I got an X-Pro2 and I wonder if I should send it back

[MJ_Photo38]

Hi, so a couple of days ago, I made a thread about debating if I should sell my X-T2 to get an X-Pro 2, as my X-T2 has been sitting on a shelf for the better part of the last few months (mostly because I have both more fun smaller and larger better performing cameras. If you want to have more details : go there )

Long story short, I put my X-T2 back in its box, and bought an X-Pro2, which arrived this morning. The listing made no comment on the potential defects, only said it was in "extremely good shape", and since it was used by someone shooting mostly film, and the very low shutter count (under 15k) + the very good reviews of that seller, I was enclined to trust the process and not be too suspicious.

Problem is, the camera is NOT is good shape at all, and I could not make it out in the low resoution images on the listing itself, as you can see in some photos I took this morning :




















the door is supposed to be flush with the rest of the body




the bar holding the door is supposed to be straight.

As you can see in the pictures above :

- the OVF/EVF plastic housing has taken a pretty nasty hit

- same thing for the bottom plate, which is bent and slightly fractured around the imapact point (some black marker was applied to hide the grey color that was under the paint)

- the SD card door does not sit flush, and it too far away from the body for the spring to actually do something, probably because the bar holding it is bent out of position.

I have 3 days to make a return, in which case I will be fully refunded, however the seller indicated me that if I was willing to keep it, he would make me a 50€ transfer as compensation for the damages (this seems low).

So here's my thing : I am personally not bothered by cosmetically damaged cameras. I own my fair share of them (my X-T1 is damaged, repaired, then damaged again and barely ressembles an X-T1 now). I also like to fix stuff myself if I can.

However I don't know if things can even be fixed. Sure, I can replace the bottom plate with a new one (If I can find one),but would it even be wishable? Wouldn't this create problems and would require a full swap of the components that might have been damaged by the fall?

I also have no idea how compromised the weather sealing would be. I'm not shooting in the rain often, but that can (and will) happen at some point. If this has no impact, that's one less thing to worry about, but I somehow doubt it.

Mu gut feeling says, go ahead and return it, and maybe search for another one (or take this as a sign I should keep my X-T2 lol), but maybe I'm being dramatic.

I tested the camera this morning and it's 100% functional otherwise (every shutter speed, ever OVF function, every button / dial etc)

--
(G.A.S. and collectionnite will get my skin one day)

 

[Jeff Biscuits]

That has the signs of a camera that’s taken some hits and therefore may be carrying the timebomb of a crack in a circuit board or something. A small chance, but certainly higher than for a less battered copy. There would be no doubt in my mind: I would send that back. There are plenty of good copies out there.

“Extremely good shape”

 

[MJ_Photo38]

That has the signs of a camera that’s taken some hits and therefore may be carrying the timebomb of a crack in a circuit board or something. A small chance, but certainly higher than for a less battered copy. There would be no doubt in my mind: I would send that back. There are plenty of good copies out there.

Yeah I'm enclined to think the same thing.

I guess I have about a day to test the camera and see if I would want to have an X-Pro2 at all in the end.

“Extremely good shape”

Pictures in the listing were in bad light and not numerous, not focusing on the potential defects.

I think the seller expected to get away with it, with someone not willing to make a return. I guess he'll be dissapointed.

 

[Visible_Light]

Yeah my gut feeling would be to return the camera!
If he says "in extremely good shape" and there are so many issues? He even used a black sharpie to touch up the corner above the OVF/EVF window.... ‘what else is wrong with it?’ should be your main question.

I would not trust it...

 

[MJ_Photo38]

Okay, after further inspection, it seems that the top plate is no longer attached to the camera on the left side. It's able to move a mm or two.

My guess is that the hit on the bottom plate sectionned some screws that kept the top plate in place.

This is 100% going back now. The seller agreed to, so now on the hunt for another one I guess.

 

[Morris0]

That camera looks well used. More important, it has impact damage. Stop payment and tell the seller that the condition posted is a ridiculous exaggeration and that the seller should bare the cost of the return and that you have stopped payment.

Morris

 

[MJ_Photo38]

That camera looks well used. More important, it has impact damage. Stop payment and tell the seller that the condition posted is a ridiculous exaggeration and that the seller should bare the cost of the return and that you have stopped payment.

Morris

I have made contact with him about the issues, he agreed to refund me, and has sent me a shipping bond.

That being said, he just posted the listing again (even though the camera is still in my hands) for 100€ off !

I wouldn't say "good deal" but I can see someone getting tempted to get functional X-Pro2 (even if it is dinged up) for 650€

Most important part is that I'm getting refunded, and he gets his camera back.

 

[Jeff Biscuits]

That camera looks well used.

I’d say it looks badly used

 

[MJ_Photo38]

Completely unrelated :

I tried the camera, and the most important part about it for me is the viewfinder.

Is the X-Pro2's viewfinder is known to be small? I wasn't expecting to be as bit as my X-T2's of course, but it felt tighter than enven my X100S, for both the EVF and OVF.

Which is a little bit strange as the X100S has an EVF magnification of about 0.5x and the X-Pro2 is 0.59x, it should be about 20% bigger, but it felt smaller when I used it.

Is it normal? For those that used an X-Pro2 is this your experience as well or was I tripping?

 

[Jeff Biscuits]

Yeah, IME it definitely feels smaller than the X100.

