D810 refurbished (in hand, concerns)

[unity]

I bought an 810 refurbished. Good deal, not really caring about what Nikon will come out with next. With that said, I have some concerns. The body is very worn, down to the metal in areas. I would expect this with a camera with 50,000+ clicks (like my 7000). The lens contacts are worn, the buttons all appear original to the body (tiny scratches, dust). Its certainly a used camera, which I would sorta expect with a refurb. Just not this level of use/wear. One would think Nikon would have a threshold on bodies that get an overhaul. "New or like new" after all.

With that said... The shutter count was zero. I took five test pics and of course ended up with five counts (a mix of RAW and JPEG). From what I have read all over, this is unusual. I have seen reports of 6K down to just a few dozen. Even in some cases people report new cameras have counts. But refurbs always have something, new bodies usually don't. I locked the shutter up and the sensor is very clean (a couple tiny specs at best) with no scratches or signs of cleaning. The shutter box area is equally clean.

So... do I consider myself lucky that the shutter/engine are probably new (the guts) and hope the buttons and all the other stuff surrounding them hold up or do I return/exchange for another? I will add that I have no problem taking a DLSR apart as I have fixed several others before. And this does have a 90 day warranty. But still, the darn thing clearly has some miles on it. I would expecting something cleaner/newer looking. Are my expectation too high? What have other experienced with refurbished units?

 

[Don Kuykendall_RIP]

First off welcome to the forum. Where did you get the shutter count? Take a photo and upload it to https://www.camerashuttercount.com/ This is the best way to find the actually shutter count.

Be sure to check back in and let us know what the web site tells you.

I bought an 810 refurbished. Good deal, not really caring about what Nikon will come out with next. With that said, I have some concerns. The body is very worn, down to the metal in areas. I would expect this with a camera with 50,000+ clicks (like my 7000). The lens contacts are worn, the buttons all appear original to the body (tiny scratches, dust). Its certainly a used camera, which I would sorta expect with a refurb. Just not this level of use/wear. One would think Nikon would have a threshold on bodies that get an overhaul. "New or like new" after all.

With that said... The shutter count was zero. I took five test pics and of course ended up with five counts (a mix of RAW and JPEG). From what I have read all over, this is unusual. I have seen reports of 6K down to just a few dozen. Even in some cases people report new cameras have counts. But refurbs always have something, new bodies usually don't. I locked the shutter up and the sensor is very clean (a couple tiny specs at best) with no scratches or signs of cleaning. The shutter box area is equally clean.

So... do I consider myself lucky that the shutter/engine are probably new (the guts) and hope the buttons and all the other stuff surrounding them hold up or do I return/exchange for another? I will add that I have no problem taking a DLSR apart as I have fixed several others before. And this does have a 90 day warranty. But still, the darn thing clearly has some miles on it. I would expecting something cleaner/newer looking. Are my expectation too high? What have other experienced with refurbished units?

 

[unity]

Yes, thats the site I used (tried another site but it kept failing). Also verified the exif count on my computer, my Preview app shows all the Nikon exif data.

I will also add I went through the setting and no prior photographers info seems to be there. No lens profiles, settings, etc. I know in many cases people say they find the refurb bodies are loaded with previous owners info.

 

[Horoscope Fish]

I bought an 810 refurbished. Good deal, not really caring about what Nikon will come out with next. With that said, I have some concerns. The body is very worn, down to the metal in areas. I would expect this with a camera with 50,000+ clicks (like my 7000). The lens contacts are worn, the buttons all appear original to the body (tiny scratches, dust). Its certainly a used camera, which I would sorta expect with a refurb. Just not this level of use/wear. One would think Nikon would have a threshold on bodies that get an overhaul. "New or like new" after all.

With that said... The shutter count was zero. I took five test pics and of course ended up with five counts (a mix of RAW and JPEG). From what I have read all over, this is unusual. I have seen reports of 6K down to just a few dozen. Even in some cases people report new cameras have counts. But refurbs always have something, new bodies usually don't. I locked the shutter up and the sensor is very clean (a couple tiny specs at best) with no scratches or signs of cleaning. The shutter box area is equally clean.

So... do I consider myself lucky that the shutter/engine are probably new (the guts) and hope the buttons and all the other stuff surrounding them hold up or do I return/exchange for another? I will add that I have no problem taking a DLSR apart as I have fixed several others before. And this does have a 90 day warranty. But still, the darn thing clearly has some miles on it. I would expecting something cleaner/newer looking. Are my expectation too high? What have other experienced with refurbished units?

