If a camera lens has been abused, mishandled, or is just plain worn out, there are telltale signs that a knowledgeable buyer can look for to help appraise the value or lack thereof in a used camera lens.

Glass

The glass of a lens can have numerous problems. Most easily detected are scratches on the exposed glass elements. Sometimes, lighter scratches caused by poor cleaning technique can be present and are more difficult to detect. Bright reflected light is usually sufficient to see “cleaning marks”. Examine the lens with the light reflecting off surfaces at several angles and you should be able to tell if any light scratches are present.

Blemishes

Lens elements are generally “multicoated” with layers of nonreflective optical material. This minimizes light reflection and the resulting lens flare and ghosting associated with the multiple reflective surfaces of these complex optical devices. “Blemishes”, areas in the multicoating where material has been smeared or removed by a bump to the glass, manufacture defect or a solvent splash are less critical flaws provided they are very small (< 1mm diameter) and few in number. A small blemish shouldn't affect image reproduction.

Fungus

A lens that has been stored in a dark and moist (and/or humid environment) or stored after getting wet can have a fungus bloom inside the lens. Fuzzy spots and mycelial filaments are both bad news. The fungus can secrete an acid that etches the multicoating of the lens elements, so even if you can disassemble and clean the lens, the damage is likely permanent and will to some degree, affect the sharpness of the lens’ image reproduction.

Examine the lens by peering through it from the lens mount side and look at a bright surface such as an opaque light shade (not the sun!). Open the aperture to ensure you get a good look. If there is anything visible inside the lens, this is not good news. The light path inside the lens should be completely clear of any opacities.

Dust

Occasionally, a few tiny dust particles may be noticed when looking into a lens. Especially in older, larger zoom lenses, this is normal and won’t affect lens performance. Consider that the dust will impede about 1/1000% of the total light travelling through your lens, and that the focal point of the lens is anywhere from 12 inches to 6 feet away from the lens. The net effect of these tiny particulates is negligible on image reproduction.

Looking into the front of the lens in bright sunlight will expose the presence of any dust particles. (Don’t look through the lens at the sun, but rather, use the sunlight — or a bright halogen desk light — to illuminate the lens interior as you would use a lamp to read a book.) If you believe a few dust particles will affect lens performance, place a toothpick right in front of a lens while you are looking through your viewfinder — you won’t even notice a difference in the image in the viewfinder, so you can see how a few dust specks won’t affect anything!

Aperture

When you attach a lens to a camera body, the lens is opened up to its maximum aperture. This gives you a bright viewfinder while you compose your photo. When the shutter is released, the camera allows the lens to stop down to the proper aperture for exposure and then opens the aperture back up so that the viewfinder remains bright, all in the blink of an eye. While the camera actively allows the aperture to close down to the required size during exposure, the action of the aperture is passive in that the aperture movement is “spring-loaded” within the lens to close down to the required size.

When oil is present on the aperture blades, there is friction from the oil’s viscosity and this impedes the quick closing action during exposure. (Normally you would think oil is good for lubrication, but in this case, dry blades move faster.) By the time the aperture has stopped down during exposure (if it even can, depending on the amount of oil present), the shutter action has long since completed, and every photo is overexposed from too much light entering the shutter plane.

Your aperture blades have oil on them if they look like this:

A lens that has been subject to extreme heat can develop an oily aperture. Grease from the focus gear liquifies from the heat and works its way centrally over time into the aperture area where it wreaks havoc. This is a moderately expensive camera shop repair that requires complete disassembly and cleaning, and can double (or more) the cost of lens bargains. Never leave your camera gear in a car in the summer sun, as this is the most common cause of this repair!

Mount

The mount should be clean and undamaged, and the gold contacts should be clean and unworn.

Focus and Zoom Rings

The focus ring should turn smoothly, (no significant “bumps” or grinding sounds) with a slightly dampened movement so as to not turn too easily and “creep” when not touched. The focus action of AF lenses by design is not dampened very much to minimize load stress on the AF motor.

The zoom however, should have a relatively dampened feel. Older or heavily used lenses will be a little looser due to wear, and older, heavier push-pull zooms will likely creep in or out when pointed straight up or down. They shouldn’t slide out like a dropping stone, however. A slight loss in dampening action is acceptable and is expected in older lenses, much like the steering of your car is a little sloppier after a few years of use, but you don’t want your zoom collar sliding into the ditch!