 

[yardcoyote]

That's been chewed up a bit. I would actually buy a camera like that but only at a true bargain price, and not from anyone who claimed it was "in excellent shape". If it was sold to me as "looks real rough, runs great" with a price to match, I'd consider it a learning experience, happily use it until it broke down, and consider what I paid a kind of rental for the time it had left. And if it never did break down, then it was really well bought.

 

[MJ_Photo38]

I made a longer return of experience in the other thread if you're interested https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/67997044

 

[Alec246]

I see you already returned it. This was definitely the right move imo. I had a similar scenario with a Film Camera I ordered, had a much smaller Dent on the Body. I returned it. It isn't about asthetics, it's about knowing it took a big fall / impact, and you will never know how much did it affect internally. It could be a time bomb waiting to explode.

I see how lucky I was with my recently purchased XPro1, pristine condition, for such an old camera. But I had to return a LOT of equipment already, really frustrating feeling.

Best luck next time!

 

[MJ_Photo38]

That's been chewed up a bit. I would actually buy a camera like that but only at a true bargain price, and not from anyone who claimed it was "in excellent shape". If it was sold to me as "looks real rough, runs great" with a price to match, I'd consider it a learning experience, happily use it until it broke down, and consider what I paid a kind of rental for the time it had left. And if it never did break down, then it was really well bought.

yes I agree. I have bought my fair share of equipment this way. I bought a non functionning X100S for about 300€ for parts earlier this year. It evidently took a few hits and a few buttons were stuck, but considering the price for a pristine one was like 700+ I felt compelled to take the risk.

Managed to unstuck the buttons, and completely repair it, works like new now.

The only way I would have kept this X-Pro2 is if It was at a price low enough that I can justify the expense without selling my X-T2 (as the Pro2 was meant to replace it).

He offered me 50€ of compensation, at 350€ I would have accepted.

I'm happily sending it back as long as I get to see my money coming round.

 

[Earl Goodson]

That's been chewed up a bit. I would actually buy a camera like that but only at a true bargain price, and not from anyone who claimed it was "in excellent shape". If it was sold to me as "looks real rough, runs great" with a price to match, I'd consider it a learning experience, happily use it until it broke down, and consider what I paid a kind of rental for the time it had left. And if it never did break down, then it was really well bought.

Yeah, I agree. I'm okay with cosmetic damage but only if it's declared honestly. Or is something that could have been missed but doesn't affect the item's usability.

I've made some exceptions though. I bought a lens at about half the retail price this year that was described as "excellent" condition but had light cosmetic scuffing all over the front and rear plastic when I received it. I dithered with returning it but the glass was flawless, image quality was excellent, and the price was a steal so I kept it.

 

[DDaugherty]

If they re-listed it for 100 off... maybe state that you will send it back given its condition but it is worth something to you as-is... maybe 175 off? It might be worth 50-100 more to him not to have to resell it at the lower price and possible get even another return but also, it might now be a good deal for you even given it's condition...

 

[Joachim Gerstl]

Hi,

That looks crazy. I shot with my X-Pro2 since March 2016. I took it everywhere all over the world and it practically looks like new beside some lost paint of the flash socket. Its shutter count is close to 100.000 I guess.

I'm rather sure that the camera that you bought would not develop any issues but it looks like its previeous didn't care at all. It has dents and sratches and he hasn't even cleaned it before he sent it to you. To say it is in perfect good condition is a joke. Again: No technical problems but the comsetic condition of the camera is really poor and I would hate to use that. If my camera gets a scratch I have no problem with that because it's my scratch and I know how my camera got it but I would purchase a camera that looks like it felt out of a car window.

 

[MJ_Photo38]

If they re-listed it for 100 off... maybe state that you will send it back given its condition but it is worth something to you as-is... maybe 175 off? It might be worth 50-100 more to him not to have to resell it at the lower price and possible get even another return but also, it might now be a good deal for you even given it's condition...

Nope, I would have bought it for under 500 as a fun cam, but I intended this to replace my X-T2, and as such, I espected it to work with my WR lenses.

The damaged door and fractured bottom plate (+ the top plate moving a little bit) were definitely signs of a broken weather sealing across the camera, even at a lower price, it wasn't worth keeping for me.

I sent it back and I'm already refunded.

 

[MJ_Photo38]

Hi,

That looks crazy. I shot with my X-Pro2 since March 2016. I took it everywhere all over the world and it practically looks like new beside some lost paint of the flash socket. Its shutter count is close to 100.000 I guess.

I'm rather sure that the camera that you bought would not develop any issues but it looks like its previeous didn't care at all. It has dents and sratches and he hasn't even cleaned it before he sent it to you. To say it is in perfect good condition is a joke. Again: No technical problems but the comsetic condition of the camera is really poor and I would hate to use that. If my camera gets a scratch I have no problem with that because it's my scratch and I know how my camera got it but I would purchase a camera that looks like it felt out of a car window.

I furhter examined it, and you can kind of see it, but the fall that bent and fractured the bottom plate probably broke some screws on the left side of the camera as well and the top plate was moving on the left side.

I sent it back, got refunded.

That being said I was also able to get a couple of nitpicks from it for the short time I had it ( https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/67997044 ), so I'm not in such a hurry to replace my X-T2 with an X-Pro2 anymore.

Maybe later this year, if I can find a clean one, maybe next year. My curiosity (should I say G.A.S) got satisfied, and I realized the grass that I thought to be extremely bright green is in fact just a little greener but not that much.

 

[Jeff Biscuits]

I realized the grass that I thought to be extremely bright green is in fact just a little greener but not that much.

Oh, you had Velvia selected by accident