not sure this is the right place :O

[dawn66]

hiya,

i have just signed up here as looking for some advise..
not sure if i am posting this in the right area if not i apologise ..
I am trying to find a price for a secondhand Sigma 105mm F2.8 DG Macro Ex..
The reason being that i had agreed to purchase a friends secondhand one, bought it home (impulsively) even though i was a little worried at the £250.00 asking price not having checked it out first... after trying to search out prices all over the internet and not really having much luck some seem to be a lot lower in price the highest being £249.99 from a shop where you expect to pay higher anyway.. well now i am even more confused as havent got a lot of money and cant afford to pay over the top for this lens, especially as i am finding that it doesnt really suit my bad back lol
thanks for reading my long question and would appreciate any advice

[P_Stoddart]

Welcome

Not sure what you are asking. You already bought the 105mm? Are you suggesting to re-sell to correct your mistake if you have made one?

[dawn66]

oops ,sorry

i went all around the houses there didnt i lol

this photographer friend (his rather stern!) said i can bring the lens home (monday) and pay him when i sell my old camera.. which was one of the reasons i kind of got excited and said yes i definatley want it without trying it out first really or thinking too much about whether the price is too high...

so the situation is that on monday i agreed that i wanted the lens, he said once i said that and took it home i couldnt go back on it....
so now im stuck with a lens i am not sure suits my photography (and back) and also wondering if he is asking a little too much for.. Although i havent paid for it yet!
phew, hope i have managed to make sense lol

[dawn66]

to clarify , my question is ... is £250.00 a good price for this lens secondhand.

[Alex1994]

If it's the same as this (maybe for a different lens mount) then probably, as it's £549.99 new:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sigma-105mm-.../dp/B0002P19XA

If you search on Google, you'll find lots of references & prices for this lens.

Even so, it would only be a bargain if you really want it!

[AlexMonro]

A quick look on ebay searching for Sigma 105 2.8 DG shows several used lenses at around £250 buy it now, and auctions with bid prices for £99 upwards, with several days to run.

A quick shufti at a couple of major dealers of 2nd hand kit shows this lens as going for between £250 to £320, depending on condition, with warranty.

As the new price is around £400, I would say that £250 probably isn't a bad price for a used lens in good condition. The price obviously depends on the condition, and to some extent the camera mount it's for.

Edit: That Amazon price looks expensive, Alex - I've just checked CameraPriceBuster, and they show the cheapest to currently be Cameraworld, at about 360 quid! (might depend on fitting)

[Alex1994]

It does seem that the OP doesn't really want it ...

[nimbus]

One of the dealers in this area has one of these in 4/3 fitting at £289, this I would consider is on the high side, £249 being nearer the mark. As a presumably private sale £250 is excessive in my view, this is the kind of asking price I would expect to see the item at in a dealers. If he were to sell it on ebay or trade it in, he would not realise this much.

[IvorETower]

Bearing in mind the over-optimistic way that many internet auction sellers describe their lenses when selling, and even if you buy at a shop the lens may look OK but you don't know how many times it's been dropped, abused etc...
I'd say that if you know the person selling this lens and trust that they have looked after it, it's worth paying what some consider to be a little OTT for a private sale, if only for the peace of mind in knowing that the lens should be faultless.
How much more could you spend in looking round to get another lens in very good condition? Not just cost in travelling, phone calls, but in your time?

As to whether or not you need it........ well, look only at my signature text.......