About the author: Richard Seagris is an eBay seller specializing in Minolta Maxxum camera gear. Visit his store here. You can also find another version of this article geared towards eBay buyers here.

Image credits: inverted real image by D.H. Parks, Lens fungus by ant217, lens dust! by Neetesh Gupta (neeteshg), Aperture blades on Canon lens by Erwin Bolwidt, EF Mount by 96dpi

You probably know that, like computers, digital cameras depreciate pretty rapidly — especially when a replacement model is announced every 2 or 3 years. A sad truth about digital cameras is that the digital sensor inside DSLRs cause them to be more expensive than comparable film SLRs when purchased new, yet less valuable further down the road when purchased used. Ken Rockwell calls this “digital rot“, and writes,

Digital Rot means that a camera’s digital guts rot-out its value in just a few years because you can’t remove the digital guts. Sadly, Digital Rot is a disease shared by all digital cameras.

Buy a film camera and you can shoot it for a lifetime. Buy an expensive digital camera, and you only get a few years out of it before its value rots away.

A “new in box” Nikon F5 film SLR just sold for $1,350 on eBay yesterday. How much do you think a “new in box” 2.7 megapixel Nikon D1 (a camera that cost $5,000 in 2000) would sell for today?

If you have camera gear you’d like to sell, Amazon will now take it off your hands in exchange for gift cards. The new electronics trade-in program currently has a list of about 1,400 accepted cameras along with the dollar values they’re worth. Add your cameras to the trade-in list, specify the condition they’re in, send it to Amazon using a prepaid shipping label, and gift card credits will be added to your account. With a little more work, you can probably get more money by selling it on eBay or Craigslist. We’re unsure of how the prices compare to selling your camera to Adorama or B&H.

Amazon Trade-In Store (via Business Insider)

If you’re looking to buy used camera gear on sites like eBay or Craigslist, a trick you can use to find a good deals is to search for listings that contain spelling mistakes that keep most people from finding them (e.g. “Canom” instead of “Canon”, or “Mikon” instead of “Nikon”). With less exposure — and therefore less competition — you may be able to win the auctions at far below the item’s value.

Obviously searching for various typos by hand isn’t very efficient, so there’s special typo search engines designed to do the hard work for you. A few that you might want to try out are: FatFingers, TypoHound, TypoBay, and TypoBuddy.

(via Phototuts)

Image credit: keyboard shenanigans by cc511

Editor’s note: The checklist presented in this post is also available as a text file for you to print out and carry along for reference. This post was first published here.

Almost all of the camera equipment I have ever owned was purchased used. While this isn’t something to be proud of, I do like to think I know a thing or two about cameras and lenses. I have run into the occasional problems with lenses, but I made sure I had the option to return them if they had issues. I have also purchased a few lenses and cameras from people on Craigslist as well and as long as you know what you’re getting and tried it out when you made the purchase, you should be covered. There are a few things that I always check and I’m putting them up here in the hope that you might find some of it useful.

Camera Check

There’s not much that can go wrong with a DSLR camera that you can’t check in just a few minutes other than maybe a future shutter failure. The absolute first thing I do when I get a new to me camera is check the battery compartment for corrosion. Corrosion can be a sign of many things and if you’re planning on using the camera on a daily basis it’s best to keep your distance.

Now, does the camera power on? You might ask, why would I not just turn it on first, then check the battery compartment? Sometimes battery doors can get wonky or battery springs can get loose and I like the check the compartment first so that I know I just put the battery back in the camera myself and it required no additional effort or weirdness. The rest of the checks I’ll just put below in list format.

