The Best Used Gear to Buy From MPB
Buying gently used camera equipment often means big savings on last year’s top products.
Last year Pop Photo’s Pop Awards highlighted 24 pieces of the best photography gear that had been released in the previous 12 months—cameras, lenses, drones, and a number of photography accessories. The diverse mix of gear included products aimed at working pros, advanced amateurs and those new to photography.
As the Pop Photo editors select the nominees for the 2022 Pop Awards, an important question remains: Have these pieces of gear withstood the test of time? Are they worth buying refurbished? And (perhaps most importantly) are they still worth anything on the resale market?
When it comes to cameras and lenses, our favorite pieces of gear from 2021 are still extremely excellent tools for taking pictures. And now that a year has passed, you can find money-saving deals on lightly-used models of many of the top picks on MPB’s platform. Keep reading for some of the best deals that you can get on 2021’s most loved pieces of camera gear!
Nikon Z 40mm f/2
Although Nikon’s Z5 offers a budget-friendly mirrorless option, for a while there was a lack of affordable Z-mount lenses, which changed in 2021 with the Nikon Z 40mm f/2 and Z 28mm f/2. The 40mm f/2 was one of our top picks thanks to the combination of interesting field of view, its fast-enough aperture and low-price point. It’s widely available on MPB’s site and can be purchased for $229—about $70 in savings compared to its original listing price.
DJI Mavic 3
This foldable DJI drone included a few major improvements from its predecessor: a larger sensor, a wide-angle camera and a telephoto camera with a 28x zoom reach. Plus, it could stay in the sky for up to 46 minutes and fly up to 9.2 miles away. If you are drone-curious there are plenty of good options for this particular model on the resale market. On MPB the Mavic 3 goes for $1999.
Ricoh GR IIIx
Last year’s Ricoh GR IIIx made a few substantial changes to the classic Ricoh GR design. The GR IIIx featured a 40mm f/2.8 lens and a 24-megapixel APS-C sensor—making it the first fixed-lens compact with a non-wide angle field of view. This pocket-sized camera has been a long-time favorite of street photographers which is why we included it as one of our favorite pieces of gear from 2021, but admittedly it isn’t for everyone. The good news is that means these are easy to find on the resale market and will save you about $100.
EOS M50 Mark II
The Canon EOS M50 earned a spot as one of our favorite pieces of gear in 2021 thanks to its solid electronic viewfinder, fully articulating touchscreen, Dual Pixel autofocus capabilities and extremely affordable price point. All these things hold-up a year later and this extremely capable APS-C sensor camera currently sells for $439–$469 on MPB—making it an even better deal than it was a year ago.
Sony a1
High-priced pro gear like Sony’s a1 are some of the best items to shop for on the resale market—while they are still expensive, you will likely find the biggest savings. The a1 earned the title of Camera of the Year in 2021 because it was the first to do a lot of things. It has an impressive 9.44 million dot resolution EVF, electronic shutter with anti-flicker tech, a new dual-drive mechanical shutter for flash syncing up to 1/400th second and it can shoot 30 50.1-megapixel images as compressed RAW or JPEGs in a second. Simply put, the a1 was a beast of a camera when it was released and remains one of the best pro-level pieces of gear on the market thanks to Sony’s frequent firmware updates. Buying used with MPB rather than new will save you just over 1K on this impressive piece of gear.
Canon EOS R3
This 24-megapixel sensor camera remains one of the best low-light cameras on the market and one of the fastest—making it a great choice for photojournalists and sports shooters. Its mechanical shutter can shoot up to 12fps, or at 30fps full resolution without and the massive high-res EVF includes eye-tracking tech for extremely precise AF. On the MPB platform you can pick one of these workhorses up for a savings of about $300.
These are just a few of the great deals that you can find on last year’s top photography gear via MPB. The platform has served over half a million visual storytellers while recirculating more than 350,000 pieces of equipment annually. Additionally, all gear comes with a 6-month warranty after being carefully inspected by trained product specialists ensuring safety and functionality. MPB champions accessibility to kit, no matter if you’re looking to upgrade a few pieces of personal gear, make the jump to mirrorless or are planning to switch to a totally new kit system. MPB isn’t just a great place to buy slightly used gear, it’s also a great platform for selling and trading in your old equipment. Use the website to get a quote on your old gear, add any items that you might be interested in purchasing for yourself, ship your gear to MPB free of charge (fully insured), and you will receive your payment once they’ve received the gear and verified its condition. It’s a safe and convenient way to level up your gear, get rid of the tools that are no longer serving you, and support the future of visual storytelling while contributing to the circular economy!
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