Jim:
In my experience KEH is VERY conservative in their grading. I purchased
a 21/3.5 from them that had only a minor amount of barrel wear, and a
100/2.8 that I'm sure would have rated "excellent", except for engraving
on the barrel. The only "flaw" is that both were silvernose. They also
sold me a 35-70/4 zoom "as is", just because the zoom action was a
little stiff. It was rated "excellent" by them, and has been a good
lens for me. I think their pitch is that the "bargain" grade is as good
as the stuff that you have in your bag now.
B&H seems to have a very compressed grading scale. An "8" can be in
pretty tough shape. I bough a brown ever ready case from them where one
of the strap lug straps was missing, and an Eyecup 1 where the plastic
on one side was missing! I would stick to 8+ or higher with them.
Their inventory of OM-related items is way down, BTW.
Adorama seems to grade quite conservatively. I bought an OM-2S from
them that was graded "8". The only real wear was on the back, in the
film memo area. John H kindly provided me with a new back, motor drive
cover and covers for the TTL and X-synch.
Cameta grades aggressively. They probably grade their stuff one or two
notches higher than I would.
Jack's Camera grades pretty conservatively. They graded a 75-150 zoom
as an "8", and I would have rated it higher.
Wide Angle grades conservatively. They are difficult to deal with from
the USA, because they prefer to be paid in US currency. Good outfit
otherwise, very pleasant people.
O-Boy is the "Wild, Wild, West". One soon develops an "antenna" for
questionable sellers. My favorites are the dismal out-of-focus shots of
lenses taken on blue shag carpet, and descriptions that start out with
"I don't know much about cameras", and end with "check out my other
auctions for classic cameras".
My $.02.
Bill Stanke
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