Does anyone have experience with used lenses? Especially off brand used lenses?

I have a Canon AE-1 and I'm looking to buy some lenses for it. The Vivitar, Tamron, etc... off brands lenses are cheaper than the canon brand ones. Is there distortion or anything of that sort compared to photos using canon lenses?

Can you be more specific as to what focal length of lenses, maybe max aperature you are looking at? I got a Sigma 24mm for something like $30 on ebay, which has noticeable distortion, and is not too sharp unless you stop it down a little bit, but it is fun enough to be worth it. I hear the Canon 50mm (1.2, 1.4, 1.8) is a good deal, I have the 50 1.4, and I like it very much. I also heard the Vivitar 140-210 or something like that is surprisingly sharp.

I had a wide angle like 17-24mm in mind, with f/stops that will handle low light well.

I'm also looking to get a telephoto, around 200mm.

The Canon 24/2.8 is only like $140 used. Just get the Canon. It's a nice lens. Older Sigma and Tamron are all but guaranteed to be crap.

Just incase I came off as recommending my Sigma as a quality lens, I did not mean too, I was just trying to say that it was fun to be able to play with a 24mm after only having 28mm as the widest option.

I bought all my lenses as Used and none of them seem to have a problem. If you buy them off the internet you have to have some luck although many of the Ebay sellers a quite honest.

Check www.keh.com They usually have great prices on used lenses. You should always buy Canon if you can afford it. Search for reviews for the Sigma and Tamron lenses you're considering. Some are surprisingly rated well, while most are not so good.

Sara

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/ B&H Photo Video has a great selection of both on and off brand lens. Most of the lens I use with my cameras are off brand (Vivitar, Kiron, McKinnon, Soligor). For the most part I've had excellent luck with them, good sharp images. The thing you really have to look out for in used lens is fungus.

I picked up a Vivitar 17-28mm f4 FD mount lens on ebay for about $120. It is absolute crap wide open, but it sharpens up quite nicely past f8. The distortion is not too bad, and it is so wide. I never thought I would find a lens that was too wide, this almost is. I recommend it fully.

The canon 17mm prime is crap for the money it fetches.

this may sound like an odd offer
but I'm moving and want to get rid of stuff
if you send me your address I'll send you my 80-200mm tamron telephoto lens and some weird thrid party "image" telephoto lens I never use
both for my canon ae-1 and t90
its a good tamron lens, I've had alot of fun with it
the other I cannot vouch for in terms of quality
I never use them though, not since getting the 35-105mm canon lens and I have a 24mm that I absolutely love
if you'll reimburse me for the shipping, I figure we're square
if you hate them, toss them over the side of a building

just thought I'd throw it out there, I have too much camera gear and a very small apt I'm moving too

cheers and no offence taken if your not interested in the lenses

pirate

okay so I move tomorrow and won't have internet access for a while so I'll consider the lack of response: lack of interest in the lenses

pirate

I'm going to disagree and say that my Tamron that I picked up used is the best lens I own, and a buddy of mine who shoots professionally recommended it to me.

In general, with used lenses, I'd try to stick with primes... less moving pieces to get mucked up. Around where I am, there are a few places you can rent from, or that have return policies; if you can play with it before investing fully, give that a go.

Why do people always say their friends shoot professionally like that means they know anything about gear? Most pros that I've met know very little about gear. You don't have to in order to be a photographer.

Tamron make some nice lenses. They make lots of shit lenses. Sigma's EX series is nice. The rest are mostly crap as well. Voigtlander make nice lenses.

I'm looking for a used Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM Lens for my dslr. It's an expensive lens that's why I'm willing to take a used one.

If anyone does have such a lens to sell, could you please PM me ?

if found a batch of old nikon F mount manual lenses (AI and non-AI) in my schools equip locker that nobody wanted. so im using them. you dont just find 6 perfectly fine lenses just lying around like that everyday!

I don't mind using off-brand lenses. Sometimes they are quite good, lacking only in snob appeal.

But I have had mixed results from buying used lenses online. Whether it be eBay or privately online, it has been my experience that most sellers have no clue how to evaluate a used lens. The latest lens I bought was from a highly respected owner of a well known photography website. This "pefect optics" enlarger lens arrived unusable. Fortunately there is a camera shop in town that employs a repairperson who can bring even the nastiest of lenses back to like-new condition. It'll cost me though. Other "perfect" lenses have arrived with sticky aperture blades, fungus, hazy, seperation, etc.

On a bright note, I have heard good things about the honesty of KEH, and I have bought from Henry's out of Toronto with good results. But as for private online sales of "sight unseen" lenses, I will avoid from now on and advise you to do the same unless the person you are dealing with is known to you to be trustworthy.

I had the same keh question a few weeks ago...and the quality of bgn grade equipment. I bought an F3 body, and a nikon 24mm f2.8 (both engraved, bgn grade) for $220. They are pretty damn good.

The body is fairly brassed, no dents, small engraving. Works perfectly. Lens has a larger engraving, perfect glass. I recommend KEH fully, and even recommend bgn grade....if you just want something that works, and ignore the cosmetics. After all, they have a very liberal return policy.

Posted by Kelwyn I'm going to disagree and say that my Tamron that I picked up used is the best lens I own, and a buddy of mine who shoots professionally recommended it to me.

Damn straight. I have two Tamrons, a 135mm f/2.5 and a 28mm f/1.4. Both work fabulously. The 135 was my dad's, he used it for ages on his Pentax, when I got it, all it needed was a new adaptall2 mount for my Minolta. The 28mm came from Savers (basically a thrift store), of all places. It takes the same mount, and works fantastically. And i got it for $10.


I also like Sigma lenses. Their aspherical lenses are maaaaaaaaad.

But in general, for used lenses, try it before you buy it. Even if it's just bringing your camera with you to the store and putting the two together to see if it focuses properly. And watch out for fungus.