2. Use your own memory card and make sure it works in the camera.
3. Check all the terminals and look for bent pins or junk stuck in them.
4. Check the camera’s lens mount (look for brassing or scratches) and be sure that the mirror box looks clean (no actual dirt or water spots).
5. Use you own lens, Does the camera recognize it?
6. Does the shutter work and sound OK?
7. If the camera can do multiple frames per second, test it and make sure it will. If the shutter is dying, sometimes you can actually hear the frames get slower and it will affect the exposure.
8. Does changing the aperture and shutter speed actually change the exposure?
9. Check that all the modes on the dial work as they are supposed to.
10. Does the LCD Screen work?
11. If the camera has live view or video, be sure that they work as well.
12. Do all the buttons and dials work?
13. Test the hotshoe (they can get burn out and not function).
14. If the camera has a pop up flash, check that as well.
15. If the camera can do remote IR flash, check that as well if possible.
16. You would have already done this by now and it almost goes without saying, but be sure the viewfinder looks good (clean) and that when using spot metering, the meter actually changes based on the scene.
17. Take one completely black (underexposed) and one white (overexposed) frame. View them on the LCD and look for dead pixels on the LCD and on the sensor.
18. Compose a picture, select a focus point and AF on it and capture it. Play back the images and check that your focus point is in fact, in focus. Be sure to do this with a lens you already trust.
19. If the camera has a diopter control wheel, be sure that it works. Set it up correctly for your eyes, select a focus point and take a manually focused capture. Check playback to confirm your focus point is in focus.
20. If the camera says it comes with all the accessories, check that it did. Most manuals list exactly what is included with them all the way down to the quick start guide.
21. Last but not completely least, be sure the battery charger works!
22. It depends on if you care or not, but sure what you’re buying is for the US market. If it’s not, the manufacturer’s service facilities won’t work on it. That’s not to say that there aren’t other places that can, just be sure you know that going in.

Lens Check

1. Look at the front and rear lens elements. Are there any scratches? Angle the glass towards a light and look at the reflection. Are there any marks or swirls in the lens’ coating?
2. This one is kind of up for debate, but hold the lens towards a light source and look through it. Is there dust or fungus on any of the inner elements? While some dust is normal on almost all lenses, fungus is not. Fungus is a deal breaker for me because it etches the glass and can never be fully removed without a re-polishing. Dust on the other hand isn’t something I worry about unless the seller said the lens had just had a fresh cleaning or is supposed to be new. A film can also be present on older lenses. If it’s supposed to be a clean lens, make sure there isn’t a lightly frosted look to the inner glass as it will affect the image quality.
3. Check the lens mount for brassing. While brassing isn’t a deal killer, again, if the seller said in like new condition, be sure that it is.
4. Check the lens terminals. Make sure the pins aren’t loose and that it doesn’t look like someone did a crappy repair job.
5. Mount the lens to the camera. Check to see that there’s very little play between the camera mount and lens mount. Also make sure the camera doesn’t show any kind of error message when moving the lens and holding the shutter half way down.
6. Does the lens AF? Make sure it does.
7. Does the lens focus to infinity and up close through the entire zoom range.
8. If the lens has a focus scale, check for cracks in the plastic. Then check that the scale matches what the lens is doing (i.e. if you’re focused to infinity be sure the scale shows infinity).
9. Use AF and select a focus point; take a picture. Review the picture and check focus. If your camera works with every other lens you’ve mounted on it, but not with this one; there’s a problem.
10. Use manual focus and be sure it’s smooth; if it catches, there could be a problem. The same goes for the zoom; If it catches, there could be a problem.
11. Check that the filter threads have no flat spots and that a filter will screw into them
12. If the lens has IS and other switches, be sure these features work. On most image stabilized lenses, you can hear the IS motor working.
13. If the lens is supposed to have full time manual focus override, be sure that it works.
14. Set the lens to infinity focus and focus on something up close. Does the lens AF as fast as it’s supposed to? Different lenses will have different focusing speeds, but knowing how slow or fast it should be is important. If it’s horribly slow and it’s supposed to be lightning quick, there’s a problem.
15. Check the lens grips and be sure they’re snug. While loose grips are pretty common on older lenses, they are normally cheap and easy to replace. If it’s a known problem before you buy the lens, be sure that you can get a replacement and that they’re not discontinued. While this isn’t a huge deal, I’d hate to use rubber bands on a lens I just paid through the nose for.
16. Check the outer condition of the lens. If the lens is supposed to be new, check that the lettering isn’t starting to wear off and that there aren’t scuffs in the paint.
17. To get real picky, look at the screws that hold the lens together. Professionals use the correct screw driver sizes so that there’s very little damage to the screw heads. If the lens screws are all mauled up or mis-matched, it might make me think twice. If it’s a new lens, then that’s a no go.
18. Do a shake test. No, i mean give the lens a little shake. Does anything rattle? If it does, what is it and where is it?

Most of all, know what you’re buying before you buy it. All newer DSLR camera manuals should be available online for free download from their manufacturer. Read through the manual before you get the camera so you know that it is the camera you want and how the features work. Know the life expectancy of the shutter (normally in the manufacturer’s specs) and how much it cost to repair if you’re buying a well used camera. There are also many many places that does lens reviews. Read over those reviews as they sometimes list common problems to look out for on used equipment. Be an informed buyer and it might save you some trouble in the long run.

