Picking up second hand lens advice?

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Barneyc2001

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Afternoon All,

Im going to pick up a canon 70-200 F4 is second hand this weekend.

Is there anything specific i should test / look out for?

Any known faults etc?

Any help greatfully recieved.

Cheers

Barney
 
look for:
-clean front/rear glass, bring a blower. dirty glass usually mean they have something to hide.
-signs of clouding or fungus
-fast non-stick aperture action
-any cosmetic damage to show sign of been dropped/knocked
 
Pretty much what Wuyan has said really, I'm not aware of any known faults with them.
The odd bit of dust inside the front element maybe, nothing to worry about unless there's a lot of it.
To check the aperture blades, mount the lens on your body, select the smallest aperture, hold the DOF preview button in and watch the aperture blades as you change the aperture steps from smallest to biggest and back.
It should be instant, snappy movement with no signs of sticking. :thumbs:
 
I presume you are taking YOUR camera with you to try it out?
 
Just general advice about meeting strangers while carrying cash. Take a mate and leave him in the car with the cash (and be prepared for the seller to do similar). Get a photo of the lens's serial number and check the lens isn't registered stolen. If possible (laptop & card reader in the car with your mate?), take a couple of shots and check edge to edge and corner to corner sharpness as well as AF accuracy.

I'm not a Canon man so can't advise as to any known issues.
 
Fit the lens on your camera body and try the full rand of manual focus and zoom. Then turn the whole lot over so that you are looking at the bottom of the camera and lens, repeat the focus and zoom operations. I have found that if there is a significant difference between the sound and feel between the 2 orientations the lens may have had a lot of use and wear.
 
Phone this number Canon with the serial number they will check.
02087314132. Mon/friday 9>5.
 
Thanks for all the advice guys. Very helpful, I'm pretty happy the seller is genuine. I'm fairly sensible with regards to meeting a stranger with a significant amount of cash, the tips on testing the lens are exactly what I was after :-)
 
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