Buying Second Hand Camera tips

Paying for a brand new camera is insane, especially if you are paying UK store prices.  Online prices are already 20-35% cheaper than buying in a store in the UK.  However my preffered method of buying DSLR cameras is buying Second Hand.

many reason as to why buy second hand
1) vastly cheaper + sellers may have extra batteries etc
2) camera has been used a while and all things should be working fine
3) buying in person means you get a good play of the gear and know where the person selling it to you lives in case you have to return to chop their heads off for selling you a dud.
4) firmware updates have usually been released and loaded on
5) software like lightroom will already have all the codec for working on the raw files.

But before you go and hand over your cash there is something you need to assess.
Who was using the camera and how were they using it.
a camera used by a war correspondant that shot 200k photos in conditions that would make even tanks crumble... or a new dad who got a camera for xmas and quickly figured out it was far above his level to learn.
Cameras for sale with the later owner are the ones to go for.




Here are some tips when buying a Second Hand Camera

1) Buy in person.
2) Dont by total crap, if something was cheap and crap when it first came out, buying second hand at a cheaper price does not make it any less crap.
3) Double check other online prices for the item you are buying, check amazon, gumtree, ebay etc. so that even if you are getting a good deal you are not going to find a better deal just a week later online somewhere.
4) Dust and oil on the sensor is something you can complain about but very easy to fix yourself and get a better price.
5) check all the functions and dials work as expected, a lot of the time the sensor and shutter can be fine but the command dials and the power connections are the weak links.
6) If it doesnt come with a box, try and get a discount. a box is always a good thing.
7) check the connections with the lenses you have, if you have a brand new af-s vc lens check that the camera is communicating effectively with the lens so that the Vibration conpensation (reduction) is working in lens and also that the focus is working in and out accurately.  a dodgy auto focus system is impossible to see just by looking, you have to test your lens on it.
8) check memory card door and slot (bent connector pins can mean your cards are not getting in)
9) make sure you get the supplied battery charger with the camera otherwise that is something you will need to buy yourself very quickly.

Gorillapod MAGNETIC Review

Tipods are big and heavy and sometimes just not needed.  Gorillapods are small and light and can be wrapped around stuff but require a lot of fiddling and cant really hold that much weight.  Gorillapods with MAGNETS on its feet, are small, light, can be wrapped around stuff, and if it is made out of metal/steel/iron then boom no fiddling required it can just stick to it without having to be wrapped around. handy when attaching to the bonnet of a car.
However this so far is really just for point and shoot, phone cameras and gopros, not ready for big boy dslrs yet.



However if you are a gopro blogger or a blogger with just a simple point and shoot (under 350g) then bingo you have a very very handy cheap small and light tool for you to get some hands free video shots!

Get yours from amazon here http://amzn.to/18p7cgd

Magents are strong enough to hold a gopro out straight while just holding onto a metal pin from a Glidetrack

Only needs 2 feet to be touching the edge of a radiator to hold the gopro in this shot

The height of the Gorillapod with a gopro ontop is only the same height as a Nikon 70-200vr 1

Here is a close up of the quick release/locking mechanism, just twist it to the unlock position and push the tab down and the clip slides out

can be scrunched up to about the same size as a gopro

but also extended out to be the size of…. something else.(a really big scary spider)

Dom's Amazon Camera Store

Make sure to click on the bit at the side that say Nikon and Canon stuff as that is where I have put the most effort in

Best ultra wide angle lens for Canon Cropped sensor cameras

In this video I test out the sigma 10-20, sigma 12-24, tokina 11-16 and the canon 15-85 lenses.

My new photography book. click below

Getting There ...

By Dom Bower

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Canon 5D Mark 3

Canon have announced the Canon 5D Mark 3, the update to the hugely popular 5D Mark 2. Although not pushing the envelope with regards to MegaPixels, Canon have been busy working away at providing answers to many of the, small, complaints of the Mark ii, most of which is the autofocus, so instead of increasing the auto focus ponits from 9 to 12, they have gone mental and put in a monster 61 auto focus points! They also say they have increased the ISO performance, not only in numbers but also in noise reduction. It is now also able to keep up the fps to keep many sports shooters happy with an impressive 6fps. Video wise, it says its better, i cant figure out how as the mark 2's video is so very good. but i am sure it is, they say it should have reduced moire and that may be down to the direct down sampling of the sensor resolution which is an exact 3x compared to before... yet to see good evidence of that though. price wise its a little more expensive than the mark 2 when it first came out but a full double the price of a mark 2 as of March 2012, so you better be rolling in money if you want to stump up the extra cash for this camera.

My new photography book. click below

Getting There ...

By Dom Bower

Book Preview