Buying a used digital camera can be a daunting task. Fortunately, there are a lot of high quality camera manufacturers to choose from. The difficulty is determining the working condition of a used camera by just looking at photos, reading the advertisement, and perhaps trading a few emails with the owner.

The bad news about buying digital cameras used:
Cameras are one of the few portable electro-mechanical devices that consumers own. Most portable consumer products like laptops, PCs, cell phones, MP3 players have ‘solid state’ or non-moving parts. The fact is electro-mechanical devices are more prone to wear and tear under heavy use by the owner when used in adverse working conditions. If you think of other electro-mechanical devices in your home, they typically aren’t the ones you think of as most reliable, printers, both laser and inkjet, your CD and DVD player all fall into this category. Moving parts don’t always age very well, as such a careful eye is required when buying used cameras.

The good news on buying used digital cameras:
The digital camera industry is prodigious. What I mean by that is the industry is in a constant race to one up each other with better features and specs in each new model. And new models seem to come out constantly. A few years back a high quality camera with 3-4 megapixels carried a hefty price tag. Today you can get a 2nd tier brand name digital camera with 8 or even 10 megapizels for less than $200. When cameras with the latest and greatest technology are that cheap, it drives the used cameras with last year’s technology even cheaper, regardless of how great the brand name is. Most people will never need 10 megapixels to get a great shot, so picking up a used, top branded camera with 5 mp is a no brainer if you can find one you like.

Things to watch out for when buying a used digital camera:
This is a short list of things to watch out for that can save you a bunch of money and/or stress if you check before you buy.

Accessories- Confirm the used camera comes with all the accessories the original device does. If you aren’t concerned about the case or camera strap, at least make sure the camera you are looking at has the cables and wires to plug into your PC and charge the camera battery.

Memory type- Confirm you know the type of memory the camera uses and if it is compatible with your other cameras, devices (if that is important to you). Also, its worth asking if the camera you are buying comes with a memory card or not.

CD or software to install on your PC- Many manufacturers have the software available for free download on their website, but there are plenty of snafus that occur when trying to download software for an older camera on to a machine with a new operating system. I always feel better when I have the CD in my hand.

Visible cracks- remember a shock to the camera strong enough to crack the case had to have an impact on the other components of the camera. It is wise to be extremely cautious when considering a camera that has visible damage to its housing.

Recent prices
Taking a look at eBay, recent completed auction prices for Canon digital cameras look very reasonable. Have a look below. I will also post recent completed auctions for Minolta, Casio, Sony and Kodak.