About the author: Jon Martin is a photographer based in Williamston, South Carolina. Visit his website here.

Image credits: Canon EOS 60D DSLR (4) by 아우크소(Auxo.co.kr) and Nikon by edcarsi

Camera bodies are probably the most difficult piece of photo equipment to sell, since new bodies and technology are released very frequently. They lack the longevity of lenses and depreciate over time.

We’ve posted a few previous tips about buying used DSLR gear and buying pro camera gear on a student budget, but now we’ll shift gears to the seller’s standpoint.

1. Think local — really local.

Selling your own camera gear can feel a little like selling an old project car.  It’s easy to become sentimentally attached, and you want to make sure it goes into good hands.

Before posting your gear advertisements anywhere, see if anyone in your immediate social circle is interested in buying. Co-workers or fellow students tend to be a good bet.  When I was working at my college paper, a lot of photo department staff would sell gear to each other, with the comforting reassurance that their equipment would be put to good use. There is also an added level of trust within colleagues, since they already know you and you’ll spend less time having to convince them that what you’re selling is in good condition.

Craigslist, when used with caution, is also a good way to find local buyers. Be wary of scams, though — a lot of falsely interested “buyers” might email you with a strange proposal. I’ve gotten a few generic emails from people interested in “the item,” offer a higher payment via PayPal, and then ask you to ship it to some remote relative in Africa. Yeah, right.

If you do find a real, local buyer on craigslist, do be careful. Propose to meet in a safe, public place during the day, and bring a friend or two along for added security. Cash is always most reliable, as well. It might be a good idea to meet near your bank, so you can safely stow your cash after you’ve made a sale.

2. Advertise the basics.

You don’t need to go into detail about small wear and tear that you notice, or anything beyond the camera’s model and maybe highlight some important technical specifications like megapixels and frames per second.

It is helpful to post a link with more detailed camera specs, either from the manufacturer’s site or dpreview.com, for the buyer’s convenience.

But the bottom line is to cut to the chase and don’t let your advert be hunkered down by unnecessary details.

Just tell them, it’s a Nikon D200. 10 megapixels. 5 fps. Excellent condition. Body specs here.

The less you tell prospective, but serious buyers, the more they might want to respond to your ad with questions. Once you begin a discussion with them, that’s your chance to answer more detailed questions they might have.

3. Don’t include more than you have to in the box.

Naturally, you’ll need to include a battery, charger, and other accessories that came with the camera body, but avoid including interchangeable accessories that you might use in the future.

Michael mentioned in his gear on a student budget post that he made the mistake of including a high-end B&W filter with a lens he sold, but later realized he still needed it.

Hang on to those memory cards and filters.

4. On the other hand, you’ll have a better chance of selling it if you bundle it with a lens.

Though this is a bit of a contradiction to the previous tip, but buyers will be much more interested in purchasing a used body if it comes with a lens.

You probably will not make as much back on the resell, but if the market is dry and people just aren’t interested, a lens can add a great deal of buyer incentive.

However, whether you need to include a lens or not really depends on what kind of camera body you are selling.

If you are selling a professional body, chances are, your buyers will be pros as well, and are likely to have their own lenses. In this case, there’s no need to include a lens.

If you are selling a lower-end DSLR, like a Nikon D40 or a Canon Rebel, prospective buyers are probably newer to photography, and will likely be looking for a bundle kit.

There’s really no need to K.I.T. with your kit lens, especially if you’re selling the body it came with. Ask yourself: are you really likely to attach that plastic 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 on your brand new D3x? Probably not.

Selling kit lenses alone is pretty pointless as well; brand new, they’re worth less than $150.

Instead, include it with the body you’ve got up for sale, and readjust your price. Be sure to check the street value of your bundle on eBay and craigslist.

5. Include your own photos of your gear on your advertisement.

If you provide photos with your advertisement, people are more likely to click on your posting. Additionally, if those photos are noticeably different from the standard manufacturer’s product shots, they can add to a feeling of authenticity and openness on the seller’s side. Also, when you post attractive product photos, the photos can imply your own skill as a photographer, and can give you more clout as a camera seller.

Conclusion

Understand the buyer’s standpoint when selling. Check out Michael’s posts on buying used DSLR gear and buying pro camera gear on a student budget.  Don’t sell yourself short, but be aware that you may need to make some concessions in order to make your gear marketable.

Finally, if you’ve got any additional tips on selling gear, feel free to share it with us!