refurbished cameras and shutter count?

[deuxcent]

I am expecting my JR refurb on Wednesday, and was curious about the
Mack Warranty. I am assuming, after reading the site at Mack, that
refurbs are covered as long as they have had at least a 90 day
warranty.

I usually scoff at the idea of an 'extended warranty' but with this
camera being a refurb, my interest has been piqued. What is the track
record for Mack? Anyone actually have an instance of dealing with
them for repairs, etc?

Most customers have good experiences with Mac, it seems: http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Mack_Camera_Video_Service_The_Mack_Camera_Store

About 30-35 percent are not happy, but I think people with a gripe tend to be more vocal about their dissatisfaction than people who have positive experiences are with their praise.

Mack warranties don't cost an arm and a leg -- I got my three-year Mack coverage for the D90 from a reputable eBay seller for $45. At that price, I don't expect white-glove service if my camera does ever need to be repaired, but chances are it will be taken care of. At least, Mack's overall track record suggests so.

An added plus is that Mack warranties are transferable (for a $20 fee): should you sell your camera, whatever coverage is left on it can migrate to the new owner. That's often a pretty good selling point.

dc

 

[JEGG]

30-35% seems like a very high number to me.

If a seller on reseller ratings gets a 70%-or even worse-a 65% "approval rating", a buyer is almost guaranteed a very bad experience.

 

[bkushner]

Sounds to me like you bought a USED camera, not a refurb.
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bkushner/

 

[ptiet]

I remember with my D70. Following the upgrade of firmware, the shutter count reset to zero. I am not sure with D90 though.

 

[deuxcent]

30-35% seems like a very high number to me.

If a seller on reseller ratings gets a 70%-or even worse-a 65%
"approval rating", a buyer is almost guaranteed a very bad experience.

"Almost guaranteed"?

By my reckoning the numbers mean that two out of three customers are happy. Probably more if you realize that those with a complaint have a lot of psychological incentive to make it public, whereas happy customers don't tell the world quite as often.

It's not nearly as good a rating as I would like, sure -- but it's also not nearly as bad as you make it out to be. I guess I'm a 'glass-half-full' guy, and you're of the 'glass-two-thirds-empty' persuasion. ;-)

dc

 

[WilsonEPhillips]

I agree. I have put that on my new D90 in the first month.
--
http://wilsonephillips.smugmug.com

 

[luibob]

I recently bought a "Factory Demo" D90 from Cameta on ebay. Can't be happier with my purchase. Camera looks like new. The shutter count was 500. No big deal to me. Camera is in perfect working condition.

-Lui

D90, SB-600,
Nikon 35-70mm f/2.8
Nikon 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5 AF-S DX

http://www.flickr.com/photos/luidude/

 

[ptiet]

Cameta's Dictionary of Demo = used. Look at the negative feedback and you will get an idea.

 

[DougJGreen]

Cameta's Dictionary of Demo = used. Look at the negative feedback and
you will get an idea.

Not quite. It's much more fair to say may be lightly used, but definitely tested and given a substantial warrantee.

Used implies no warrantee except maybe a non-DOA for somewhere between 7-30 days tops.

 

[Justaguy93]

My D90 from JR just showed up today, 852 on the shutter count. Higher than I would have liked, but given the price I paid not a huge deal if the rest of the camera is in good working order.

--
-Justaguy93

 

[Marvin Thomas]

came from Adorama with 975 clicks. I shot that many pictures with my D60 at my stepsons first 2 football games. Your camera doesn't have too many clicks.
--
Photos hosted by Photoshare at http://www.photoshare.co.nz

 

[HenryL]

I remember with my D70. Following the upgrade of firmware, the
shutter count reset to zero. I am not sure with D90 though.

Is there a firmware update for the D90? Anyway it's been discussed a long time, but most camera firmware updates seem to reset the shutter count to zero so you shouldn't put that much weight on shutter counts. However most people don't seem to know that so it's definitely one of those your mileage may vary thing.

