Refurbished Scopes? (1 Viewer)

If a reputable online sales organization were offering the diascope 85 for 1499 with the 20-60x eyepiece but it was listed as a "2nd:factory refurbished" and they claim it has a "full lifetime warranty", would anyone take the bait?

I was given a $100.00 gift certificate to this online store, which sweetens the pot slightly for me. they allow unlimited returns, if the scope were to arrive and have obvious optical flaws.

I currently have a scope that fit my budget at the time of purchase and now; I have a Sony W5 mounted to it and it takes decent photos and provides decent views, but I intend to someday obtain a truly high-quality scope. Even at $1399 this is a stretch for me, but it comes with eyepiece and compared to a Leica APO Televid 77 (my dream scope) this looks appealing to me, price tag-wise and optically.

they do not appear to be an authorized dealer...I understand that is VERY important and that alone may dissuade me. What I really want to understand right now is:

Is buying a refurbished scope risky? Is it possible the optics are compromised, or would it be just the Zeiss Lifetime Guarantee that is compromised?

Jon

I see that some folks mentioned buying diascopes refurbished from sierra trading post last year (http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=33621); Has anyone ever needed repair on their refurbished scope and tried to send it back to the factory? with what response?

Jon

Why don't you 'phone Zeiss USA and ask them about this. Their 'phone number is 1-800-441-3005.
By the way "full lifetime warranty" is not the same as full lifetime USA guarantee.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood

Pinewood said:

Why don't you 'phone Zeiss USA and ask them about this. Their 'phone number is 1-800-441-3005.
By the way "full lifetime warranty" is not the same as full lifetime USA guarantee.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood

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I phoned Zeiss USA and it turns out that Sierra Trading Post is an authorized Zeiss dealer, and the rep on the phone said that he has handled a few refurbished scopes and they are indistinguishable from new. He could not think of any benefits to buying a new scope over the refurbished one as far as the warranty was concerned. I guess I don't know what the difference between "full lifetime warranty" and "full lifetime USA guarantee" is, and I was unsuccessful at gleaning this distinction from the customer service dept.

I decided that an as new Diascope 85 with zoom eyepiece for the price of what others are paying for the body alone is worth it, so monday after work I'll have it in my possession and give it the "star test" to check its construction and compare it to my friend's Leica to determine whether I want to keep it. I suspect that I won't have the will power to send it back after I've looked through it a few times, but I try to be objective with this much money committed.

Jon

jekatz said:

I guess I don't know what the difference between "full lifetime warranty" and "full lifetime USA guarantee" is, and I was unsuccessful at gleaning this distinction from the customer service dept.


Jon

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Jon,

I am glad that I was helpful. There are vendors who sell gray market goods using terms like "full lifetime guarnatee," which means that iif an item needs service, the lifetime guarantee is honored in Euriope, requiring shipping. I have seen some internet vendors using "USA" in their ads but never with the word guarnatee. They seem to mean that the seller is in the USA but not the guaranteed service. Caveat emptor.
Enjoy the 'scope.
Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood

I finally got a chance to spot some birds at sunset after work, the new scope is a D-E-L-I-G-H-T to use. I also got a chance to do some star testing, I would say it passed with flying colors. I slipped the stay on case from my old EO Raven onto the scope for now, and I got a chance to take a few digiscoped shots around the front yard. The wide FOV zoom lens is super, my Sony W5 becomes vignette-free at 1.4x zoom as opposed to 1.7x on the EO Raven. I can't describe just how pleased I am.

Jon

jekatz said:

I finally got a chance to spot some birds at sunset after work, the new scope is a D-E-L-I-G-H-T to use. I also got a chance to do some star testing, I would say it passed with flying colors. I slipped the stay on case from my old EO Raven onto the scope for now, and I got a chance to take a few digiscoped shots around the front yard. The wide FOV zoom lens is super, my Sony W5 becomes vignette-free at 1.4x zoom as opposed to 1.7x on the EO Raven. I can't describe just how pleased I am.

Jon

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Congrats on your new scope! May you have years of delightful imaging with it. I have an 85mm Zeiss and absolutely love it!

You certainly will never regret your purchase...... Either the scope body or the 20-60 zoom eyepiece. Will bring new life to your birding.........

Raven

jekatz said:

I finally got a chance to spot some birds at sunset after work, the new scope is a D-E-L-I-G-H-T to use. I also got a chance to do some star testing, I would say it passed with flying colors. I slipped the stay on case from my old EO Raven onto the scope for now, and I got a chance to take a few digiscoped shots around the front yard. The wide FOV zoom lens is super, my Sony W5 becomes vignette-free at 1.4x zoom as opposed to 1.7x on the EO Raven. I can't describe just how pleased I am.

Jon

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Do you plan to sell the Raven? What are the shortcomings of the Raven. I appreciate your help as I am getting close to buying one.
Thanks,
jvanoyen

jourdaj said:

Congrats on your new scope! May you have years of delightful imaging with it. I have an 85mm Zeiss and absolutely love it!

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Refurbished doesn't have to mean there was anything wrong with the item. Some time it means that the packaging was open and returned so the item was inspected for missing parts. My Hard drive was a refurbished HP Emachine and I saved lots of money on it and never a seconds problem. Of course the next scribe will probably have some night mare to relate. have fun with your scope. Remember he who dies with the most toys wins.

congrats jekatz! i too have a zeiss diascope 85 with zoom eyepiece and it is a wonderful piece of equipment. i've compared it to kowa tsn-824's and pentax pf-80ED's, and the zeiss comes out victorious. i was lucky enough to buy it for $1232 for both the scope and eyepiece (both brand new) after shipping. too good a deal to pass up. i still have to try it out on the night sky, however. will i be able to see anything interesting? i know the moon at least will look cool!

jvanoyen said:

Do you plan to sell the Raven? What are the shortcomings of the Raven. I appreciate your help as I am getting close to buying one.
Thanks,
jvanoyen

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I still have the Raven, I would sell it if I could, but it is difficult to sell a second-hand scope that is not of a top-shelf brand name. If you are interested in a straight model, let me know. I had previously posted it for $240, if you are interested make me an offer (see http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=51209).

As for shortcomings as a scope, I can list only two, most of them common in reviews:

the zoom eyepiece is NOT sharp above 35-40x, although it is very acceptable below that; and there is a lot of chromatic aberration when there is any.

I knew I wanted to have a digiscoping setup too, and although the Raven worked for this and I got decent pictures, I was willing to shell out for better pictures. Was it worth it? Since it seems Swarovski really does have the edge while digiscoping, maybe I should have gone that route, but I am still enormously pleased with my Zeiss and Sony setup. What really please me are the wide field of view and the superb zoom, which are both improvements over the Raven.

johnruss said:

Refurbished doesn't have to mean there was anything wrong with the item.

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True, and I don't think there is anything wrong with mine, and I could not tell it had ever been taken out of the box or had an eyepiece mounted. My birding buddy told me the other day he thinks my unit is not be as sharp as other Diascopes he has looked through, and I trust him, but I know it is still as sharp as his Televid.
As a side note, I spent 17 years in Cabot and I look forward to returning to Vermont every year, and someday for good.

swamp_rattler said:

i still have to try it out on the night sky, however. will i be able to see anything interesting? i know the moon at least will look cool!

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I am not an astronomer, so I can't say what you will see...the moon is definately cool, and I started collecting pictures of it in various phases.

Someday I'll load a digiscoping gallery both to here and S. Ingram's Zbirding page, maybe the next rainy day (that could be a while here in CA).

Jon