Important Lessons I Learned Buying Used Camera Gear on Amazon.ca

It's no secret that camera gear in 2021 is expensive!

Modern camera manufacturers like Sony, Fujifilm, Canon, and Nikon release new, cutting-edge, and highly-competitive mirrorless camera offerings on a regular basis with some prices far exceeding some peoples' budgets.

It's no surprise really, then, that the same can be said for the accompanying lenses.

This was the same problem I faced when I bought my Canon EOS RP. It was time to find a way to get into a camera system for a reasonable price, and not have to spend thousands of dollars on a good lens.

That's why I jumped on Amazon.ca to see if I could snag myself a deal!

LESSON #1: IT WAS GOOD TO KNOW WHAT I WANTED TO BUY INSTEAD OF JUST "BROWSING" AROUND RANDOMLY

What do you mean "browsing" Mike? I mean browsing around the Amazon catalogue trying to seek out used lens deals. This is a decent strategy, but if you have a good idea of what you want to buy, that's a better starting point if a deal is what the goal is.

Let me explain...

For example, I purchased a Canon EOS RP which is one of their first mirrorless offerings from a couple of years ago. The good thing about this camera—well, actually, one of the many good things—is that the lenses that attach to it use the RF-mount system. It's the way that the lens connects to the front of the camera body.

If you have previous lenses from any Canon DSLR from the EF-mount system, they don't natively work with your RF-mount cameras, they must first be adapted on using the RF to EF-mount adapter.

However, the new RF lenses are extremely expensive compared to some new, or second-hand EF offerings. New RF lens pricing can range from twice to even thrice the price of their EF counterparts (or similar equipment from third parties like Tamron, Tokina, Sigma, etc.). That's insane!

Since RF glass is so expensive, I decided to buy the Tamron SP 15-30mm f/2.8 Di VC USD (original version), not the G2, which can be adapted on to my EOS RP with the adapter I got for free. I knew this was the lens I wanted to buy based on my research, so I hit up Amazon and snapped myself up that deal for $930 with free shipping, and maybe $30 in duties/taxes.

Compare that to Canon's own RF 15-35mm f/2.8L IS USM which is... you guessed it!

THREE.THOUSAND.DOLLARS... SAY WHAT?

The Canon RF lens I mentioned above retails for $3000. That's bonkers! That Tamron I got is literally 1/3 of the price.

Okay, so the Tamron has a super-fast, ultra-bright aperture of f/2.8. It also has a USD motor which means it's super quiet thanks to ultra-sonic drive technology, and it even has VC—Vibration Correction—Tamron's own version of Canon's IS or Nikon's VR essentially.

These are the same features you find on Canon's newest RF ultrawide offering. The only difference is that you lose 5mm on the focal range compared with the RF 15-35mm.

Not only does no other lens have all of these features, no other lens has them for this price point, and very few lenses of this nature even feature any form of optical image stabilization inside of the lens at all.

Given all of those pieces of information, saving $2000 by going this route was a good decision thanks to Amazon.ca.

The icing on the cake you ask?

Well, the lens itself is as sharp, if not sharper, than some native glass on some systems. That's amazing for me.

It's obviously not as sharp as the new native RF glass, because that's some of the sharpest glass ever made, but it gets 90% of the way there.

LESSON #2: I CAN BUY USED CAMERA GEAR WITH CONFIDENCE

This section is super short. When I got that lens, I just made sure to find out how highly rated the seller I am buying from is. You don't always buy from Amazon directly, especially used gear, so it's good to know the seller rating.

The seller I purchased from was awesome. They are located in Korea, have a high seller rating, free shipping, and very fast international delivery—again, all at 1/3 of the price of what Canon's RF glass runs.

Though Tamron offers a generous 7-year warranty on new lenses, sadly you do not get that luxury buying used. However, the lens still came with a generous 30-day return/exchange policy.

LESSON #3: AMAZON IS A GLOBAL MARKETPLACE SO IT'S GOOD TO CHECK THEM OUT TO FIND OBSCURE LENSES AND RELATED GEAR

I saw this lens yet naturally already assumed the worst. I assumed that I would never get my hands on one of those babies, and that I would have to shell out the full $1,699 on a new G2 version instead.

Luckily, Amazon came to the rescue!

The lens arrived in 10/10 condition, as-new, with no marks, as if it just came out of the box, yet for some reason was market as "not 100% perfect". Koreans just have a stricter quality standard I suppose, which I greatly appreciate of course.

CONCLUSION

I buy used on Amazon.ca because I trust my ability to find quality products that are trustworthy, for affordable prices.

However, this is not something that I recommend as a default for everyone.

Buying anything used comes with risks, so if you know them, know how to mitigate them, and purchase with confidence, the used market on Amazon is a fantastic place to find your next used piece of camera gear!

Thanks for reading.