Advice please, should I buy this Nikon D100

[Guest]

Could the experienced snappers on here please give me an opinion.
We have been out having a family photo portrait done this evening and by chance I mentioned to the photographer that I was thinking of buying a proper camera.
Earlier this year he had purchased the latest Professional Nikon to replace his Nikon D100. He is offereing to sell me his D100 body complete with 28-105 zoom lens, two heavy duty rechargable battery packs, flash unit and a 1GB Compact Flash card. Im told its in perfect working order and externally looks fine.

Its a model im not familar with so does it sound like a good buy at £400.

Thanks folks.

[Guest]

Have you looked on ebay? The completed listings section is handy if you want to see how much stuff goes for

[Andre]

It may be a few years old (perhaps 3 or 4) but it's a decent camera from a very good manufacturer. If it works well, and especially with those accessories thrown in, I'd say definitely go for it. You'd probably pay more than that for just a basic camera and lens setup second-hand on eBay or Amazon.

Andre

[Guest]

Hi Andre, Im told its approx 2 1/2 years old but has been unused for the last eight months due to his new camera. Its mostly been used for wedding photography (and cute baby shots probably!) I cant remember if the Lens was a Nikon or other make, but the chap did spend a lot of time explaining the importance of a top quality lens so I assume its a good un!

[Andre]

As I said, sounds good to me. I'd go for it!

I might have expected a professional wedding photographer to have used something a bit higher spec, so I suspect this might have been his backup camera or used for getting canid snaps, so it may have seen fairly light use anyway.

Andre

[Guest]

Thanks again Andre, i will definitely have to lie awake tonight now thinking about it! The guy is a life long photography enthusiast who started up professionally about three years ago, his replacement Nikon has cost him£5000


I have done a bit of internet trawling and read a few reviews from when this model was launched, they all read very positively, the only criticisms are for minor things that are beyond my current level of experience anyway.

Steve

[Pino_Spetzberg]

It came out July 2002 so chances are it is nearer to 4 years old than 2, if a week is a long time in politics - a couple of years is a very long time in digital slr evolution.
The likelihood is that the shutter has been used heavily so an expensive service could be required and apart from that you will have no warranty. I doubt it has seen little use - it could have been a workhorse at hundreds of weddings ?
The price isn't so cheap - you would be better off buying a newer model from Amazon, Jessops or even Argos. Look at Nikon D50, Canon 350D/400D or Sony Alpha.
Sorry but wouldn't bother.

[glorfy]

Same here - look to get a new one with a warranty at that price tbh.

[AndyJ]

Does it have a shutter snap count? What is it rated to?

I understood the Canon 10d to be around 50k snaps worth or so, but estimates seem to vary wildly, for example...

What are the goodies with it worth?

A few more things to consider in the weighing up process.

[Andre]

It's the goodies with it that make it worthwhile at that price I'd have said.

Andre