How to Buy a Used Camera and Lens Without Getting Scammed Buying a used camera and lens feels a bit like stepping into someone else’s visual memory. The gear you hold has already seen streets you haven’t walked, skies you haven’t stood under, and moments you’ll never know. But it’s also a transaction where sentiment has to stay behind the technical checks, because the used market has both genuinely good deals and the kind of deals that only pretend to be good.