Used 50-200 SWD with lots of finish wear: should I pass?

I just bought a used Oly 50-200 SWD from a reputable online vendor. While the glass looks good and the lens seems to be mechanically fine, I'm concerned about pretty serious finish wear. Looks like it spent a lot of years being bounced around. I'm still within the vendor's return window. But before deciding whether to 1) ask for a price reduction or 2) returning it I'd appreciate hearing opinions from others who own this lens. Is it designed to take rough treatment or should I assume that the finish wear = unacceptably careless use? Thank you in advance.

Mine is 7 years old and has no finish wear. However, it has always either been on a camera or in a padded bag. It has been used for well over 200,000 images.

If the condition was mis-rated (e.g., 9+ when actually 7) then you deserve a discount at the least. Is it warranteed.? I'd rather have a worn-looking lens with a service agreement than a clean one with nothing.

Unless a really good price I'd return it. They're getting harder to service.

Good luck,

Rick

The good news is that the vendor apologized for the inaccurate grading and, because they did not have a similar one in stock, agreed to a return with no shipping or restocking fees. I found another vendor offering the same one-year warranty and return policy on the same model lens. This time the online ad showed the actual lens being sold, not a "representative sample." I just got done ordering from Vendor #2. Fingers crossed! Thanks for the input.

Sounds promising, best of luck with #2. A good lens so worth jumping through a few hoops to get the right one.

Cheers,

Rick

Mine looked like poop when I got it and looks even worse now and has performed flawless now for almost 3 years. Then again all my gear tends to look like poop after a few months. My 2 month old 300/4 probably looks worse than anyone who has had theirs since release.

My cameras are tools to be used and I don't worry about how they look as long as the optics are clean and clear. When in my kayak I typically all 3 cameras with lenses laying on the bottom of my kayak for easy access. I keep them when shooting from the Jeep on the front seat and they regularly take flying jumps to the floorboard.

I would have taken photos with the first one and if it sounded fine when focusing and the photos were good would have kept it. Just because the next one looks pretty doesn't mean the photos will..........................

Agree -- it's not the cosmetic issues that worried me: it was not knowing what kind of treatment created the cosmetic issues. Normal wear and tear vs. abuse? In other words, my query was to find out of this particular lens is a workhorse that can stand up to the kind of knocking around that creates very obvious cosmetic issues. I love the metal construction and overall feel of the lens.