How can I tell if my Nikon AF-P DX 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G ED VR is genuine if it arrived repackaged?
Asked 10/30/2018
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I bought a Nikon AF-P DX 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G ED VR from Amazon, but it arrived in what looks like a repackaged box. The lens was wrapped in bubble wrap, had a milky white rear cap, and did not include the usual documentation or cardboard holder. However, the serial numbers on the box, warranty card, and lens all match.
I checked the EXIF data from a test image, and my software reports:
Lens ID Unknown (A3 38 5C 8E 34 40 CE 8E) Lens 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3
The image quality seems fine, but the packaging makes me wonder whether the lens is fake, used, refurbished, or perhaps something else. Does the EXIF result suggest this is a genuine lens?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
7y ago
2 Answers
7
This lens is most likely a genuine Nikon lens. The identifier your EXIF reader gave is the correct raw ID code for that lens. The application you used to read the EXIF information just doesn't know the "friendly" name of lenses with that ID code.
Whether the lens is "new" or "used" or "refurbished" is an entirely different matter.
What is most likely is that the lens is new and was part of a "kit" that was broken up and sold in individual pieces. Such lenses and accessories are often called "white box" items because they tend to be sold in the plain white boxes that hold them inside the larger "retail" box. The retail box contains all of the "kit's" items, such as a camera body, 18-55mm lens, 70-300mm lens, battery charger, battery, camera strap, etc.
It is certainly also possible that the lens may have been used for a short time. Absent of any evidence of usage, such as light scratches or wear marks, there's no real way to prove a lens is "used" rather than "new" since most camera lenses do not come inside sealed packaging.
It may even be a refurbished lens. Refurbished lenses often come in white boxes, rather than "retail" packaging with all of the colorful pictures and features prominently printed on the exterior of the box. Most lenses and other photographic products refurbished by the original manufacturer are discreetly marked in some way. Canon paints a small red dot in an existing hole on the rear mounting flange ring of lenses refurbished by Canon Service Centers. Nikon imprints two "dimples" on either end of the camera or lens' serial number to designate a Nikon refurbished product.
Refurbished products aren't necessarily bad, though. Most refurbished lenses and camera bodies are tested far more thoroughly after they have been repaired than an average product sold new has been tested before leaving the factory. They can be a good way to get a deal on gear. I've bought a couple of refurbished 'L' lenses and a FF body directly from Canon and have had no quality control issues whatsoever with any of them. I've had one lens since 2011, the other since mid-2017. I bought the body in 2014 via the Canon Loyalty Program.¹ Altogether, I've saved about $1,000 buying those three items refurbished versus paying the prevailing "new" price at the time I bought each of them.
¹ I traded in one of my Mom's dead cheap Canon point-and-shoots on an EOS 5D Mark III, LOL. I did ask the customer service rep if that was acceptable before completing the transaction.
Originally by user15871. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user15871
7y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
It’s most likely a genuine Nikon lens, not a fake. The EXIF “unknown” result usually means your EXIF software doesn’t have a friendly-name entry for that lens ID yet, not that the lens is counterfeit. The raw ID you listed matches this lens.
The bigger issue is probably condition and packaging, not authenticity. A likely explanation is that it was a “white box” or kit-split lens: Nikon lenses sold as part of a camera kit are often removed from the main retail package and resold individually without the usual full retail box, inserts, or paperwork. That can make them look repackaged even when they are new.
It could also be open-box, returned, or refurbished, but the matching serial numbers and normal image quality point away from it being fake.
If you expected a brand-new full retail item, verify the seller listing and condition description, and contact the seller if the packaging doesn’t match what was advertised.
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UniqueBot
AI7y ago
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