How to check second-hand cameras

In the final analysis, for photographers, getting a satisfactory photographic equipment is the best reward for their efforts this year. However, many new products and equipment are expensive on the one hand, and there is no need to buy new products because they are not conventional items on the other hand. In fact, there are many reasons for buying second-hand, but to put it bluntly, it is money, so you need to choose carefully to avoid wasting your hard-earned money. Now the second-hand purchase channels are perfect, and everyone has many choices; However, no matter how you buy second-hand equipment, you can't escape many problems such as color identification, damage inspection and after-sales maintenance. Today, our article will talk about the current development of the second-hand market and the matters needing attention when buying second-hand equipment.

The second-hand situation has begun to take shape, but there are still gray areas.

At present, the second-hand market has begun to take shape and is developing towards standardization. Compared with previous years, the second-hand market has developed greatly. On the one hand, the number of second-hand transactions and the scale of second-hand trading platforms are already quite large; On the other hand, there are also some second-hand trading platforms with high credibility, which are no longer completely dependent on the reputation of merchants or individuals.

However, although there are many second-hand platforms nowadays, most second-hand transactions, especially personal second-hand transactions, still rely on salted fish, 58, forums and other media. In personal transactions, individual sellers and businesses are often mixed, and supervision is still difficult. Especially now, the market scale has been further expanded, which has formed a good growth space for the profiteers in our mouth under the large transaction volume. Mass photography is gradually emerging, but the transaction of second-hand equipment often involves more professional photography knowledge, which is difficult to identify. Many consumers tend to be greedy for cheap, so they are easy to suffer.

For these reasons, we need to polish our glasses when choosing second-hand photographic equipment. Today, let's talk about the second-hand equipment trading in the field of video equipment, see what is unknown in the equipment trading and how to buy second-hand equipment. Of course, there are too many articles on how to identify second-hand equipment, what the lens should check and what the camera should check. In this article, we want to talk about something that we don't often see on the Internet.

Beware of tricks. These tricks are still common today.

If our dispute over color still belongs to the problem of transaction coordination, then many "cheating" hidden in second-hand transactions are the crooked ways for malicious people to extract our hard-earned money. We firmly believe that most people trade in a fair and just mind, but we should always be alert to those tricks.

The author is also a senior camera enthusiast. I have bought a lot of second-hand equipment and sold a lot of equipment. Many friends also trust me and trade through me. Let's start with my experience and talk about the common scams on the market now.

Pay attention to the model, don't be fooled.

Many lenses often have multiple generations, and the price gap between different generations is often not small. For example, there are multiple versions of 70-300mm lens. Some businesses, especially the second-hand market, will put different algebraic products on the same page, which is a moment that needs our special attention.

Be wary of trading places for offline transactions.

First, offline transactions are generally considered to be the most reliable, but you must pay attention to the other party's trading address in offline transactions. If you find that you are buying an individual seller, you will end up in a place like Electronic City. Don't worry, this is generally unreliable. Another point is that online transactions, changing the address after delivery and changing the consignee after delivery are often problematic.

Beware of "deck machine"

In the past two years, lens renovation and camera renovation have long been nothing new. Now buyers generally require "full box", that is, both the packaging box and the manual warranty card are available. However, it is no secret that many so-called packaging boxes, manuals and warranty cards are made in China. The key point is the serial number label of the fuselage and lens. Some people will have parallel imports or refurbished goods, and affix the model of the Bank of China to impersonate the Bank of China. However, this technique is easy to see through. The colors and fonts of the original numbered labels are difficult to copy. It is easy to see the difference as long as you compare a same model of Bank of China aircraft, even if it is a photo comparison.

Be careful when you come out of the equipment.

There is another routine thing that needs everyone's attention, and we have also encountered it. When we delivered the goods, some buyers were not in a hurry to receive the goods after buying the machine, but chose to return them a few days later on the grounds of some color problems. In fact, we have found that some buyers temporarily lack equipment and return it directly after use, which is equivalent to "renting" the equipment for a few days in disguise. Therefore, if you are out of the equipment and encounter inexplicable reasons for returning goods, you need to pay more attention. There are many formal leasing businesses. You can choose formal leasing instead of drilling loopholes.

These contents are some common problems and tricks on the second hand. Of course, if you encounter the wrong direct marketing model and delivery problems, these problems are beyond the scope of being intelligent; The four problems mentioned above are often easily overlooked and need special attention.

The lens article pays attention to mildew prevention and focusing performance.

Among the second-hand equipment, the most common and recommended by the author is to buy lenses. First of all, the lens is a value-preserving product and will not be reduced in price like the fuselage; In addition, lenses are durable goods. As long as they are properly preserved and are not accidentally damaged, a lens can be used for more than ten years or even decades. In addition, lenses are frequently upgraded equipment, so second-hand lenses are the most traded products in photographic equipment.

For second-hand lenses, they can actually be divided into two categories. One is modern lenses, that is, those lenses with autofocus function that we can buy in the market. The other kind is old lenses, which are generally "hand-made lenses with years".

For all lenses, the items we need to check include: dust entry, scratches on lenses and contacts, obvious bumps or scratches on the lens body, normal function and disassembly and maintenance. These five items belong to the basic content of appearance judgment and are easy to understand. There are also more detailed introduction strategies on the Internet, so I won't do too much introduction here.

It should be noted here that for old lenses, we need to check the coating of lenses and the condition of inner lenses. The best way is to use a small flashlight, and then look into the lens, of course, you can also observe the light. In this way, we can clearly see the amount of dust entering the interior and the lens condition. In addition, many details are not clear from the front, but more clear from multiple angles, especially from the side. If there are filiform marks or fogging spots on the lens, it means that there are moldy, fogging and peeling inside the lens, so you need to buy it carefully.

For lenses, humidity is actually the biggest enemy of second-hand lenses. When we check the equipment, we need to pay special attention to the preservation of the lens. There are many scratches on the fuselage, and it doesn't matter if there is more dust inside, but the lens can't be damaged.

For the general modern lens, besides the basic content, we need to focus on the auto-focus function and anti-shake function. The zoom lens should pay special attention to the smoothness of zoom. When checking the focus, we recommend using the simplest newspaper detection method, that is, we shoot the newspaper from the side, select a word to focus, and then judge the focus accuracy under the maximum aperture. If there is out of focus, it may be a compatibility problem, or the lens may have been knocked down too much. It is not recommended to buy it.

On the other hand, listening to sound is an important step in the identification of second-hand lenses. Rotating the lens, listening to whether there is abnormal noise in the lens, listening to whether there is abnormal noise when focusing and starting anti-shake are all necessary steps to detect the lens. Listening to sound is a very experienced detection method. You may not be sensitive to sound, but check the sound feedback when shooting. If you encounter obvious abnormal noise, stop trading directly.