DigitalRev Allegedly Selling Used Cameras As New, And Are Yet To Issue A Response

DigitalRev Allegedly Selling Used Cameras As New, And Are Yet To Issue A Response

Rob Dunlop, creative director and brains behind PrettyInWhite.com, just posted an interesting and also somewhat humorous account of his purchase of a Canon 5d Mark III through DigitalRev.com. Rob, spurred on by a series of bizarre coincidences, ended up doing some research on his new camera, only to find that it had not only been used, but used somewhat extensively by DigitalRev to create a review.

Rob, excited to get his hands on a new release, ordered the Canon 5d Mark III through DigitalRev (yep, that DigitalRev, beloved by everyone for their humorous, candid reviews) a few months ago, and immediately noticed a few things wrong with his purchase. The body came in a box that was designated for a camera and a lens, and the body had somehow been used to take roughly 60 images. While not an exorbitant number of pictures, Rob notes that it was a bit fishy, but chalked it up to Canon perhaps testing the body before sending it over to be sold, which would be a perfectly reasonable explanation.

Not really thinking too much of it, Rob continued on his merry way for a few months. It was just recently, however, that he discovered the website www.stolencamerafinder.com, which allows you to input your camera's serial number in order to prevent and track occurrences of theft. StolenCameraFinder works by comparing the serial number in your cameras metadata with other images on the internet, and if a positive match is found, it will notify you of where that image is located.

Just looking to kill some time, Rob punched his cameras' serial numbers into the website. On his first camera, there was no fuss. But his second camera's serial number came back with, strangely, one positive match. Which was, lo and behold, a shot taken by Kai of DigitalRev while putting together their 5d Mark III video review. Check out these action shots of Rob's 5d Mark III being used around the streets of Hong Kong with the protective LCD cover still on the camera:


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Rob started to piece together the puzzle, and before long, he knew more than he ever wanted about his camera's previous owner, including its 'history' of being used in the rain, being far too close to private parts, and the specific scenes that it was used to shoot and film.

To check out the entire exposé, which is rather humorously put together, head over to Rob's blog, which can be found here. We are eagerly awaiting a response from DigitalRev regarding this whole situation, and will update the post as soon as we learn more.

via r/photo

Mike Kelley's picture

Michael Kelley (mpkelley.com) is a Los Angeles-based architectural and fine art photographer with a background in digital art and sculpture. Using his backgrounds in the arts, he creates images that are surreal and otherworldly, yet lifelike and believable. A frequent traveler, Michael's personal work focuses on the built environment of unique

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I thought I was the only one who didn't understand the whole Kai/DigitalRev bandwagon.  They have a huge following but every time I try, I can't make it through an entire video...

I would just be thankful I didn't buy Kai's 7D.

Just another data point to consider: 

DigitalRev is selling SB-910 speedlights for $439, well below retail.  Yesterday, there were two positive reviews of the flash and 1 quasi-negative review/question which asked, "How used is this flash? It's too good to be true."  I replied to that comment mentioning that actually DigitalRev has been shown to sell used goods as new, with a link to this "exposé" article.  Well, as of today both of our negative comments/reviews have been erased, leaving only the positive reviews.  So, it would appear that in addition to whatever degree of new/used creative licence DigitalRev may take with their inventory, they are also positively biasing their reviews by expunging any negative feedback.

Not very ethical business practices in my book.  Caveat emptor!

sons of bitches, sometimes i wish i can run into kai and lok in HK in the streets. .i'd probably beat them up

There are 3 principals when doing business in Asia; they are PROFIT, PROFIT, and PROFIT.  They don't care how. Spend a year or two doing business in Hong Kong and you'll know.

All of this begs the only question: WHO BUYS NEW CAMERAS FROM DIGITALREV? I mean what's wrong with B&H or Adorama or hundreds of other real camera dealers for that matter?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RVh2HC0KSw

here's the digital rev video

Thanks for covering the story. I've updated the article with an initial response from DigitalRev http://www.prettyinwhite.com/digital-rev-hey-thats-my-camera/

Please update this article to include DigitalRev's response. They have taken significant steps to resolve the situation and ensure that it doesn't happen again.

no update or comment by DigitalRev? Sounds odd like how my Canon 6D came to me from them. I'm gonna check it on http://www.stolencamerafinder.com/