Used Lens buying Guide: Introduction
The biggest advantage to owning a single lens reflex (SLR) camera is that you have the ability to purchase different lenses to suit what you're trying to take photos of.
SLR lenses range from the basic "kit" lenses that may come with your camera, to highly expensive prime telephoto lenses which can cost tens of thousands of dollars. The notion that you will spend more on lenses or "glass" as many people call them, is very true.
Many people also firmly believe that spending more money on your lenses than you do on your camera body is pretty much mandatory. Aside from a high dollar camera like a Hasselblad I would definitely agree with them. After all, the camera only captures what the lens shows it.
Whenever you decide to break free from your basic kit lens and start looking for something with better optical quality, that is usually when you realize how much these lenses cost. Generally a good lens can cost anywhere from a thousand, to a few thousand. Of course if you want to go with something cheaper and more basic, those are available too. However they're also made cheaper and more basic, with plastic barrels and lens elements instead of metal and glass. In the end, you ultimately get better results for spending more money in the beginning. However, don't let that scare you off from expanding your photography skills!
There are ways to save a lot of money on camera lenses; Buying used is by far the best way to save money on lenses.
Many people including myself tend to buy lenses to start off with and when they realize what a better lens can do for them, they sell off the old ones and use that money to upgrade. It's sort of like trading in a car for a better one and sometimes it seems equally as expensive! Many times these lenses are hardly used, and have sat in a nice cozy case for the majority of their lives. If you know what to look for and know what questions to ask the seller of these lenses, you can usually save yourself hundreds of dollars and many times even get the lens for nearly half the cost of what the lens would cost you if you bought it new.
In this guide, we'll break down the problems that you may encounter when purchasing a used lens as well as what to ask a seller if it isn't made clear from the beginning. Some of these problems we'll get into are extremely rare, so don't feel intimidated to ask every question here if you can tell by simply looking at a picture of it.
