BUYING A USED CAMERA
Let's say you want to buy a Canon AE-1. You will find many available on ebay and prices will vary.
One listing shows a fuzzy photo of the camera showing no detail. The seller says "it worked the last time
I used it." or "This camera is from an estate sale...I don't know much about cameras." Another listing
shows several photos of the camera in great detail and the seller gives a detailed description of the
camera's operating condition...better yet, the camera has been recently serviced. The second camera
is selling for $40 more than the first.

Both sellers have decent feedback...but, is the one that's $40 cheaper a better buy?

A classic camera like the one in the example above is likely 20-35 years old. It is estimated that 80%
of all cameras (older than 8 years) sold on ebay are in need of immediate servicing or will need servicing
in the very near future. Call your local camera repair shop and ask how much it costs for a simple CLA
(clean, lube and adjust). They will quote you $85-$120 plus extra if repairs are needed.

A dead giveaway to stay away from a particular listing is when the seller states that the camera works fine,
but it has no battery. Many cameras will not operate at all without a battery. How can the seller know
that the camera works if the battery is dead and cannot even be tested.
If you go for the cheaper deal, you may be one of the 20% that gets lucky. If not, servicing will end up
costing you more than you paid for the camera and more than if you had bought the camera that was serviced.                     
Which is a better buy? You decide.

BUYING A USED LENS OR FLASH
You should consider the fact that most people cannot tell the difference between photos taken with a good
quality $200 lens and a top of the line $1200 lens. Unless you're a "purist" with money to burn or you plan
to print 16x20 enlargements and examine the corners with a magnifying glass, you don't have to spend a
fortune to get good quality photos and slides. Often you can save money by buying a "store-brand" such as
Quantaray  or Promaster. These products are usually made by companies like Sigma or Cosina/Voightlander
and are often identical to the product sold under their own well-known brand label. As proof of this,I refer you
to 25 years of editorial commentary and camera body and lens tests by PopularPhotography magazine.
Lenses manufactured by Sigma, Tamron, Tokina, Samyang and Cosina and sold under their brand name
and marketed under other names such as Phoenix, Vivitar and Quantaray have frequently been cited as better
overall values than similar lenses by Nikon, Minolta and Canon. The same goes for flashes. I have a Promaster
flash that I use with my Nikon that performs as well as the similar Nikon flash. I bought it from a Camera store
in New Orleans and cost me less than a third of the price of the equivilant Nikon Flash. That same flash was
sold at the Wolf/Ritz stores under their Quantaray label. It should also be pointed out that some of Nikon's
models such as the FM10 are actually made by Cosina-Voightlander, a brand little known in the US but a top
seller in Europe. I am sure that quite a few of the lower end cameras from major manufacturers are outsourced
these days. Unlike the old days, brand name is no longer as reliable an indicator of relative quality.