The Joys of "Secondhand"

Preloved, refurbished, secondhand, preowned, used ..... there are a lot of alternatives for passed on stuff these days.  Whatever you want to label them, these goods are like treasure to me.

I was reminded of just what good value you can get yesterday when I was taking a photo for the blog.  As a die-hard SLR 35mm user for  more than half my lifetime, I was distraught when the shutter on my Pentax KM stuck. Hardly a surprise, bearing in mind it had never been serviced in all the time I had owned it.

A quick ask around told me repair could be costly. Big sighs. I weaned myself off cameras completely for about a year.  I looked around stores but nothing seemed to appeal to me.  Deep down I was turning down the Canons, the Panasonics  and all their brothers and sisters  because I was still mourning my beloved SLR Pentax (which nearly weighed enough with its accessories to exceed an airline's cabin baggage allowance!)

Then, one day, I found a site selling refurbished cameras .  I nervously sent off a very modest sum - about £35.00.

The refurbed Pentax Optio M30 I bought is a dream. I had been looking at new items at 3 or 4 times the price at least, but here, for not much more than a rather expensive meal, I had entered the digital photography age at last.

About time too! My camera goes everywhere with me again.

I've been reading reviews before posting this and I see that it's not rated that highly.  Pentax must thank heavens for customers like me who don't read the reviews but just jump in head first! I love it,  it is perfect for my requirements and so far I have been delighted with the quality of the photos.