All of us are interested in saving a buck. We all look at some of the less expensive batteries, memory cards, lens and the like. I know I have…I’ve just spent the afternoon throwing about 50 pounds of them directly into the trash. They are so useless I won’t even give them to charity and certainly not to some budding photographer. When it comes to photography…cheap equals eventual heartbreak.
At the same time, I am a big fan of buying Refurbished equipment from the manufacturer…especially Canon. These items can be found on their websites and usually run from 15 to 25 percent off the new price…come with a warranty…and arrive at your door in no time. With Canon, I strongly suspect that every single Refurbished item they have ever sent me was in fact…brand new…and maybe an overstock item for them. None have ever shown up looking worn or used at all.
If you need a back up Canon battery…get a backup Canon battery. They are expensive and there are lots of cheaper ones…for a reason. The cheaper ones are junk.
As to buying Used equipment…that is also fine as long as you do two things….buy it from a dealer you get to know…one who has a great national reputation and can prove it AND always buy those items that are shown to be New In the Box or Excellent Condition or Very Slightly Used. Once you slide down the scale to the bargain items…they are not bargains…they are banged up and your photos will be banged up.
Buy good quality…if you want to take good quality photos. You don’t necessarily need THE top of the line camera body and lens…usually the model right before the current one is pretty darn good and is now highly discounted. However, if you then slip down further and buy the cheap/entry level equipment…you and your photos will pay a price. Quality counts.
Aloha.