Art and Photography

I need your old kit lens.

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  • Apr 10th, 2010 11:19 am
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Deal Addict
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Nov 17, 2003
3042 posts
21 upvotes

I need your old kit lens.

I thought I'd post this here in the hopes of avoiding hundreds of useless PMs from the great BST masses. I figure it can't be any more annoying than the 30th "what camera should I buy" post of the week, right?

So, I've somehow, miraculously convinced my better half to try and get interested in photography. I picked up a nice D50 for the course she's signed up for, but realized last night that most of my appropriate glass is unavailable at the moment. (she's understandably intimidated by the weight and cost of pro glass, and my lighter travel lenses are traveling with other family members right now).

So I need to pick up something inexpensive to pair with the D50. Ideally something that will still be useful should her interest stick.. I'm thinking an 18-70 would be my first choice, but I'd consider an 18-135, 18-105VR or maybe an 18-55 if the price is really, really good. I might consider an older (non-SWM) Tamron 17-50, again if the price is really good.

All these are available pretty cheap on FM, but I'd like to have the lens in hand late next week, so buying Canadian is a must.

If you can help an RFDer chasing the impossible dream (a better half who at least tolerates the cost of shooting? just imagine!) out, pm me!
9 replies
Deal Addict
Oct 19, 2006
1880 posts
124 upvotes
There's the BST: electronics forum. I think I saw a couple people selling some kits stuff.
Deal Fanatic
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Oct 26, 2003
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Nepean
check usedottawa, kijiji, craigslist there's always tons of them on sale :)
Deal Addict
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Nov 17, 2003
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TenzoR wrote: check usedottawa, kijiji, craigslist there's always tons of them on sale :)
There's nothing reasonable at the moment (there's no way I'm paying $300 for an 18-70, for example) and I don't have enough time to wait for a reasonably priced one to arrive from the states via fredmiranda (where there's lots of great selection).

I've sent a few offers to people, but Ottawa sellers seem to get offended at offers. Even if they're selling a well-used lens at 95% of the (overpriced) retail cost.

I'm hoping that an RFDer might have a cheap normal zoom available from having recently bought an f2.8 lens or something..
Deal Guru
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Dec 3, 2004
10943 posts
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Markham/Mississauga
Check Vistek Ottawa on Bank street downtown, they have a lot of used kit lens for Nikon for sale. Comes with a 30 or 90 days warranty as well.
Deal Addict
Oct 19, 2006
1880 posts
124 upvotes
I find people in the US gives much better pricing even with shipping and most will be happy to help you out with the customs related issues ;) .

For example I asked if someone's firm on their 17-55 om tpmg (sorry if you are also in this forum and finding this offensive) and I didn't even get a reply. So in the end went for a 11-16 2.8 instead of upgrading my 17-50 to 17-55 IS.

That being said I can understand why some people don't like it. I found it annoying how some people were asking for 400 off 2nd hand market prices for some stuff I was selling before. However, generally I'd entertain reasonable offers especially if I was pricing with some room.

So you might want to check out fredmiranda.com and their Buy and sell forum.
Deal Fanatic
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Sep 18, 2009
5016 posts
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Southwestern Ontario
I bought a Canon kit lens for $70 on Ebay two weeks ago, and it arrived in 3 days.
Why not settle for a 50mm prime f/1.8 before the course, or whatever makes this so urgent, starts, and keep looking for a zoom? The price is $100, and they are widely available.
Deal Guru
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Sep 21, 2007
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...
jayt90 wrote: I bought a Canon kit lens for $70 on Ebay two weeks ago, and it arrived in 3 days.
Why not settle for a 50mm prime f/1.8 before the course, or whatever makes this so urgent, starts, and keep looking for a zoom? The price is $100, and they are widely available.
Yup. I looked at the henry's store on ebay and they were selling 18-55mm IS kit lenses for $60 + 10-15 shipping.
"An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail." -- Edward Land
Newbie
Oct 22, 2006
83 posts
11 upvotes
I've been thinking of selling my 18-70 but I'm in Winnipeg. Toss me a PM if you're interested.
Deal Fanatic
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Dec 11, 2003
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Toronto
The D50 with 18-70 was my first digital camera, they would work well together.

Brent
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HEATWARE.... if you bought from me ... thanks

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