I'm done with lens reviews

Mr Bolton wrote:

Sam in Hawaii wrote:

Rod McD wrote:

imnotmarvin wrote:

If you're buying from a reputable dealer, you can return a lens if it doesn't meet your needs or expectations for the types of photography you do.

Hi,

This alone may underpin a different approach. There are different rules in different places. I'm not sure where you are. In Australia, where I live, you're not buying it to try it. You're buying it. You can return it if its faulty, and the manufacturer determines under the warranty whether to repair it or replace it. You can't return it just because it didn't meet your needs or expectations and you changed your mind. If it's not faulty, and you changed your mind and just don't want it, well you sell it as a used lens to someone who does want it. Under this business framework, getting it right in the first place becomes more important.

So, yup, I get the best information available..... and read reviews. Same for cars, dishwashers and all the other consumer stuff we spend big on.

TBH, I think the whole 'try it and return it' can and sometimes does lead to all sorts of ill-planned purchasing and unscrupulous using and reselling - as many threads in these forums have shown over the years. At least here, if it's sold as new, it must be new and unused, and not someone else's reject with an unknown history.

I actually agree with you that most of the Fuji range are good lenses. OTOH, some are excellent. The task is to sift out the ones that meet our needs knowing their foibles....

Cheers, Rod

You touch on something that's a particular pain of mine; the idea of "buying" something to test or try and returning for the original seller to either take a hit on as used and pass the loss on to the rest of us, or fraudulently re-package as "new." We see countless "tests" and "comparisons" here of cameras and lenses where it's transparently obvious that the "tester", so called, had no real intention of actually keeping the item but instead wanted in to just post something to impress the rest of us. US return policies are an invitation to abuse, and frankly, the opinion of some yahoo opining that the latest Canikon XZ2500 is not quite as good at taking pictures of brick walls as his old Soniji POS 25. based on his 29 day trial before returning it, adds no value to any conversation.

Agreed on the DoucheTuber "reviews" but I thought the Euros have more consumer friendly return/warranty policies than the USA does. Typically where I live the 'rental' period is two weeks, not 30 days.

To clarify my point that started this part of the conversation, I don't subscribe to the free rental idea of buying and returning. I was referring to buying a lens you intend to use only to find out it isn't as great as advertised. In my experience, this doesn't happen with Fuji lenses unless there's actually a problem with the lens in which case I'd be trading it for another of the same. If there was some actual deficiency with a lens across the entire production (terribly slow AF maybe) then after a couple tries, you'd know it wasn't going to work for you. I think most people with experience have a good idea of what will work and what won't for them which is why I said it would be better to buy and try for yourself as opposed to letting someone else tell you what a deficiency is. Truly only you can decide for your style of photography. Yes, I get trends and that's most people's argument in favor of reviews here but I prefer to form my own opinion.