Steve'sDigicams

afayec · Aug 30, 2006, 9:01 AM

Hi,

Just wondered if anyone knew how to tell the difference in a factory demo or refurbished camera?

Thanks

stowaway7 · Aug 30, 2006, 5:23 PM

If you're buying from a reputable vendor they will state up front what you're getting. A factory demo may be a model a sales rep carried to camera shops or vendors; refurbished could be an item that was returned a short time after purchase as a DOA that was replaced and fixed by the factory. Even in that case you may get a good deal as a lot of vendors offer a warranty on these items. Sometimes they were just in a display case with no use at all.

I have a personal example to share; I recently purchased a "factory demo" Olympus E-1 body from Cameta Camera (ebay dealer).I had already purchased a new model of the same from them and got the demo as a backup body. How did the demo stack up? The counter showed 2812 shutter releases...not bad for a camera that boasts a 150,000 shutter cycle life. The firmware was version 1.3 (newest is 1.4; but a new model comes as 1.1) which I upgraded. The plastic LCD cover had some minor scratches (I had already abused my new one worse and switched them) and a tiny plastic cover from the PC connection was missing (I've lost them from every camera I've ever had). So what did I save? $36 (US) less than the new model and it works fine; came with a 1 year warranty (which I could have upgraded for...$40, but I didn't).

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Aug 30, 2006, 9:01 AM	#1
afayec Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 175	Hi, Just wondered if anyone knew how to tell the difference in a factory demo or refurbished camera? Thanks

Aug 30, 2006, 5:23 PM	#2
stowaway7 Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 183	If you're buying from a reputable vendor they will state up front what you're getting. A factory demo may be a model a sales rep carried to camera shops or vendors; refurbished could be an item that was returned a short time after purchase as a DOA that was replaced and fixed by the factory. Even in that case you may get a good deal as a lot of vendors offer a warranty on these items. Sometimes they were just in a display case with no use at all. I have a personal example to share; I recently purchased a "factory demo" Olympus E-1 body from Cameta Camera (ebay dealer).I had already purchased a new model of the same from them and got the demo as a backup body. How did the demo stack up? The counter showed 2812 shutter releases...not bad for a camera that boasts a 150,000 shutter cycle life. The firmware was version 1.3 (newest is 1.4; but a new model comes as 1.1) which I upgraded. The plastic LCD cover had some minor scratches (I had already abused my new one worse and switched them) and a tiny plastic cover from the PC connection was missing (I've lost them from every camera I've ever had). So what did I save? $36 (US) less than the new model and it works fine; came with a 1 year warranty (which I could have upgraded for...$40, but I didn't).