How We Grade (Product Page)

All used equipment we sell is comprehensively inspected and tested by us. We grade our items as follows:

Mint Minus.

As close to new as a used item can be. It will have absolutely minimal signs of use. Of course, fully functional in all respects. We tend to use this rating sparingly.

Excellent Plus.

Very good condition, it will have seen light use and there will be some very minor cosmetic imperfections. Of course, everything is fully functional in all respects unless otherwise stated in the description.

Excellent.

Used condition but good overall - what you might expect from a second hand item. Some signs of use but fully working unless otherwise stated. Our standard condition rating.

Average.

Relatively poor condition overall but still fully working. Will have obvious signs of use and/or minor issues - for example optics may have small defects, a built-in light meter may not work, there may be cosmetic imperfections - and so on - but nothing too detrimental to its functionality and the item will be mostly usable in it’s original capacity.

Ugly.

Heavily used, beaten up, or whatever you want to call it. The item will function (just) - but will have one or more obvious defects. For example: the slow shutter speeds may not be working, there may be a ding to a filter rim, deep scratches or fungus to optics, significant signs of use and wear.
'Ugly' rated items do not come with any warranty period.

Outlet.

For spares or repair only. For those budding repairers, parts collectors, risk takers, or those who just like faffing. To avoid confusion, these items do not appear on our main catalogue, but are on a separate Outlet section. They are utterly broken and are sold as-seen.

Additional information about Condition.

Please note that for any condition rating, we do not guarantee selenium-cell light meters - both those which are built into cameras and hand-held. Due to age, these types of meter have often decayed to inaccurate or inoperative levels.

All used lenses will have some specks of dust in the optics no matter what the condition rating.