Your description of what you received does not match my own experience when buying a refurb. My first question is who did you buy it from? Was this a factory refurb' or was it refurbished by someone else? I ask because everything I've ever bought that was a certified factory refurb looked like it was fresh off the showroom floor. If you got your refurbished D810 for a steal of a price, you might now know why and it will be up to you to determine if you're happy with with what you have, versus what you paid for it. If it were me in this situation I'd probably be making inquiry about an exchange, based on your description... But that's me and maybe you got this D810 for a song, which might change my tune.

 

[mikew_RIP]

So many sellers advertise refurbished then in the small print it states seller refurbished, no one knows what they have done as it can be very little and be called refurbished.

 

[unity]

Its a factory refurb. Sealed white box. Comes with a Nikon refurb slip with serial (which looks like others I have seen, but probably could be faked easy enough) and another Nikon refurbished paper. Battery, charger and other items appear all new. Battery shows 37 clicks.

 

[unity]

To add (can't see post, cant edit). I bought it for $2,095 from BuyDig.com as they are in fact an authorized Nikon reseller and while they are a big online retailer (dislike) they are a known good source for Nikon gear. I bought from them for three reasons. I missed last months deal, $2,500 for a new D810 with Nikon grip. Shooting myself for that one... Second their price for a factory refurb was better than anyone else. Third, no sales tax. Not all, but most other places (like direct from Nikon USA) would have charged it, so I saved on that end of things too.

 

[Bikerbrent_RIP]

So many sellers advertise refurbished then in the small print it states seller refurbished, no one knows what they have done as it can be very little and be called refurbished.

Plus, I am sure that hacks exist to reset the shutter count to zero and perhaps this is the extent of the refurbish.

 

[Fred Kingston_RIP]

I've purchased several refurbs before. Your experience doesn't match mine at all. I'd re-interate the difference between a Nikon factory refurb, and a dealer refurb.

 

[nikonpup]

i would return it, all my refurbished equipment looked like new.

 

[Bikerbrent_RIP]

i would return it, all my refurbished equipment looked like new.

I agree, I would return it.

 

[Blade Canyon]

Can you post some pictures of the D810 and the issues of wear?

BTW, the "File Info" selection in Photoshop seems to give the most EXIF information of any program or website out there. It's quite a hunt to find the Shutter Clicks info, but it's in there.

 

[Bikerbrent_RIP]

Can you post some pictures of the D810 and the issues of wear?

BTW, the "File Info" selection in Photoshop seems to give the most EXIF information of any program or website out there. It's quite a hunt to find the Shutter Clicks info, but it's in there.

Can you provide any additional help of where we might find Shutter Clicks? I did quite an extensive search in my CS6 to no avail. Perhaps it's only in the CC versions?

 

[unity]

I found no shutter click listing, just image number. For D7000 I had 61,945 as that number, for the D810 its 8, from me doing test shots.

 

[Don Kuykendall_RIP]

I found no shutter click listing, just image number. For D7000 I had 61,945 as that number, for the D810 its 8, from me doing test shots.

Image number does not tell you the numbers of shutter clicks.

 

[unity]

Don't judge me! Hand held 100mm macro, just wanted to get shots, not put into print. I think, for the most part, any ONE of these issues I could have over-looked. Its the overall condition that has me concerned. Especially the mount scratches - who the heck puts a lens on that hard to do that sorta damage? They are pretty deep.

 

[unity]

Image number does not tell you the numbers of shutter clicks.

Then where is click in PS info. I looked all over for anything shutter related, could not locate.

 

[Don Kuykendall_RIP]

Send it back IF they will let you. I have read some complaints about BuyDig and customer service.

Don't judge me! Hand held 100mm macro, just wanted to get shots, not put into print. I think, for the most part, any ONE of these issues I could have over-looked. Its the overall condition that has me concerned. Especially the mount scratches - who the heck puts a lens on that hard to do that sorta damage? They are pretty deep.

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[Fred Kingston_RIP]

Image number is NOT what you're looking for. Take a picture, and upload the picture to one of the web sites listed above... I think when you see what the shutter count is, you're going to be shocked.

 

[unity]

BuyDig already offered me a return or a credit of $65.00, although the rep said he did not think I would take the credit based on what I told him. Nikon USA has the pics above sent to them.