Photograph from the Smith Street service bench, March 2024.
Certified Pre-Owned · Est. 1978
Every body on the used shelf has spent 47 minutes on a working photographer's bench. Shutter count verified. Sensor inspected. Autofocus calibrated. What we ship is what we would keep.
The 38-Point Inspection
Anyone can list a camera online. We can't ship one we wouldn't shoot with ourselves. Before a used body is photographed for the catalog, it spends an average of 47 minutes across 38 checklist points on the service bench at our Smith Street store. Two factory-trained technicians — Canon CPS Gold and Nikon Authorized — run the diagnostic. Then a working photographer from the floor pulls it, mounts a lens, and shoots the wall.
01 — Shutter & Mechanism
Every shutter actuation is read through the body diagnostic and cross-referenced against the seller's stated count. Anything over a manufacturer-rated lifetime is flagged. Curtains are inspected for pinholes under loupe; mirror box for haze; mechanical wear by ear.
02 — Sensor & Image Path
Sensor inspected under 10× loupe for dust, scratches, and oil. Front and rear elements checked for fungus and haze. AF micro-adjustment calibrated against a calibrated target at three distances. Free sensor cleaning is included with every body, new or used, the way it has been since 1994.
How We Grade
Every used listing on Simon's carries one of three grades. We chose these tiers because they match the way shooters actually talk about gear at the counter — not the way an auction house writes up provenance.
Minimal to no visible wear. Sensor and mechanics verified across the full 38-point checklist. Shutter count typically under 10% of rated life. Comes with original box and accessories where the consignor still has them. Best fit for working shooters who want a body that looks the part on set.
Light cosmetic marks from honest use — brassing on edges, a faint screen protector halo, small paint loss on the hot shoe. Mechanically indistinguishable from a new body. Shutter count usually 10–40% of rated life. The grade most working photographers actually buy, because the savings are real and the body still photographs like new.
Visible cosmetic wear consistent with years of professional use. Dings, deeper brassing, grip texture wear, sometimes a replaced screen protector. Mechanically sound — every checklist point still passes. Shutter count can be anywhere from 30% to past rated life if the mechanism has been serviced. The right pick for a second body, a student, or anyone who shoots with their hands, not their eyes.
From the Bench
Two promises, in writing
We don't think buying a used camera should feel like a leap of faith. So we put two things in writing, on every used body that leaves the shop, that the marketplace can't match.
Industry standard is 30 days. Ours is three times that. If a used body fails a checklist point in the first 90 days, we repair it on our in-house bench — Canon CPS Gold and Nikon Authorized — or refund the purchase. No restocking fee, no return shipping cost, no runaround.
Every new full-frame body purchased from Simon's carries lifetime trade-in credit at the full original purchase price, redeemable against any future gear in the shop. Use a body for two years, three years, ten — and the credit is still there. It's how we keep our customers for a working lifetime, not a shopping cart.
"I bought a used Leica M6 from Simon's last winter for a documentary run in upstate New York. The body came with the bench tag, the original strap, and a note about the rangefinder calibration. It shot 4,000 frames in three weeks of cold and fog, and rangefinder alignment never drifted. That doesn't happen by accident. Whoever vetted that body knew what they were doing."
