HELP! Is this a bargain?? (D80 + VR18-200 at £800)

Hi, a friend of mine is selling his D80 and a 18-200mm VR lens(+he's gonna stick in a Nikon SB-25 flash). They are both used, but in VERY good condition, lens never been used without a filter and body has "well below 1,000 shutter actuations"

He bought them in March and both still have 6 months on store warranty. All he's asking for this "kit" is £800. I know if you were to buy this combo in a shop, you'd be something over a £1,000.
What do you think? Is it a good deal???

I think he's very keen to sell so quick and productive responses much appreciated as if this is a good deal, I wanna get in there quick and be the buyer .
What other questions should I ask him?

Regards
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An Eye is the perfect Camera...

Seems good to me

ive just bought a D80 along with the 18-55 kit lens and a 50-200 VR lens for £700 brand new from a shop
i know the VR lens you are on about is about £400 or more on its own
plus the flash are expensive as well
so seems like a good deal to me
especially if you get the receipt off him as well for the shop warranty

dunno about what questions to ask him
just make sure that everything that is supposed to be in the boxes is there

im sure someone with more experience will be along shortly to give you a real answer

In March this year I bought the D80 body for approx 500 and the 18-200VR for about the same so you are looking at approx £1000.00 worth of kit.

I would ask why he is selling?
Can you borrow and try the kit for yourself?

Check over the lense and camera and the pictures to check for any damage and any dirt on the sensor which is more noticable when taking a solid surface, i.e. I take a picture of a cream wall in the house and this shows the grey dust marks a lot better than a normal picture.

If it were me I would want it a little cheaper after all it's second hand and 1k worth of kit but if it's a mate then you may be happy with 800.00 for quality equipment.

Ian

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http://community.webshots.com/user/ianwarner
http://www.photoboxgallery.com/ianwarnerphotography

Hi Coco,

Well it's not a bad price but check out the link below for the D80 and 18-200vr.

The site lists all the best prices in the UK and I see cameras2u are selling as follows.

D80 body £480.90
18-200vr £437.79

Total £919 plus p+p. Bare in mind this is all brand new stock with 12 months warranty. Personally I'd pay the extra and get the 12 months manufacturers warranty and all brand new gear but thats just me! Check out the site and see how you get on.

http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/index.html

Just one other thing, might be worth having a friendly chat with your mate re price and see if he is willing to drop to say £700? Then you have a real decision to make!!??

Regards

winter1

Forgot to say, If you do go down the

http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/index.html route then dont forget to use

the discount codes on the site to get these prices.

Regards

winter1

I'll speak to him and ask for pictures (problem with handling it for myself is he's in London and I'm in Aberdeen so it really would just have to be after sale that I handle the cam). Maybe he'll be willing to come down with a price a bit... i am a student after all

He's selling it because he's really into hunting and fishing and he just can't seem to find time for photography (bought the equipment just to try it out), which, if you ask me is crazy as, surely, there's A LOT of opportunities for great shots in the wilderness!!

Thanks again for all this advice

P.S. also probably worth asking...

I am just starting out in photography so initially was wanting to get started with a D80 kit (18-135mm). Do you think I am better off just doing that? Or should i splash the cash on a 18-200mm VR? Would I (not I particularly ) get much advantage out of it, as opposed to the kit lens?

--
An Eye is the perfect Camera...

coco_ [U] nutty said:

I'll speak to him and ask for pictures (problem with handling it for
myself is he's in London and I'm in Aberdeen so it really would just
have to be after sale that I handle the cam). Maybe he'll be willing
to come down with a price a bit... i am a student after all
He's selling it because he's really into hunting and fishing and he
just can't seem to find time for photography (bought the equipment
just to try it out), which, if you ask me is crazy as, surely,
there's A LOT of opportunities for great shots in the wilderness!!

Thanks again for all this advice

P.S. also probably worth asking...
I am just starting out in photography so initially was wanting to get
started with a D80 kit (18-135mm). Do you think I am better off just
doing that? Or should i splash the cash on a 18-200mm VR? Would I
(not I particularly ) get much advantage out of it, as opposed to
the kit lens?

--
An Eye is the perfect Camera...

Click to expand...

Hi Coco,

You will probably get lots of replies to this but I'll give you my take on it. I have the D80 with 18-135 kit lens and I think it's a superb set up for the price. Personally I would not go for the 18-200vr but thats just me! I know lots like it but also lots dont!! The 18-135 is a great lens to start with in my opinion. It has the reach to use as a good walk about lens and is pretty sharp considering its price. I added a 70-300 VR to it and once again IMHO have a better quality set up re IQ with more reach then the 18-200. The convenience of the 18-200 is second to none if thats what your looking for. But not the last word in IQ across its range.

The D80 with 18-135 is around £650 here http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/cat4.html and in my op the better place to start with your first dslr. Remember for £650 (D80 + 18-135) your getting brand new gear with full manufacturers warranty and saving yourself £150 which would buy you a SB600 Flash which I also highly reccommend.

Regards

WINTER1[/U]

yeah... there's all those hidden expenses as well to consider... the flash and i really want to get a tripod... plus a bag...

I guess I just got tempted by the saving I would get for the VR kit. And almost ignored the fact that first of all it would be 2nd hand, and of course, maybe i could just do with a standard kit lens?.. sounds like i could...
thanks

--
An Eye is the perfect Camera...

coco_ [U] nutty said:

yeah... there's all those hidden expenses as well to consider... the
flash and i really want to get a tripod... plus a bag...
I guess I just got tempted by the saving I would get for the VR kit.
And almost ignored the fact that first of all it would be 2nd hand,
and of course, maybe i could just do with a standard kit lens?..
sounds like i could...
thanks

--
An Eye is the perfect Camera...

Click to expand...

Well like I say I think you could do a lot worse starting with a D80 and 18-135 kit. You get it for the right price, brand new and guaranteed plus a bit left over to buy those extras. As time goes on you will have a better idea of the lens you want and maybe the 18-200vr will be it, maybe not. The 50mm 1.8 (approx £70) is a superb lens for the price and leads you into low light photography etc. I have one and I love it!!

Anyway mate good luck with your decision. Look forward to a follow up and some pics when you make the jump.

Best regards

winter1[/U]

I would offer him £700. Its seems alot for a private sale, relative to the new price

I think the 18-200 is something you will value, maybe more as a newbie than at any other time

don't let him think about what he payed

he's knocking about £5o off for used, the warranty probably isn't transferable
--
http://www.photo.net/photos/JohnClinch
http://www.flickr.com/photos/john_clinch/

I had a great summer, I hope you did too

The SB-25 can be used in non-TTL auto and manual modes only on a D80. It doesn't have the wireless CLS capabilities of the SB-600 or SB-800, that can be controlled by the D80's wireless commander function. It's a good and capable flash otherwise.

coco_ [U] nutty said:

yeah... there's all those hidden expenses as well to consider... the
flash and i really want to get a tripod... plus a bag...

Click to expand...

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Patco
A photograph is more than a bunch of pixels[/U]