Lenses: Grey vs Refurbished - online retailers... which one(s)??

[Redbaron]

I'm starting to think the more I research, the more confused I get.... Looking at buying a few extras for my Canon 60D - a spare battery, 18-135, 70-300 and a few SD cards. Looking at a few options (where possible I'll be going through site sponsors since looking at this forum has already saved me hundreds/let me spend hundreds more..... thanks!!)

SD - easy, Cheap Chips - everybody raves about them - for good reason going by their site.

Lenses - few options here:
- Adorama (sponsor) look the goods IF refurbished lenses are "better" than greys. IMO all online "bargains" are to be considered grey, and I've read the pros and cons and understand them. They also have some new (grey?) lenses for not a lot more money ($10 or so at times, but not in original box or something minor)
- B&H, DWI, DIG REV, EBay - also similar good prices on new/grey lenses
- Simply Electronics/Citiwide - even better prices on some new/grey lenses

Delivery costs obvously make some savings evaporate. While there are many positive comments on site sponsors, and EBay can be a bit hit and miss, is there anything I should be worried about using sites such as citiwide etc? Regarding refurbished lenses, would I be right to assume they have been refurbished by the manufacturers themselves, or an authorised repairer so since they have been all inspected/fixed, they would be in the same, if not better shape than the new product.

Regarding warranty issues and returns - I'm hearing that a quality Canon lens will either be good to go straight out of the box (new) forever (assuming I look after them), or if there's a fault it would be noticed straight away. If something was faulty how would I go about returning it, and would that further evaporate any savings I may make?

Thanks in advance for any advice - you guys rock!

[KeeFy]

I'd rather go down the grey route vs the refurbished. The thing about refurbished (imo) is that there was a reason for it to get sent back and sometimes not everything can be 100% fixed. So brand new grey for me.

As for lenses, since you're using the 60D do consider the EF-S 55-250. You lose a little bit on the long end but you gain IS which is invaluable for telephoto lenses when using it handheld. I have both of them the 70-300 and ef-s 55-250, and prefer the 55-250 over the 70-300 anyday.

Canon's QC tolerances are higher than 3rd party and very rarely would you get a lemon. I've been through canon 8 lenses so far and none of them a lemon, 1 tamron lens and out of 4 tested 2 were sharp so there were 2 "lemons" in the shop. Why i say lemons with " " is because sometimes all it takes is some calibration/micro af to adapt the lens to your camera, sometimes it requires sending back to the manufacturer.

PLease refer to the site rules regarding trading of gear on AP.

http://www.canonrumors.com/tech-articles/this-lens-is-soft-and-other-myths/ <<<< a good read.

[Redbaron]

Thanks keefy, good point re greys vs refurbs. Interesting article too. FWIW the 70-300 does have IS though.

[KeeFy]

Ooops, my bad. I assumed. Sorry about that. :)