UG (Ugly) Quality from KEH?

footsouljah · 09-12-2012

Hello,

Not sure if this is the right section, but I'm wondering if anyone has ever experience buying the "UG" condition on KEH. I'm particularly looking at the lenses. Particularly looking at the collapsible 50mm summicron cause it's only $325, unless you guys know where to get that cheaper and in "better" condition

Cheers

david.elliott · 09-12-2012

Buy it and if it is not in good enough shape for you then return it.

footsouljah · 09-12-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by david.elliott

Buy it and if it is not in good enough shape for you then return it.

I'm from Australia. Might be a pain for me to ship it back...

msbarnes · 09-12-2012

I had good experience with a Rolleiflex T and a bad experience with a 35mm Summicron. Both ugly ofcourse.

I think I got lucky with the T because there were some minor cosmetic scuffs but the 35mm Summicron was horrible. I'm in the US so return shipping is easy.

I wouldn't go with an ugly Leica lens anymore, especially the early ones because they are more prone to haze and fungus, many of which is beyond repair.

Shutterspark · 09-12-2012

From my experience KEH's ugly lenses range from one or two faint "cleaning marks" on the lens and a bit of lens haze to minor/moderage fungus. All depends on who gave the rating.

I'm pleased with 3/5 purchases, but I generally wouldn't recommend it to someone buying from overseas because it's a gamble. Of course, if it's cheap enough then sometimes gambling pays off, but when you take into account return international shipping it's rarely worth it.

Nikkor AIS · 09-12-2012

Keh bargin rating is fantastic , ugly is just plain UGLY..

You might get lucky, but personally I wouldnt bother .

kxl · 09-12-2012

What's the cost of an aesthetically well-used and but with clean glass "user" collapsible 50mm summicron from a relaible source?

If it's significantly higher than $325 plus shipping both ways (purchase and return), it may be worth the gamble. If it's only marginally higher, then the gamble may not be worth it.

It's up to you to define "significantly higher" and "marginally higher."

david.elliott · 09-12-2012

Australia changes things a bit. Somewhat of a gamble then. I've never purchased ugly. I've bought plenty of bgn items and most are good. Some purchases I've had to return due to fungus issues inside the lens and they relisted them as ugly.

kuzano · 09-12-2012

Almost every camera rating at KEH calls for good optics. However, UG is the only rating as I recall where the optics may be "sketchy" as in fungus or haze. However, having opened the door for optics problems, I myself have stopped at BGN and usually been pleased with my purchases.

$325 for an item where someone's personal call at KEH may be the final answer....

Uh Uh! Doan Theenk Soo!

Ljós · 09-12-2012

I'd say that a collapsible Summicron might not be the best candidate for testing KEH's ugly rating, for two reasons: the coating is not as resilient as later offerings. The second reason, less often mentioned: the focus of a collapsible Summicron can not be adjusted as easily as with other M-lenses. You cannot use shims. In case of a collapsible out of spec (I am not saying this is a common problem. Just that, if it occurs, fixing it is not an easy task.), only very few repair specialists are able to to a good job fixing it.

Greetings, Ljós

Gumby · 09-12-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nikkor AIS

You might get lucky, but personally I wouldnt bother .

I'm with you. I never understand why people who aren't willing to take a risk keep asking if they should take a risk.

Vics · 09-12-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by footsouljah

Hello,

Not sure if this is the right section, but I'm wondering if anyone has ever experience buying the "UG" condition on KEH. I'm particularly looking at the lenses. Particularly looking at the collapsible 50mm summicron cause it's only $325, unless you guys know where to get that cheaper and in "better" condition

Cheers

I bought a UG-rated lens shade (IROOA) and it was perfectly functional, but UGLY. Warn and kind of bent. I bought it to hide my pristine Summaron 35/2.8. It makes my M3 look like a junker, which is just what I wanted! $49.00.
.

rbsinto · 09-12-2012

I'd reserve buying anything rated "Ugly" for gear other than lenses.
I've heard too many stories about fungus to do otherwise.
If something is truly ugly in a cosmetic sense, (hood, extension tube, motor drive etc.,) then I wouldn't care, and would be willing to take the risk, especially knowing that I could return it

Terry Christian · 09-12-2012

Kuzano is correct. According to KEH, anything rated UG should be functional like all their products, but will generally have something about it that compromises image quality: that's the criterion for the UG rating. Personally I wouldn't go the UG route for a lens unless it's insanely cheap, because that image quality issue stands a big chance of being fungus. But then again, I wouldn't think they'd charge that price for a severely infected lens. Your call!

richardhkirkando · 09-12-2012

Tamarkin has a collapsible Summicron in stock for $395. I actually nearly bought it while visiting their store yesterday (went with a rigid instead) - had some very light cleaning marks and the extended position locking isn't perfectly tight (fixable, but not bad enough to be a problem IMO), but otherwise looked great.

RAZOR · 09-12-2012

I have purchased many items from KEH and found the rating system to be hit or miss. I would not buy a lens rated as ugly; thats the last place you want to save cash.

Thardy · 09-12-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by RAZOR

I have purchased many items from KEH and found the rating system to be hit or miss. I would not buy a lens rated as ugly; thats the last place you want to save cash.

I agree. I bought a lens rated bargain and it was far from the near new appearance people say. I would not buy UG rated gear.

baisao · 09-13-2012

I ordered a VIOOH viewfinder in EX+ condition from KEH. What arrived was externally clean but so blurry that I was unable to make out faces through it. It was easy to return but I learned that their ratings are squirrely.

Thardy · 09-13-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by baisao

I ordered a VIOOH viewfinder in EX+ condition from KEH. What arrived was externally clean but so blurry that I was unable to make out faces through it. It was easy to return but I learned that their ratings are squirrely.

Ooh, that is NOT what I wanted to hear, since I'm thinking of putting together a Mamiya 645 kit using Ex rated parts.