Did your Ebay camera Work out of the Box?

[Papa Smurf]

All but the two Kievs were in working order. One Minolta 7000i had
LCD problems, but I knew that when I bid on it. The Kievs were Parts cameras and I am repairing one of the. One out of two isn't a bad average.

It is light meters and Flash guns that sting me, but then one must expect that the more complicated the electronics the more likely the problems. I did make one interesting discovery, that was that the Nikon SB-22s flash gun has a design flaw. One of the battery compartment solder joints is under stress and is easily broken. It is an easy fix, if you can get the case apart. So a "for repair or parts" $5.00 flash has been used for several years on my Contax G1 in Auto mode with excellent results. Bargains do come in many flavors.

[Brian Sweeney]

Originally Posted by NickTrop

Should have a category - "all of the above" : )

It is: This poll is set for multiple answers. I checked all of them.

[JustPlainBill]

Hi,

The only camera I've bought off the famed auction site was a refurbished Nikon D 60. It was for my first venture into digital photography. Bought a used 55 to 200 mm VR zoom lens, three filters, a camera bag for my Rolleiflex, and a lenshood from other sellers. Have been pleased with all my transactions so far.
Cheers,
JustPllainBill

[NickTrop]

Originally Posted by Brian Sweeney

It is: This poll is set for multiple answers. I checked all of them.

Doh! No wonder I can't find matching socks in the morning when I dress for work.

[literiter]

I've had good luck with cameras on Ebay, for the most part.

-Beautiful Nikon F2 needed the frame counter repaired. Simple enough to do myself.
-2 Nikon FE bodies, from a dealer in Torono, listed as needing repair, didn't need repair. Very nice too. ($35.00)
-Assorted vintage cameras like Super Ikontas, Weltas etc. pretty well all needed attention, but I was told that.
-Super Ikonta from Vancouver, listed as great condition, wasn't. Kept for parts.

I find that feedback and number of transactions is the best indicator.

[merciless49]

I've only started shooting seriously in the last 2 years or so, and had amassed my collection through the auction site. So far, the experience has been good:

Mamiya 6 with 50mm lens --> ugly user condition, but works great!
Fujica GL690 with 100mm lens --> well used, but works great!
Leica M3 --> needs CLA
Nikkor 105mm macro lens and 16mm fisheye lens, both works great out of the box
Graflex Speedgraphic --> has shutter issues but still usable since I tripod it and use the "B" setting with a cable release.

So slightly around 50% success rate for me, but I don't know much about cameras myself since I'm still learning, I'd assume that this is due to my inexperience as well.

[dmr]

How about "Required a major repair, learned to fix it myself!" ???

[tonyj]

I bought a 1952/53 Leica IIIf from a lady in Ohio on eBay. It came complete with a carrying case, three lenses and some other goodies, including a viewfinder and a self timer. Also included were three light meters, two of which were no longer functional (surprise, surprise!).

Her late father had owned this equipment and he had instructed her to fire off the camera at frequent intervals and not to let it sit neglected on some dusty shelf. Good advice.

The camera, lenses and all the bits and pieces (except the light meters) were all received in first class working condition. An excellent buy and at a very good price.

[mark-b]

In my experiences, 85% of them were in working condition. I mean fully functional.
Out of all that were in 100% working condition, 95% of them needed a basic CLA.
Your chances are a lot better if you buy from a person with 100% feedback, but make sure he or she's got at least 100 transactions under their belt.

[mh2000]

I voted YES, but that is excluding every single Russian camera I have ever bought. I've bought too many cameras off ebay... a few cheap ones had an issue or something and I either ended up keeping them for free or renegociated the price and felt fine with the purchase.

[januaryman]

It's an interesting poll, but more for the essay answers, than the check boxes. I forget which ones I checked, but I have had no tragedies.

1 camera, a Kiev 4AM was just no good at all, I got a full refund. Bought another that was just fine. And it came with my favorite lens, ever, a Helios 103.

2 cameras needed a fix- of these, 1 was a Leica M2 that was fixed quickly upon return, the other, a Canon A-1 SLR was replaced by a camera just as good that turned out fine.

The rest, an M4, a Canon P, a Canon AE-1, a Canon EF (SLR's) were all fine, if not perfect. (well, the AE-1 meter died after a month or so, but I had it fixed at my expense)

All in all the success ratio was decent.

KEH, on the other hand, always leaves me deliriously happy with my purchase. Always.

[literiter]

Originally Posted by januaryman

I

KEH, on the other hand, always leaves me deliriously happy with my purchase. Always.

KEH and Henry's in Canada have served me well.

[lorriman]

Most of the cameras I buy are SLRs and most come with focus screen alignment problems. I send them back.

[ronnies]

Bought a Minolta Auto Winder G which didn't appear to work on my XG-1. Turned out the winder was fine it's my XG-1 that's the problem !

Ronnie

[TheHub]

Originally Posted by jmkelly

... My favorite seller line: "I'm not a camera person and don't know anything about this." = paperweight, no matter how good it looks.

