to be some bad luck in your case.

Sirius Glass · Aug 12, 2009

aldevo said:
But I have to admit with SIX straight returned items, I'm feeling just a bit unlucky...

I have only had one return in many purchases, but that may be because I usually buy EX or EX+

Steve

aldevo · Aug 13, 2009

Sirius Glass said:
I have only had one return in many purchases, but that may be because I usually buy EX or EX+

Steve

It might. In fact, I elected to go with an EX-grade SQ-Ai body for my exchange. My time (and the lost shooting opportunities) became worth more than the $45 price difference.

The problem with many MF outfits is that you really can't functionally assess them until everything is assembled and you've put a roll of film in them. Mind you, I'm not talking about actually *developing* that roll to assess the results - simply that there are so many interlocks in a modern MF kit that it is essentially a paperweight until everything is together w/ a film roll. You can't test a shutter, metering prism, or film transport, otherwise.

That, understandably, isn't feasible for KEH to do what with MF prices having fallen to the point that they have.

HelenOster · Aug 17, 2009

Message from Helen, Adorama Camera Customer Service Ambassador

bibowj said:
Ive just ...ordered some used stuff from Adorama that was rated E and above, and we will see. I can get stuff from them in 5 days and so far the service has been perfect.

Thank you for the feedback regarding the service from Adorama Camera, which is very much appreciated.

If the used items you have ordered from Adorama are unsuitable, you may return them within 14 days of receipt for an exchange or refund.
You are also covered for 90 days from receipt of an item, to return it for repair if required.

If you ever have any kind of query or concern regarding an order from Adorama Camera - or AdoramaPix - please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

aldevo · Aug 30, 2009

Make it SEVEN straight returned items...

I replaced the BGN-grade SQ-Ai with an EX-grade one. This one proved to be the worst of all...

This body has an issue with the mirror being permanently locked-up. The mirror lock-up switch is cracked along its outer peripherary and the previous owner applied some clear epoxy to it...presumably so it would pass a KEH inspection.

Sadly, it did.

Because of this condition the shutter doesn't cock. That's the kiss of death for an SQ-Ai because if the shutter does not cock properly - the film back and lens cannot be removed.

aldevo · Aug 30, 2009

naeroscatu said:
I've done about 6-7 transactions with KEH in the last couple of years. Never had a problem with the any of the cameras or lenses (mostly "bargain" rated). There seams to be some bad luck in your case.

Sadly, it continues. The "EX" grade SQ-Ai body had its mirror permanently locked up...which means that it is locked in a permanent embrace with the PS lens and film back which were in perfect working order and innocent victims

rphenning · Sep 27, 2009

in my eyes the quotes they give for purchasing equipment and high markup from this quote should mean they are looking over equipment much more carefully. However my experience with them has been fairly neutral. I have bought an UG lens from them and it was exactly that but it worked for a little bit and the price was right. I plan on using them again in the future. I hope I don't have any problems.

Buying Equipment from KEH

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