dougpeterson
Workshop Member
:-(
If you are able to get out of the sale and would like to discuss options in the lower price ranges from an entity which has a strong public reputation, who warranties their sales, offers simple evaluation rentals and no-questions-asked return policies you can contact a good dealer. This is a selfish/shameless plug in that we are a Phase One / Leaf dealer. But trust me when I say I'd much rather see you work with a good Hasselblad dealer who competes with us then bounce around eBay.
The other major benifit of a dealer is that it gives you someone to call when you have questions about the back, software, firmware, upgrade options, accessories, evaluations of obscure lenses etc. The manufacturers are set up to provide primary support through their dealers so are not set up to, themselves, answer the sorts of questions you're likely to have when you start using the system. The forums provide a very good way for you to ask specific and particurarly obscure questions - it's a very friendly and well informed group - but there is a general expectation here that you've done your homework before asking too many simple questions, especially on basic operations or setups. Rather than pour through user manuals that were written many years ago, much of which changes later with revised software or firmware, and pages upon pages of related posts on forums you'd have someone to make a quick call and get an easy answer.
Failing that, buying from a user on the forum, assuming they have a history on the forum (many posts and/or reviews on the buy/sell forum) sure beats the heck out of most eBay options in my opinion. Many users on this forum have bought and sold several backs/bodies/lenses/accesories and have a known reputation for their full disclosure, careful care of gear.
But eBay is, to me, the least desirable option. Sometimes major/reputable dealers sell off excess inventory through eBay; I don't include such cases here since you're basically buying from a dealer - you are just using eBay to fuffill the purchase. But more often than not you find either individual photographers or, worse, companies who don't specialize in digital bakcs selling them. If it's a normal camera store or a high-volume ebay seller who doesn't spend 9-5 every day with the equipment I can tell you they are ill-suited to properly evaluate the condition, accessories, and even sometimes the model of the back. With a used back the price to repair even seemingly minor physical/electronic problems can be very high (many of these backs must be opened in a clean room and the spare parts were ordered when they were much more expensive than they would be today to guarentee availability). A small scratch on a filter can easily be more than US$1k depending on the brand/make/model if you have no warranty. Nearly all the pre-owned equipment we sell for instance comes with a clearly stated 6 month warranty and often we are placing that warranty on the equipment ourselves so you can be darned sure we inspect the crap out of the equipment before we sell it so we don't send something out the door with a problem.
At the end of the day a great price on a back you don't want or which has any issues is NOT a good deal
.
My advice is the same every time: Do NOT find a "good deal" and research to see if it's the right back for you, choose what back is right for you and then look for a good deal on it.
Doug Peterson (e-mail Me)
__________________
Head of Technical Services, Capture Integration
Phase One Partner of the Year
Leaf, Leica, Cambo, Arca Swiss, Canon, Apple, Profoto, Broncolor, Eizo & More
National: 877.217.9870 *| *Cell: 740.707.2183
Newsletter | RSS Feed
Buy Capture One 6 at 10% off
Masters Series Workshop:
New England Landscape - Fall Color (Oct 5-8)
If you are able to get out of the sale and would like to discuss options in the lower price ranges from an entity which has a strong public reputation, who warranties their sales, offers simple evaluation rentals and no-questions-asked return policies you can contact a good dealer. This is a selfish/shameless plug in that we are a Phase One / Leaf dealer. But trust me when I say I'd much rather see you work with a good Hasselblad dealer who competes with us then bounce around eBay.
The other major benifit of a dealer is that it gives you someone to call when you have questions about the back, software, firmware, upgrade options, accessories, evaluations of obscure lenses etc. The manufacturers are set up to provide primary support through their dealers so are not set up to, themselves, answer the sorts of questions you're likely to have when you start using the system. The forums provide a very good way for you to ask specific and particurarly obscure questions - it's a very friendly and well informed group - but there is a general expectation here that you've done your homework before asking too many simple questions, especially on basic operations or setups. Rather than pour through user manuals that were written many years ago, much of which changes later with revised software or firmware, and pages upon pages of related posts on forums you'd have someone to make a quick call and get an easy answer.
Failing that, buying from a user on the forum, assuming they have a history on the forum (many posts and/or reviews on the buy/sell forum) sure beats the heck out of most eBay options in my opinion. Many users on this forum have bought and sold several backs/bodies/lenses/accesories and have a known reputation for their full disclosure, careful care of gear.
But eBay is, to me, the least desirable option. Sometimes major/reputable dealers sell off excess inventory through eBay; I don't include such cases here since you're basically buying from a dealer - you are just using eBay to fuffill the purchase. But more often than not you find either individual photographers or, worse, companies who don't specialize in digital bakcs selling them. If it's a normal camera store or a high-volume ebay seller who doesn't spend 9-5 every day with the equipment I can tell you they are ill-suited to properly evaluate the condition, accessories, and even sometimes the model of the back. With a used back the price to repair even seemingly minor physical/electronic problems can be very high (many of these backs must be opened in a clean room and the spare parts were ordered when they were much more expensive than they would be today to guarentee availability). A small scratch on a filter can easily be more than US$1k depending on the brand/make/model if you have no warranty. Nearly all the pre-owned equipment we sell for instance comes with a clearly stated 6 month warranty and often we are placing that warranty on the equipment ourselves so you can be darned sure we inspect the crap out of the equipment before we sell it so we don't send something out the door with a problem.
At the end of the day a great price on a back you don't want or which has any issues is NOT a good deal
. My advice is the same every time: Do NOT find a "good deal" and research to see if it's the right back for you, choose what back is right for you and then look for a good deal on it.
Doug Peterson (e-mail Me)
__________________
Head of Technical Services, Capture Integration
Phase One Partner of the Year
Leaf, Leica, Cambo, Arca Swiss, Canon, Apple, Profoto, Broncolor, Eizo & More
National: 877.217.9870 *| *Cell: 740.707.2183
Newsletter | RSS Feed
Buy Capture One 6 at 10% off
Masters Series Workshop:
New England Landscape - Fall Color (Oct 5-8)
