Need Mack warranty for XH A1?

Taylor Rudd

Taylor Rudd

Veteran
I just ordered my XH A1 from B&H. Should I get the Mack warranty?

Given Canon's proprietary 24F/30F, I will be using my A1 as my deck (I don't plan on buying HV10 or 20). This will put twice as much time on the heads (1 hr footage + 1 hr import = 2 hrs).

Is it worth the $170 to buy a Mack warranty? How much would it cost to fix the heads if I didn't go with the extended warranty?
 
I'm not sure that it's particularly necessary. After 4 years you either move on to a new camera or you don't use enough of the head to require replacement (1000 hours is a lot). Plus I've heard horror stories about poor services with Mack warranties and how long they take to get the camera back to you (something like six months in one case). Do a search on them and you should get some useful info.
 
I dunno, I got a Mack warranty for two years from B&H. So thats one year coverage from Canon, plus an extra two. I figure three years coverage is good for how long I'll probably be using this camera.

EDIT: OK, I did a search, and there are a few horror stories out there. Starting to think I should have kept the hundred or so bucks to myself. I mean, it's a little piece of mind, and if possible I will take them up on that head cleaning. As stated in many of the negative posts I found, Mack is essentially an insurance company. They're taking the gamble that nothing bad is going to happen when they sell you that little slip of paper. And if something bad DOES happen, like most insurance companies, they'll try and find a way to skate out of the bill.

I'll keep you updated between now and 2010. (The year we make contact)
 
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marketmd said:
Is that what the HVX does as well? By "Reduced resolution" you don't mean any worse than a DVX, right?
Click to expand...

The A1 has a native 16:9 chip. In order to capture 4:3 footage the effective chip area is reduced, resulting in less pixels and the image is less sharp. The DVX has native 4:3 chip meaning it is able to use the full range of its pixel when capturing 4:3 footage; when trying to capture 16:9 the DVX is at at disadvantage. HVX has 16:9 chip so it should suffer the same quality reduction when shooting 4:3.
 
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