Financial Jungle

Either I lack the bargain hunting talent, or SLR lenses age well like good bottles of wine.

Recently, I’ve been hunting for a used Canon EF-S 17-55mm F2.8 IS over at CraigsList.org. This lens is everything that I’m drooling for, abet a little weak on tele-zoom. However, this lens can shoulder most of my shooting demands, which include wide angle zoom, image stabilization, wide aperture, top notch resolution, minimal distortions, and silent auto-focus. Isn’t she a beauty? If you think point-and-shoot cameras are just swell, wait till you harness the power of fast auto-focus, instant power-on, noise-free ISO settings, and most notably, low-light performance. Once you are enchanted with a Digital SLR (DSLR) camera, you’ll howl over your old vacation photos with regrets.

Trouble is sellers treat this Canon lens as if it’s an appreciating asset like stocks! At eBay, you can bypass the auction process by directly purchasing products with the “BuyItNow” logo. For instance, TriState is offering this lens for $938Cdn. If you don’t mind the grunt work, you can often snatch this lens up for $900Cdn + $100 in shipping and taxes. In short, a brand new Canon 17-55mm for $1,000.

What are they asking for over at Craigslist?

• $1,100 - warrenty expired
• $1,300 - two weeks old
• $1,200 - 10 months old
• $1,150 - age isn’t specified, but include a lens hood
• $1,250 - age isn’t specified

I’m astounded by the asking prices. Shouldn’t there be an automatic depreciation of 10% once the lens is driven off the lot? Suffice to say, I’ll go tell my wife that I’m going back to eBay to claim my brand new Canon lens.

That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.