So I bought a bad lens on eBay, now what?

Let's get it out of the way, eBay was a mistake OK let's move on.

I was looking for a 30mm 2.0 and I decided to go down the eBay path. I found a used bundle with NX10, 30mm, 18-55mm & 50-200mm, I won that for about $15 more than buying a new 30mm. My intention was to just sell the NX10 + 18-55mm together, and sell the 50-200mm as I already have one, that way I would have a 30mm really cheap.

The 50-200 is mark I and my III is much sharper around the edges, so that can go, it's in OK condition.

The 30mm has a tiny scratch on it which only becomes faintly visible at f/8 as a small circle and by f/22 it's a grey dot- easy to remove with spot tool. I had to be at 100% to see it on an all white background and I didn't buy a fast prime to be shooting at small apertures anyway.

Which brings me to the 18-55.. I had my magnifying goggles on (think Honey I Shrunk the Kids) and noticed the glass has come away from where it's supposed to sit, I never saw this without the goggles though. I can actually gently push on any side and it will go in with a gap like this pushing the other edge back into the correct position.

You can see it starts below the 58 and goes right the way around until about the 5.6 mark. I'm thinking they're dust particles on the inside, although a few of them might be scratches. Now is this a lens in bad condition or just a bad design by Samsung? I've never really seen good things about this lens and the whole thing feels pretty cheap from the glass to the plastic mount to the focus ring. Also I've never seen a focus ring as loose as this one, it turns a lot more freely than any other NX lens I've used, still works but it feels weird..

Is this a common thing amongst these lenses or is this lens a dud? I'm not really keen on going through the process of returning them and losing the 30mm, but then I don't want to sell a dud lens on to somebody else.

Looking for any insights here, thank you.

Contact the seller about the problem (misaligned/broken/loose front element), and ask to resolve it by returning either just that lens or the entire kit, for a partial or whole refund. If the seller refuses, you open a dispute using the ebay dispute resolution process.

In the process, normally, there will be emails between you and the seller to try to resolve the problem. If the seller doesn't resolve it to your satisfaction, or if the seller ignores your dispute resolution request, then you can escalate to ebay (it's one of the options under the dispute resolution process). Ebay will contact the seller.

Based on eBay's review of the communications between you guys, ebay will decide how to resolve the problem. The usual resolution is to return the item in return for a refund. However, you will probably not recover your shipping cost.

If you ship the item, be sure to comply with ebay rules on shipping. I think you need a tracking number but see the rules for details (might need recipient signature, etc.). If you ship the item and the seller doesn't refund your money, you will need to present ebay with proof of your shipping in accordance with their requirements.

Best regards,

Mic

Are yiu sure this isn't a filter on the front of that lens?

The "crenalated" pointy edge certainly looks like one!

Peter

Before contacting the seller, here's how various models look without a filter!

http://www.ephotozine.com/article/samsung-18-55mm-f-3-5-5-6-nx-ed-ois-ii-i-function-zoom-lens-review-18825

http://www.samsung.com/levant/consumer/cameras-and-camcorders/lenses/nx-lens/EX-S1855IB/CN

Isola Verde wrote:

Are yiu sure this isn't a filter on the front of that lens?

The "crenalated" pointy edge certainly looks like one!

Peter

Yes it does. I've had 3 of the 18-55s and none had that edge. I'd be willing to wager there's a cheap filter on the lens and it needs to come off.

wpstl wrote:

Isola Verde wrote:

Are yiu sure this isn't a filter on the front of that lens?

The "crenalated" pointy edge certainly looks like one!

Peter

Yes it does. I've had 3 of the 18-55s and none had that edge. I'd be willing to wager there's a cheap filter on the lens and it needs to come off.

May not need to come off, at least not permanently, however it would certainly benefit from a clean!

Peter

Oh my god, you guys are all right, this is incredibly embarrassing.. I realise why I need to wear goggles to see what I'm doing! I go to look for a filter and suddenly the font is 100pt and sticking out like a sore thumb "Kenko Digital Filter MC UV", I have no idea how I missed it.

Underneath the real glass is actually in perfect condition like the filter has been on since day 1, same story with the 50-200 which probably explains why mine was sharper (I read they were optically identical), I'm going to have to redo that test. I guess that's why it had the whole cheap feel about it, I had not seen the first versions of Samsung lenses so just thought of it as poor designing.

Unfortunately the 30mm really does have a scratch on it, still completely usable though. Are there scratch repair options? If that's possible and not too expensive I still may end up to a complete bargain.

Thank you all so much, I'm so glad I contacted you guys before I started accusing people. I've only been at this a few month so I'm sure I can be forgiven!

Coldamus wrote:

BeardedManMatt wrote:

Let's get it out of the way, eBay was a mistake OK let's move on.

I was looking for a 30mm 2.0 and I decided to go down the eBay path. I found a used bundle with NX10, 30mm, 18-55mm & 50-200mm, I won that for about $15 more than buying a new 30mm. My intention was to just sell the NX10 + 18-55mm together, and sell the 50-200mm as I already have one, that way I would have a 30mm really cheap.

The 50-200 is mark I and my III is much sharper around the edges, so that can go, it's in OK condition.

The 30mm has a tiny scratch on it which only becomes faintly visible at f/8 as a small circle and by f/22 it's a grey dot- easy to remove with spot tool. I had to be at 100% to see it on an all white background and I didn't buy a fast prime to be shooting at small apertures anyway.

