Selling used camera lenses in Bangkok: what we check

How lenses are priced here

Pick your camera body on the site and answer the condition questions. The next step lists lenses for that mount; add each one you are selling and the total is shown together. Our lens list covers Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fujifilm, Panasonic Lumix and OM System glass, plus a few Tamron lenses. Start from Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fujifilm, Lumix or OM System.

Only lenses, no body? Or a lens that is not on the list? Send a photo of the lens, its front ring with the name on it, and the mount on LINE, and we will price it by hand or tell you plainly that we cannot.

1. The torch test: fungus, haze and dust

Take both caps off, open the aperture, and shine a phone torch through the lens from the back while you look through the front, then the other way round. Dust specks are normal. Thread-like or web-like patterns are fungus; a milky veil across the glass is haze. Both are common in Bangkok on lenses that sat unused, and both matter. The fungus guide has photos and what can and cannot be cleaned.

2. Aperture blades

On a lens with an aperture ring, turn it from wide open to fully closed and watch the blades. On a lens without a ring, mount it on a body and use the depth-of-field preview button. The blades should move together, snap open and closed, and be dry. A shiny, wet-looking film on the blades is oil, and blades that stick or close slowly are a fault.

3. Focus and zoom rings

Turn the focus ring end to end; it should be smooth, without grit or a tight spot. Turn the zoom ring the same way. Hold a zoom lens pointing down: if it extends on its own, that is zoom creep, and it is worth a sentence. On autofocus lenses, mount the lens and focus near and far; a motor that hunts, grinds or is loud is a fault.

4. Stabilisation and switches

Lenses with IS, VR or OSS often rattle gently when off and unmounted; that is the stabiliser floating, not a fault. Mounted and switched on, look through the viewfinder and half-press: the image should settle. Flick every switch on the barrel - AF/MF, stabiliser, focus limiter - and check they click into position.

5. Mount, contacts and the rear element

Brass showing through on a metal mount is normal wear. Bent, missing or corroded electrical contacts are not - they stop the lens talking to the body. Look at the rear element under the torch as carefully as the front; scratches at the back show up in photos more than scratches at the front.

6. Front element, filter and hood

Take any protective filter off and look at the glass behind it. Light cleaning marks are common; a deep scratch or a chip is different, and should be described. Bring the hood, both caps, the pouch and the tripod collar on long lenses; they belong with the lens.

Before the meeting

Clean the outside of the barrel with a dry cloth, put both caps on and pack each lens separately. The pickup check runs through the same six points in front of you, and if the lens matches what you described, the price does not move. Then pick your body and add your lenses, or see all camera prices.