KEH - good source for used lenses?

[NancyP]

Thank you for your opinions. I may give them a try.

[lenser]

Brad,

Sorry you had a less than stellar experience with them. On the other hand, I've bought many times and only had two incidents where I had to call them on the items I bought.

One was a Zone VI bag bellows, the first version which was half bag and half pleated. After it had been more than 30 days past the warranty date, it delaminated between the two sections. I called. They did not have a replacement. Even though the warranty had expired, they immediately sent me a full refund so I could purchase a new one from Calumet.

The second was a Hasselblad 500CM which was shown in the on line ad with a new version of the film winding crank. The one I received had the old one. I called. They said a new version would be on it's way that day and to just keep the old one.

By the way, I've found their service/repair department to be every bit as helpful and honorable.

Great company in my opinion.

[Leszek Vogt]

Nancy, overall you could do lot worse than KEH. I've purchased various items from them in the recent years and I've been v. satisfied with the transactions. Most recently I bought a longer lens (Nikon) from them and a week or two later they announced "free shipping" thing. When I called them about it, they honored my purchase and I got a full refund for shipping. Anyway, if only other companies were as good as this one....

Les

[mdarnton]

I have had mixed luck with KEH's stuff, which I don't think they test at all before they send it out, but their customer service in response has been instant, no-questions asked, to solve any problem, and their prices are very good, for the things I want.

[brucetaylor]

I have read so many highly positive opinions about KEH that I decided to try them a year or two ago. I had a terrible experience. I think most of it revolved around a 90mm Super Angulon on a recessed Linhof board with a cam. It all came packaged in the same bag, my assumption being the lens, recessed board and cam were a set. The lens would simply not operate in the recessed board, insufficient clearance, so they weren't actually a set. Then I found the board was the wrong depth to sync with the rangefinder on my Technika. Many, many telephone calls and emails ensued, I think it took a couple of months to get the thing sorted. The only resolution was to purchase another, higher priced replacement. After all this, do you think you (KEH) could help me out a little on the additional cost-- since your original item was totally unsuitable, did not work and months have passed trying to work this out? A resounding NO. Pay up or go home. It was a strange and unpleasant retail experience. Almost everyone else writes about the terrific experiences they have, I must have been the unlucky one. I have purchased a couple of items from their ebay outlet, great transactions all, shipped fast and very well packed. YMMV, but realistically it's always a crap-shoot buying this old gear.

[Mark Stahlke]

I've had good luck with KEH. Buy with confidence.

[jwaddison]

The lens I ordered (where I bitched about the shipping cost a few posts ago) arrived today. It was graded Ex, but there is not a blemish on it and it works perfectly. It looks so new the previous owner must have used kid gloves every time he picked it up.

[Leigh]

A thought just popped into the vacuum between my ears...

I'll bet the grading is done by KEH's buyer at the time the item is purchased.
This would make sense since the price paid depends greatly on the condition.

It would be to their advantage to find every possible nit to downgrade the item.
We as subsequent purchasers might never notice those particular nits.

The rating may never be reviewed after the item is received in Atlanta.

- Leigh

[Oren Grad]

This would make sense since the price paid depends greatly on the condition.

I had some subjective impressions about this, too. Out of curiosity, I just exercised their quote widget on two LF items. For ease in comparison, I've added percentages, with the "LN-" grade in each case assigned a value of 100%.

Linhof Master Technika
LN- $1113.90 100%
EX+ $1075.83 96.6%
EX $986.53 88.6%
BGN $667.60 59.9%

Schneider Apo-Symmar 210mm f/5.6 with caps
LN- $166.00 100%
EX+ $151.60 91.3%
EX $139.60 84.1%
BGN $94.00 56.6%

I wanted to add a late-model DSLR for comparison, but a dialog box popped up saying there is a limit on the number of quotes you can get in one day. The fraction of new selling price will be much higher for a current DSLR, but I'm curious as to whether the "condition curve" is similar. If someone else can pick a current DSLR model and check that it might be interesting.

[Richard Rankin]

A thought just popped into the vacuum between my ears...

I'll bet the grading is done by KEH's buyer at the time the item is purchased.
This would make sense since the price paid depends greatly on the condition.

It would be to their advantage to find every possible nit to downgrade the item.
We as subsequent purchasers might never notice those particular nits.

The rating may never be reviewed after the item is received in Atlanta.

- Leigh

I think you're correct on this. I asked a question about a BGN lens recently, and the sales rep explained that once they grade and buy, items are boxed for shipment and stored in a warehouse out of the city. (He did get me an answer within an hour, though).

My BGN purchases have been better than an Ebay 'Excellent' rating. I got a terrific 210mm lens recently in perfect shape, downgraded to BGN because it didn't have the caps.

I love KEH.

Cheers,
Richard