 

[ptiet]

I have also noticed a lot of vendor bidding. The final price usually not much different to the cost of a new camera.

 

[benhasajeep]

--

I have 3 Refurb cameras from Cameta. A D50, D40X, and D300. The D50 was purchased over 4 years ago. Still going strong and looked brand new. Came in a Nikon Refurbished box. I then ordered a New D300 from Cameta through Amazon. After getting the D300 and issues with my wife over sharing it. I decided to get a second D300. But since it would be a second body I decided to go with a refurb again. Again it came in a Nikon Refurbished box. Again it looked brand new. Just a couple months ago I decided to change from a Coolpix 8700 to a Nikon D40x for my travel camera (work trips). I wanted something small and not worth too much in case it gets stolen, lost, or broken. I again decided to save some money and bought refurbished. Again it came in a Nikon Refurbished box and looked brand new. All 3 refurbished cameras are working just fine and as new. Between the new and refurb D300's you don't know which is which. And 2,600 actuations is a bit high for a refurbished camera. That is less than 3% of its design life. Which is the minimum the shutter should last. So, with the money savings I still think its a pretty good deal. As used cameras with more actuatoins has gone for more than the refurb price.

 

[jazzbass62]

Lisa: Adding to the data stream here... I bought a refurbished "body only" D40 from Cameta Camera using their Amazon.com store - $265 plus $15 shipping. It looks new, came in Nikon refurbished box with 90 day Nikon warranty backed up by Cameta's 1 year warranty. Shutter count (using Opanda IEif 2.3) was shown as 12. I'm still getting used to DSLR, correct exposure settings etc.

Good luck with the D70 - from what I've read in this post, it should have a long useful life ahead!

Cleve

 

[MSherfey]

The camera came yesterday and I used the tips here to read the count: 10. Since this is a refurb I would bet it was reset at the factory and a few sample shots were taken. In either case I'm happy! probably took 150 shots last night alone just playing around and testing the different features and modes.

 

[Snafam]

Mine came today, and PhotoMe showed 1100 on the shutter count. I am not griping! While I thought my D60 was pretty cool, I can already tell that I will like this camera even better! This too arrived in a Nikon "Reconditioned Product" box, with all parts and pieces.

I am off to chase the cat and dog to get pictures!

 

[Super8mm]

I got my D90 last night but I had my eyes dialeted twice yesterday but tonight I did a couple of shots and then checked the cout, my first picture was Shutter Release #8 I am very pleased as the camera does not have any marks on it what so ever (yet) "LOL"
--
'He was ugly, strong and had dignity' by Marion Robert Morrison

 

[jerrymend]

I bought a refurb D90 and 18-105 lens from Cameta about a month ago. The camera, lens, and all accessories looked brand new, and so far all function as if they were. Today just for the fun of it, I checked the shutter count using preview on my Mac. I've taken hundreds of shots so far and picked one at random taken 3 weeks ago-----the shutter count was 2871 for that shot. As far as I am concerned, that's almost nothing. Considering the savings, I'd buy another refurb if i needed another body. Your mileage may vary, but that's my story. Good shooting------Jerry
--
jerry

 

[Brooks P]

Don’t put too much stock in . . .

shutter counts. The camera could be a “Demo” camera that was in the Cameta Brick & Mortar store. I deal with a camera shop that deals with a lot of professional photographers and they will let a camera go out of the store on a trial basis for a couple hours, and one can easily shoot 2500 frames in a couple hours. That camera, if not bought by the person testing it, gets sold as a demo with a small discount or and/or some extras.

But Nikon counters rollover. The counter in consumer grade cameras is reported to be a sixteen-bit field, which if I recall my binary math correctly has a maximum value of 65,536. So a shutter count on a heavily used camera, showing a shutter count of 2650 could indicate that the camera has in fact taken something like 68,000+ pictures.

--
Brooks
http://bmiddleton.smugmug.com/