Purchasing a D5100 Refurb - Should I Be Scared of Shutter Actuation Issues?

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Chris1983

Senior Member
Hi All,

Well, I've decided to purchase a refurbished Nikon D5100 through Best Buy-Cameta (I can get 18 month 0% financing this way, which is huge for my budget). A co-worker of mine brought up the question of shutter actuations; is this something I should be leery of, buying a refurbished unit?

​Thanks!
 
Fred Kingston_RIP

Fred Kingston_RIP

Senior Member
You'll have no way of knowing what the actuations are. The counter gets reset by Nikon as part of their refurb process and testing... The refurbed camera gets a 90 day "new" warranty from Nikon, and some/most Nikon dealers extend that "new" warranty for up to a year...

As far as I know... those are the only warrantees you get. The shutters for many Nikon cameras are "tested" to certain shutter actuations... those actuations are not guaranteed... the only warranty is the 90day/1 year and/or any other time extension you purchase...
 
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Deezey

Senior Member
I honestly wouldn't worry about it much. Most of my gear is refurbished. I haven't had a single hiccup with any of my gear.

While there always is a risk when purchasing refurbed. I would have to say it isn't much more than purchasing new. And from my experience.... most people trade up cameras well before they get to the suggested shutter life.

Sent from my SCH-I405 using Tapatalk 2
 
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Chris1983

Senior Member
Thanks everyone. Given the popularity of the refurb market nowadays I didn't think it was a HUGE concern, but I DID want to bring it up after having it mentioned to me.
 
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turbobuick86

Senior Member
I'm curious because my refurb had 1100 clicks and I've read about others' refurbs also having many clicks. In fact I have not read where the meter might have been reset during the refurb process. Are refurbs typically zero'd by the factory or not?
 
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Chris1983

Senior Member
Well, the numbers certainly DO seem wildly different, if resetting the shutter count IS part of the refurb process. I'm not concerned by it, but I am curious.
 
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mikew_RIP

Senior Member
One guy was complaining his refurb had nearly 5000 clicks but his mates only had 1800,the answer from others was within reason a refurb is pot luck as to how much its been used.I think sometimes the official importers have over stock to clear and dealers sell this as refurb to cover for the price drop,its also a cover used by some grey import merchants so buyers don't expect an official Nikon warranty,this means some so called refurbs have no clicks on them.

mike
 
Fred Kingston_RIP

Fred Kingston_RIP

Senior Member
I'm not sure that's the case... Almost every refurb I've ever seen had it's own Refurb/plain white or brown box packaging... I'm sure a dealer wouldn't repackage a NEW Nikon and sell it as a Refurb...

I bought a recent Refurb D600 from Adorama... and the first shot taken after setting the dates/time/languages was 51... so I can only conclude it had 50 actuations straight from Refurb... I also conclude it had been reset to some number and then tested up to the 50... I can't imagine a camera being defective and the defect being determined in less than 50 actuations... and testing after fixing...
 
Fred Kingston_RIP

Fred Kingston_RIP

Senior Member
That certainly does, doesn't it??? There's certainly enough differences in warranty definitions to indicate that Nikon may have more than one process and definition for "Manufacturer Refurbed"...;)
 
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turbobuick86

Senior Member
Thanks, was curious also about vendor refurb, vs repair site, vs factor refurb. The gray box says, "This product has been refurbished to Nikon factory specifications for Nikon Inc. A Nikon Inc. 90 day limited warranty is included." The words "FOR NIKON" and not "BY NIKON" make me wonder who actually performs the refurb.

So far I'm very pleased with my purchase. Just food for thought.
 
SkvLTD

SkvLTD

Senior Member
I've put 32848 on my new unit in 9 months, I'm driving this thing harder than I did a car when I had one. :D

I don't know how much you guys shoot, but a mere night event's worth of clicks is honestly next to nothing in the long run.
 
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