Anyone have experience with KEH BGN(Bargin) lenses

jrmyrnsm

Well I found a lens that Im interested on KEH and there is about a $50 discount for the BGN condition lens over the EX lens. On their scale the BGN is only one down from EX so I was wondering if anyone had a personal expeience with the BGN lenses from KEH. I dont really mind the body having a few scratchs and scuffs and really minor glass marks wouldn't be a huge deal but I just don't want it to have a major knick in the glass that would hurt resale(I tend to buy and sell a lot...). Any input with a personal experience with BGN lenses would be great! Thanks in advance!

ziggy53

jrmyrnsm wrote:

Well I found a lens that Im interested on KEH and there is about a $50 discount for the BGN condition lens over the EX lens. On their scale the BGN is only one down from EX so I was wondering if anyone had a personal expeience with the BGN lenses from KEH. I dont really mind the body having a few scratchs and scuffs and really minor glass marks wouldn't be a huge deal but I just don't want it to have a major knick in the glass that would hurt resale(I tend to buy and sell a lot...). Any input with a personal experience with BGN lenses would be great! Thanks in advance!

I have purchased a few BGN lenses from KEH and returned 2 of them. The great thing about KEH is their customer service and return policy. In one case I bought a brand new lens from them because the BGN lens didn't work out but I needed a lens quickly and they made it happen quickly. (The lens I purchased was an old Canon EF 20-35mm, f2.8L USM and it had internal mechanical problems and I wound up getting a new EF 17-40mm, f4L USM from them that I love.)

In the second case the lens was not even finish ground and polished by the manufacturer and you could see the problem easily by shining a single LED through the lens. When I sent it back I included images to show the prolem. KEH had another copy within a couple of months and I purchased it and have had no problems. Stuff happens but I'm glad that KEH is so easy to work with.

Pupator

I have bought several KEH lenses rated BGN. One I returned because the IQ of the lens was terrible (had nothing to do with it being BGN, it was a sucky lens!). All the rest I have been really happy with. The bodies are beat up, sometimes the glass is scratched, but in my experience the damage does not have any impact on the image quality. You can get some real deals buying their BGN lenses. The downside is that they have almost no resale value because it's hard to convince a private buyer that a lens with scratches on the glass still takes great pictures!

jonh68

I bought one bgn lens, a 17-35 nikon for 750.00. Carefully read the descriptions to note any major dings. Mine has the filter ring damaged, but it is not a big deal to me considering I got it close to 1000 cheaper than new and i can probably get it fixed for under 200. Other than that, the IQ is great.

You can try them out for 14 days if you don't like the lens so there isn't much risk.