Which brings me to the 18-55.. I had my magnifying goggles on (think Honey I Shrunk the Kids) and noticed the glass has come away from where it's supposed to sit, I never saw this without the goggles though. I can actually gently push on any side and it will go in with a gap like this pushing the other edge back into the correct position.

You can see it starts below the 58 and goes right the way around until about the 5.6 mark. I'm thinking they're dust particles on the inside, although a few of them might be scratches. Now is this a lens in bad condition or just a bad design by Samsung? I've never really seen good things about this lens and the whole thing feels pretty cheap from the glass to the plastic mount to the focus ring. Also I've never seen a focus ring as loose as this one, it turns a lot more freely than any other NX lens I've used, still works but it feels weird..

Is this a common thing amongst these lenses or is this lens a dud? I'm not really keen on going through the process of returning them and losing the 30mm, but then I don't want to sell a dud lens on to somebody else.

Looking for any insights here, thank you.

This is very interesting because I had that same eBay listing on my watch list but decided not to bid. The reason I was considering it is that my own NX10 has a broken latch on the battery door. It isn't a big problem. I just tape it shut but it makes changing the battery a little inconvenient. Anyway, I decided it would be better for me to put the money towards upgrading, perhaps to the NX50 if that is released soon.

I already have version 1 of the 18-55 and of the 50-200 and did have the 30mm and 20mm but sold them some time ago.

Now to your questions: Firstly, the focus ring on my 18-55 also turns very freely but as it focuses by wire it doesn't have to physically move anything, so I think that is normal. I am fairly sure the crenellations visible in your pic that others commented on are those of the focus ring, not a filter.

I find the 18-55 quite useful and much better than the plastic build suggests. Its OIS is also very effective.

When you push the plastic "title ring" or whatever the ring with the lens description on is called, are you sure the front lens element moves too? If so, the lens is defective. There may be a simple DIY fix but I wouldn't accept it anyway. If it is only the "title ring" that moves, that wouldn't affect the lens performance.

Wow very interesting, I'm glad we didn't get in a bidding war. I was astounded at how cheap it was when it finished, disappointed when I saw the marks on them but now I'm really happy after my little oversight on the filters.

Are you sure you want to ugprade? I can't interest you in a used NX10? I actually found the camera to be very clunky, like a bit too solidly built. but I can definitely feel the age opposed to my NX300M. I think you are right to upgrade.

There's really no question about it at all- that lens definitely has a filter on it. With no filter, there is no glass over that white printing, and the picture very clearly shows that there IS glass over it, with dust on it. That glass s NOT part of the lens.

If the filter ring is deformed, you may have trouble getting it off. Using just your hands applies uneven pressure to the ring, which can compound the problem- so I suggest buying a filter wrench. That should solve your problem.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/search?N=0&InitialSearch=yes&InitialSearch=yes&sts=ma&Top+Nav-Search&Ntt=Filter%20wrench

-A word about filters... if there are no markings on the outside of that filter's ring, and I'm guessing there aren't, it's likely that it's just a cheap UV filter or plain glass protector. One of the problems with cheap filters is wide tolerances. The glass could well be slightly under-sized for the ring, which allows some flexing when pressure is put on the ring when putting it on or removing it- that can cause the ring to bind in the threads, and if there's enough play the flexing can become a permanent distortion. Just another reason to stay away from cheap filters.

nevada5 wrote:

BeardedManMatt wrote:

Oh my god, you guys are all right, this is incredibly embarrassing.. I realise why I need to wear goggles to see what I'm doing! I go to look for a filter and suddenly the font is 100pt and sticking out like a sore thumb "Kenko Digital Filter MC UV", I have no idea how I missed it.

Underneath the real glass is actually in perfect condition like the filter has been on since day 1, same story with the 50-200 which probably explains why mine was sharper (I read they were optically identical), I'm going to have to redo that test. I guess that's why it had the whole cheap feel about it, I had not seen the first versions of Samsung lenses so just thought of it as poor designing.

Unfortunately the 30mm really does have a scratch on it, still completely usable though. Are there scratch repair options? If that's possible and not too expensive I still may end up to a complete bargain.

Thank you all so much, I'm so glad I contacted you guys before I started accusing people. I've only been at this a few month so I'm sure I can be forgiven!

Glad it worked out well for you. I'd like to see a show of hands - anyone who never overlooked something obvious staring at them.

A quick Google suggests that these were among the photos posted by the seller of that outfit...

Two sore thumbs?

For what the sale is reported as having gone thru' for, the package would seem quite a bargain - with two filters thrown in!

Just a shame that the 30mm hadn't had one attached before the scratch incident happened...

Trust it's OK!

Peter

Thank you all so much, I'm so glad I contacted you guys before I started accusing people. I've only been at this a few month so I'm sure I can be forgiven!

Nothing to forgive- besides, we can all learn from mistakes here.

Glad it worked out well for you. I'd like to see a show of hands - anyone who never overlooked something obvious staring at them.

Uh... No hands to show here. I've overlooked a LOT of things over the years, and have often felt like an idiot because of it- but that's pretty much normal. Sharing mistakes here can be a help to others!

Ahah yes exactly, Peter! I'm not sure if selective vision is a real thing or not but wow do I miss some obvious things sometimes.

Thank you all for your help and not laughing in my face.

Interestingly I saw the exact same thing a few days ago. The title said NX300 but then the description says "I'm selling my NX300M". There was no M in the photo so I went to check my camera which does show the M. It can be very confusing for buyers.

I'm glad you like the NX500 though! I would love to upgrade but the price is double what I paid for my 300M just 6 months ago so I doubt I'll be upgrading for a while.