Buying used - dates?

Ajf350d

Ajf350d

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I've noticed in a number of the for sale threads people asking for the date codes on lenses etc.
Is there any specific reason for this other than getting an idea of how much a lens has been used?
Are the known to be differences between 'identical' lenses of different dates?

Just curious as on the lookout over the next few months for some items.
 
There might be an opinion that newer = better as production methods etc.. may have improved over the years that a lens has been manufactured. However I believe that it's primarily to gauge the age of the lens and get a reference point for guessing how much it's been used.

For example this review states that a 100-400 tested 10 years previously wasn't as good as 'new' one that was tested. Was that just good/bad copy, was the camera a factor, did production improve QC ? Who knows, but as the review was from 2008 I wonder if a new one tested today would be the same or better again ?
 
Where or how do you find the date codes on lenses please?
 
Ajf350d said:
I've noticed in a number of the for sale threads people asking for the date codes on lenses etc.
Is there any specific reason for this other than getting an idea of how much a lens has been used?
Are the known to be differences between 'identical' lenses of different dates?

Just curious as on the lookout over the next few months for some items.
Click to expand...

How on earth would it be to fnd out how much the lens has been used? seriously? as for known differences between different dates.. no.. only between diff versions offer some sort of change.. the usual way is mkii or simmilar :)


No..I am going to take a wild guess here and suggest... It's to find out how old the lens is...

You dont ask your girlsfriend how much she has been used or how much work she has had done.. but you do ask how old :) my point being it's just a natural thing to want to know how old...
 
In the case of my 400 DO it's fairly well known that the very early models (c.2002) had problems which didn't occur later in the production run. I walked away from one with a 2002 date code as a result and bought a 2008. Sometimes date codes are rather useful!
 
You still get people buying 10 year old kit though so I wouldn't worry too much if you're in the market.

It's like CPU sales on computer forums. Everyone wants to know the exact stepping code so they check and see which factory it was made in etc..

If selling on the likes of ebay you get less specialised buyers who either don't think to ask, or just don't care.
 
Thanks for the answers!
Production methods and batches makes sense.
c-m If you were not aware buyers ask that about CPUs exactly because some batches DO perform better (for overclocking anyway) even if they are they same spec on paper.
The age itself doesn't bother me, simply want to make sure I don't buy a known 'dud'.
Kipax, I am not sure whether your answer was really serious or not, so I won't comment further.....
 
WilliamC said:
In the case of my 400 DO it's fairly well known that the very early models (c.2002) had problems which didn't occur later in the production run. I walked away from one with a 2002 date code as a result and bought a 2008. Sometimes date codes are rather useful!
Click to expand...

...and I did the same with the DO and bought a 2011 model.....but I think it was a rare case (the 400 DO) and I don't think Canon ever officially recognised the fact.
 
"You dont ask your girlsfriend how much she has been used or how much work she has had done.. but you do ask how old :) my point being it's just a natural thing to want to know how old..."

:ROFLMAO::LOL::ROFLMAO: funniest thing i've read in a long time!! Thanks KIPAX!!
 
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