The price was awesome, and there was a little bit of wiggle room as it was listed with a buy-it-now or best offer. I took the opportunity to bypass the best offer feature and contact the seller directly, making my offer personally. I also took the precaution to ask if the lens had any obvious defects, and he responded that it didn't. He accepted my offer, took the listing down, and we scheduled a mutually agreeable time when he would relist with the agreed price as a buy it now. Deal was done, I used Paypal's Bill-Me-Later payment option which was running a 6 month no payment/no interest promotion.
Luckily the seller was local, so we arranged a time to make the exchange, giving me an opportunity to assess the purchase in person. I met the seller and picked up my lens. I did a quick assessment of the condition of the lens. I looked for "brassing" or areas where the finish had worn off, typical of a heavily used lens. Presence of brassing is not a reason to reject unless you are looking for cosmetic as well as mechanical perfection, and are willing to pay for it. It was of little consequence to me.
Next I worked the buttons, checked the glass for marks, fungus, internal dust or haze, checked the diaphragm for oil seepage, the screws for any obvious signs that the lens had been opened by a DIYer. I loosened the tripod collar just enough to turn it with a little resistance - to see if there was any binding which would indicate that the lens barrel had sustained an impact. So far so good.
Even though this is an automatic focus lens, manual focus is important since it is common to fine tune the focus for some subjects. I turned the focusing ring. Uh-oh. It seemed a bit sloppy, and if I turned it too quickly, a chatter. Not necessarily a deal-breaker, but an area of concern that required a little research. I mentioned it to the seller, and his response was that he only used the lens in auto-focus mode. To me it seemed that it had not been properly maintained by it's previous owner in quite some time - not a good sign.
I made the decision to roll the dice and take it anyway. The seller seemed genuine and honest - a judgement call on my part - so I figured if there was a significant cost in servicing the lens, I was certain it could be worked out. I loaded the beast - its case it weighs 26 lbs - into my car and drove home.First thing I did when I got home was to check the operation of the lens with my camera body. It focused perfectly and it was damned sharp. So I started making phone calls to various lens repair shops that had experience with this lens, and this is what I found out:
Nikon has a policy to manufacture parts for their lenses for only 10 years after they are discontinued, after which they either destroy or give away these parts to their authorized service network members. The stopped production on this lens around 11 years ago. Not happy. The repair, if no major parts were needed, was fairly involved - it had to be completely dismantled, which would cost $500.This was referred to as "standard maintenance" which included replacing minor parts, clean/lube, realigning and calibration. Less happy. It was becoming more and more evident that there could be other internal issues associated with the focus ring problems, and of particular concern was the serviceability of internal motor. The cost to replace this item would be $1200 - thus putting this out of the range of "we can work it out."
I contacted the seller, explained the situation, and gave him the option to work with me on its repair, or issue a refund. I was leaning towards the refund, and was happy when he took that option. He promptly issued the refund. I returned the lens to the seller this morning and all is good.
There are a few lessons to be learned here.
1. It pays to become intimately familiar with what you are buying. Scour the Internet forums for reviews and user experiences.
2. Get a sense of pricing. Avoid pricing that seems too good to be true, especially if it is on Craigslist - it could be stolen. Avoid pricing that is too high - the seller is having buyer's remorse or is clueless as to the market value of his offering and is trying to recover as much money on his equipment as possible.
3. Make sure you have some recourse in the event of a problem. I cannot stress this enough. No one wants to have an expensive paperweight - in this case, a $5,500 one - sitting on their desk, or add $1800 to the price of their good deal. Ebay is a wonderful marketplace, even though the prices you pay might be a little higher, you still have an ally and a mediator when a problem arises. With Craiglist and other classified sites, you are on your own. Some forums like fredmiranda.com, naturephotographers.net, nikonians.org have classified listings - again, there is some risk, but since these are a members-only classified listings, there is a bit more accountability.
4. Its good to have a network of repair people that you can rely upon to steer you in the right direction with clear and crisp advice.
5. Give preference to the seller that takes the time and care to post lots of pictures of the actual piece being offered. Avoid those that use stock photos. Give preference to offerings that include the box, original receipt, instruction manual, accessories, and a comprehensive description of the item - including its flaws, etc - this reveals that the seller was fastidious and cared for the gear. Unless properly reflected in the price, avoid listings that are missing parts. While looking for this lens I came across another that was missing a lens hood. A little research resulted in finding a $500 price tag for the hood. It's good to know something like this before you settle on a price.
6. f you are participating in an auction, don't get caught in a bidding war. Know what your top price is and stick to it.
7. Trust your instincts. If you have even the slightest sense that something isn't quite right - either with the product or the seller - bail. Your instincts are probably right on the money and can save you a headache.
Following these simple suggestions should help to save you lots of money in the future. Thanks for visiting!
No comments:
Post a Comment