^^ Words to live by. You can tell those people are obviously lying when you look at their selling history and see a looooong list of cameras.

[Bingley]

I haven't purchased any cameras on the auction site for a couple of years, prefering to deal instead w/ KEH or members here. My auction site purchase track record for cameras is mixed (my track record for lenses is better).

Canonet GIII Q17 = perfect
Konica S2 = perfect
Canon P = needed a CLA

Nowadays, I'd only buy from *bay sellers I know and trust.

[scott kirkpatrick]

Hasselblad XPan-1 -- bought from a photographer who had shot about 100 rolls with it (10 is more typical). works perfectly.

Hasselblad 500C/M, based on the serial numbers, it was a single unit purchased at the same time, but not sold by a photographer. Works perfectly so far.

scott

[clachnacuddin]

Fed 5 worked Ok
2x Yashica Gts, one needed cleaning but the other has pad of death
Yashica 35MG OK
Ricoh 500G, needed light seals replaced (which was a pain in the ****) but everything else fine
Ricoh ME, faulty meter
Minolta Dynax 5 OK
Minolta 5xi OK
Just waiting to have a Konica C35 delivered so fingers crossed....

[sara]

All cameras work except for one, my Olympus OM-2n, where the hotshoe wasn't working, although the seller stated everything was working fine.

[btgc]

Originally Posted by sara

All cameras work except for one, my Olympus OM-2n, where the hotshoe wasn't working, although the seller stated everything was working fine.

If non-working hotshoe means flash doesn't triggers, you can try to rub contact[s] on top of HS with pencil eraser. I had such scenario.

[kuzano]

I rarely have problems.

HOWEVER, I have a strict list of seller requirements before I buy from anyone:

1) Minimum 99.5% positive feedback and I look at the specifics of the problems on any negative feedback.
2) 100 feedbacks minimum (Or good contact with the seller in lieu of)
3) pictures of actual items. No stock photos
4) Feedback must be spread fairly evenly over at least the last 6 months.
5) Absolutely no purchases from sellers with less than ten feedbacks OR last feedback more than 6 months ago.

Old feedback that's good but not active for the last 6 months to a year smacks of a hacked account. Not always true, but I've reported auctions like this and found to be fraud.

Rarely does anything turn up on eBay that won't turn up again later from a better seller. Read the feedback and understand how to translate the little signals in feedback, and you will greatly reduce the disappointment of bad or even slightly misrepresented merchandise.

Furthermore, all feedback stays available in the system as long as the account exists. The only way feedback can be removed is by mutual request of BOTH buyer and seller and they each pay $20.

[paulfish4570]

only one, a minolta a5. worked (s) perfectly.

[NickTrop]

Specifially - First GS, worked fine but was purchased serviced.
GSN - worked fine, purchased serviced
Yashica Lynx 14 (1) - needed servicing
Yashica Lynx 14 (2) - got cheap, not working, sacrificed for parts (above, see 1)
Yashica Lynx 14 (3) - not working, serviced by Mark Hama
Pentax Spotmatic - Ad said "working perfectly", opened box, it was junk, returned to seller after several heated emails, a "reputable seller"
Yashica Electro CC - "don't know anything about cameras" ad. Camera arrived in mint condition, worked perfectly.
Konica Auto S3, purchased serviced from a camera shop looked/worked fine (selling look for ad here at RFF)
Kiev 60 - worked fine, purchased serviced
Iskra - sent to FSU for servicing but was supposed to have been serviced at purchased
Fujica Compact Deluxe (1) - beater (but I love this camera) gave it away after getting #2.
Kiev 4AM - worked fine, purchased serviced, but sold it (didn't get on with this camera...)
Fujica Compact Deluxe (2) - Nicer sample than 1, worked perfectly/minty. Gave 1 away after getting 2. 2 promptly gave up the ghost (jammed). Grrrrrr.
Fujica Compact Deluxe (3) - Gift from a very generous forum member to whom I am eternally grateful. Serviced, works fine...

[FrankHarries]

Well, different experiences:
Canon A1 - needed a little work (done by myself)
Canon FTB - needed new seals
Canon FTB - totally broken, sent back
Hasselblad 500c/m - needed CLA (was sold as perfect with new CLA - turned out to been years ago)
Hasselblad 500 ELX - condition as new
Hasselblad 500 ELM - broken, but was sold as broken
Rolleiflex 3,5F - in perfect condition

The other stuff I bought from members of forums such as RFF - without problem (although my Canon G-III 1,7 needs a CLA due to a sticky shutter.

Well - I always ask lots of questions if I am unsure - and do not bid if the seller says, that he has no idea what to answer. And then I mostly buy from sellers who have sold some photogear before.

[cdk]

Many years ago I bought an M6 described as Excellent. It arrived, and it was excellent, but it had a bit of mold growing inside the front of the viewfinder. I paid a good price for it, so wasn't interested in having a CLA. It had a very sweet shutter, but I don't know enough about the internals to know how serious it was, and at that time didn't know of someone knowledgable locally.

I contacted the seller, who took it back after I sent photos of the mold. There are good eBay sellers. :^)