Some tips for buying second hand lenses?

I want a high performance lens but do not want to pay a high-performance price. From time to time, I have seen used lenses in shop windows. What is the most obvious fault to look for in such purchases. I believe that some Nikon lenses tend to have the autofocus mechanism embedded in the lens, whereas Canon generally has everything in the camera body. Is that a fair generalization? If that is the case, does this mean that canon lenses are more durable than nikon?

Added (1). A million shutter cycles! That should be enough for at least one weekend.haha!

If you have a Canon camera you will need canon lenses. If you have a Nikon camera, you will need Nikon lenses. So that narrows it down for you.

A quick Google search of the lens you are looking at can give a good idea what it's about. There was a Sigma that I was looking at that many people felt the need to blog how bad it was.needless to say I didn't buy that lens. Generally you will know if it works with your camera by a few little markings. I don't know all the details but I know some Nikon lenses don't have a motor. So if your body does have a motor (D90) it will work. If it does not (D3000) the lens will not work. Markings like AF, AF-S AI will tell you that right away if you know what you are looking for.

But overall just look for scratches and fungus. Arguing over Canon and Nikon is pointless. Besides, you have already committed to one or the other. I tip I have found is that the one with the case, box and pamphlets is always the best quality. The guy with the personality to keep all that stuff is also the guy who keeps the lens itself in great shape.

First off you want to find some good review sites for lenses. One for professional reviews of many current lenses is dpreview.com which is also a great place for camera reviews and news. And the forums are very useful. You should also find a site with reviews of older lenses and are probably going to find mostly user reviews but these are still very helpful.

You will also want to familiarize yourself with some of the problems you can run into with older lenses, like fungus, oily aperture blades and haze. Google those and you will find lots of tutorials on how to inspect a lens for those issues.

Scratches on the body are normal for used lenses. Just be concerned with dents or deep scratches and ask how they got there. Scratches on the front glass hardly affect your image but I would have to wonder how they got there and what other damage might have been done because the owner obviously was not very careful with the lens.

One of the best indicators of how a person has cared for their equipment is how complete the original packaging is. If the box and manual are there then they probably took excellent care of the lens. But not having those things does not necessarily lead to the opposite conclusion.

If you are dealing with an individual, ask if they are the original owner. Ask why they are selling the lens. Of course they can lie, but it's pretty easy to spot a lie.

Take your camera with you and mount the lens to test the AF and communication with the camera. Take a few pictures and the zoom in on the lcd to check for focus accuracy, sharpness, color, etc.

No matter what lens you need to buy for your camera system, the lenses will work for that system.

I'm still using Nikon lenses made in the 1970's. You can't find Canon lenses that old that will work on the current Canon EOS cameras.

I have a colleague that has a Nikon D3 with over a million shutter cycles Is that durable enough for you?

Actually you have the auto-focus confused. Nikon has cameras with auto-focus systems that include in camera and in lens. In lens systems are much faster than in-camera systems. This is why you see more and more Nikon AF-S lenses being produced and replacing older AF lenses with AF-S lenses. You also see more Canon USM (their ultra-fast in-lens auto-focus system) being release

Just figure out the system you want to be using for the next few decades and start building that system. Buying used cameras and lenses are a good way economically build a system