Best Place To Buy Used Cameras
So, without further delay, here is our list of the top six (in alphabetical order) places to look at when seeking out your next piece of gear. Obviously, all these places offer gear well beyond just cameras and lenses too!
best place to buy used cameras
As far as digital cameras and lenses, its used department is my favorite of anyone on this list. Adorama has tons of used gear available at any given time, with new gear being added every day. Best of all, it has very, very good prices with some unbeatable deals popping up now and then.
eBay is where you stand to get the best possible price and have the largest variety of options at any given time for any given item. For some items, namely vintage lenses, cameras, and accessories as well as rare or niche items, eBay may be the only place where you stand a chance to find what you are looking for.
The two best things about MPB are its massive catalog of available products and its very good prices. For example, at the time of writing there are twenty Nikon Z6 (starting at $1059), thirty-four Canon 5D Mark IV (starting at $1959), and twenty-seven Sony a7R Mark III (starting at $1889) cameras available to purchase. I do not know of anywhere else, except eBay, with that kind of inventory.
Here are some of the best places to buy used cameras and photography equipment in our experience, both online and offline. These include options for buying from individuals and companies, and both second hand and refurbished camera equipment.
One of the best places to buy used camera lenses is KEH Camera. The company was founded in 1979 and has one of the most successful online photography stores in the US. They offer international shipping, and you can even send your used lenses to KEH (provided that the value is over $300).
MPB is a photography specialist that deals extensively in used gear. This includes cameras, lenses, lighting, and more. Their lens range is extensive, and you can easily find lenses by Canon, Nikon, Sony, Panasonic, Fujifilm, Hasselblad, Leica, and Olympus. They offer a particularly large selection of great used Canon lenses (with over 2600 items available!).
B&H Photo Video is one of the best places to buy used camera lenses online; the company features a dedicated website section that displays different used lens categories. This includes DSLR and mirrorless lenses, as well as lens accessories.
If you live outside the US, Amazon is an outstanding place to buy used camera lenses. Amazon operates in many countries and has an extensive delivery network that offers some of the fastest delivery times and prices on the market.
One of the best places to buy used camera lenses for UK customers is Jessops. The company is one of the best-known photography retailers in the UK and offers physical store locations as well as an extensive online store.
Gear Focus is a rapidly expanding online photo and video retailer. The company sells both used and new photography equipment, including lenses, cameras, video cameras, accessories, and general electronics. And while Gear Focus is headquartered in the US, it offers shipping to the UK, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, Italy, China, and several other countries.
I love KEH. It's hands down the best place for finding old cameras and has the greatest number of lenses for older, film cameras. It's also the best place to find last year's hottest point-and-shoot cameras for a great price.
Before the Internet, the used camera market was relatively small. Camera stores accepted some used cameras in trade, but only a few had more than a dozen secondhand models to sell. Now the secondhand market is filled with hundreds of thousands of used cameras of every make and model.
After explaining how he started MPB, Barker discussed the camera rating system on the site. Ratings help tell customers what a piece of used camera gear is actually like since they can only see a picture of it on a screen, Barker explains. It is, he says, at the heart of the online marketplace.
That sums up my feelings too. As an old photo enthusiast and a working photographer, I have owned dozens of cameras. So, for me, the used camera market is truly a place where I can go to recharge my enjoyment of cameras and renew that part of my pleasure in photography.
There is a live chat feature on the website, as well as a used department. B&H maintains a wide selection of used cameras and other secondhand electronics. You can find sound systems, smartphones, and video equipment.
Unlike some of the retailers on the list, they sell their used equipment through eBay.Their camera and consumer digital department carry 35 mm and small format digital cameras. They also carry lenses from every major manufacturer in the world.
The range of photographic equipment on MPB is vast. They are thousands of items passing through the marketplace every month. In addition to used cameras, they sell accessories like filters, camera batteries, and memory cards.
After KEH receive your gear, you can get paid by Paypal or check, or alternatively trade it in for one of their 60,000 items of second-hand cameras, lenses or accessories. In my experience, KEH offers the best camera trade-in program.
When it comes to buying gear from sites like eBay, Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace and Facebook groups dedicated to gear trade, always do your homework. Even the best camera auction sites can have scams or misleading listings.
If there are no images of the item for sale, or the seller has used stock images, ask for real images of the product. With cameras and lenses, ask for images from every angle including a close up of the sensor, rear screen and the front and rear elements of the lens.
Beyond the camera-speciality realm, there's also Amazon's dedicated Amazon Renewed program. What's notable there is a 90-day satisfaction guarantee. (Keep in mind that's not for any used items or third-party Marketplace items on Amazon, only items in the Amazon Renewed program.)
Would I buy a used, full-size expensive camera? I don't think so. I think for something I couldn't easily replace if it was damaged I'd want a warranty and the peace of mind that it was all new parts... and any damage done was only the result of my own clumsiness.
Above $2500 cameras tend to become increasingly specialized, making it difficult to select a 'best' option. We case our eye over the options costing more than $2500 but less than $4000, to find the best all-rounder.
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My question: Where would this community recommend as the best place(s) to look to find a reasonable deal on a used M10? I am based in British Columbia, Canada, and don't have any Leica stores nearby or a great camera store that stocks Leica within easy reach, so I'm looking primarily online. It looks like some reasonable deals come up on eBay, but I expect there may be some other / better options to consider?
I recently bought a used M10 from a corporate Leica store in the US (Las Vegas location) and they shipped to me in New York without a problem. I personally found more peace of mind buying from a certified Leica store than online marketplaces (eBay, Facebook) though I'm sure plenty can be found there, too.
KEH has been selling used DSLR camera gear since 1979, so it's a super trustworthy site. They buy used cameras, lenses, and other equipment and then resell them at great rates. You can also trade gear with them if you have a lens you're not using, and shipping is free for orders over $49.
Adorama has pretty much every piece of equipment you could want. You can buy both new and used cameras from Adorama, so keep that in mind while you're browsing. Not everything on their site is used, so if a price looks high then it's probably a brand new item. You can also rent or trade equipment through Adorama.
You can search based on the condition, and they break it up into several categories: mint, excellent, good, fair, poor, and inoperable. This is how they break down their categories for rating their used cameras.
The prices are super reasonable too, especially for the condition their items are in! You can trade in gear for newer (slightly used) cameras, or just sell your old cameras to them even if you're not looking to buy a new one. This is a great one to check out!
I will caution against buying used cameras on Amazon, with the exception of cameras marked refurbished by the manufacturer. The former is a huge risk, the latter is totally fine. Just be careful if you're buying a used camera on Amazon.
Buying used DSLR cameras or equipment can be nerve-wracking because it feels like a large purchase. However, using one of the vetted sited gives you the best chance of finding a used item that will work for you.
Figuring out where to buy used DSLR cameras can be tricky, but we've found some great camera gear through these sites! Do your research and keep an eye out until you find the camera you want at a great price. It's a great way to get a DSLR camera at a lower cost!
Neither method for buying used gear is necessarily better than the other. However, both methods have their benefits and drawbacks, and it is important to understand the risk/reward ratio before deciding on which purchasing platform is best suited for your needs.
In Ann Arbor, Michigan, the Camera Mall is fast becoming a go-to place to buy (new and) used cameras for Michiganders. They offer an exceptional customer experience and a generous 30-day return policy! Plus, a 60-day warranty to boot! 041b061a72