Refurbished EOS Cameras

[Lady-G]

Hello everyone,

I would like to get a camera and have been looking at Canon's DSLR refurbished cameras due to the great savings. Have any of you purchased a refurbished Canon DSLR before, and if so was it a good purchase or bad experience? I am a little nervouse about buying a refurb, but I just can't afford the price of a new camera and lens.

I look forward to seeing what you all have to say.

Thank you all very much! 

[cale_kat]

I've bought a couple refurbished from the Canon store. Both good experiences. One had fewer than 100 shutter actuations, the other had just over 200. Both were in "like new" condition and came with warranties from Canon. I'd say a very good deal, especially if you can get one when the site offers the rare 40% off certain models.

[Skirball]

I've never bought a refurb camera, but I have several lenses through the refurb; never had a problem.  I have absolutely no qualms about refurb lenses, and almost none with cameras.  Cameras have a lot more electronics, so I see why you're hesitant, as electronic errors can be hard to diagnose and isolate.

That said, anything that comes out of Canon's refurbished store has been 100% inspected to specification.  Usually most mass produced product isn't 100% inspected, only a few are sampled from each lot; I'd suspect that this is the case for new Canon cameras.  So from that angle, the refurbs actually have been inspected more than new ones.  For something mechanical like a lens this gives me a lot of confidence.  Even for electronics, if the inspection is robust enough it should catch most standard errors.

All refurbs come with a 1 year warranty.   Electronic problems are usually relatively consistent; if you use your camera regularly and it has an issue, you're going to know before a year. 

[Lady-G]

Thank you two for the quick replies. I really appreciate it. Hopefully a few more will chime in as well. Planning on a camping trip with my father within the next 2 weeks and would like to have a decent camera to capture some awesome memories with. Also, the video quality of these EOS cameras looks amazing and I would like to take plenty of videos on our trip. too.

Again, thank you two very much!

[TCampbell]

I have not personally... but I do have a good friend who did buy a refurb camera.  You couldn't tell it wasn't new (other than it doesn't come in the standard retail packaging).  He was (and still is) extremely pleased with the purchase.

The refurbs have the same warranty as the new cameras.  They are checked over by Canon.  Canon also drops "new" documentation set, media, etc. in with the camera.  

[RobertTheFat]

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@TCampbell wrote:

I have not personally... but I do have a good friend who did buy a refurb camera.  You couldn't tell it wasn't new (other than it doesn't come in the standard retail packaging).  He was (and still is) extremely pleased with the purchase.

The refurbs have the same warranty as the new cameras.  They are checked over by Canon.  Canon also drops "new" documentation set, media, etc. in with the camera.  

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I had the same experience as Tim. A friend bought a refurb 5D3 from Canon and was extremely pleased with it. Although my 5D3 isn't a refurb, my friend's glowing report was a major factor in my decision to buy it.

[ebiggs1]

I have never bought one but I have a fried that only buys them.  He claims they are better.  Maybe so?

There is one thing for sure Canon is the best company for customer service.  Brand N is getting better but it is not nearly in the same class as Canon.  And some companies it is nonexistant.

I would not be afraid yo buy a refurb but they rarely have the equipment I am interested in.