A friend of mine is planning to buy a used DVX100a and will have the opportunity to test it before buying... I am compiling a check list for him
- any aditional thoughts would be apreciated.
Physical/visual inspection:
- check for obvious signs of abuse, dings on corners indicating drops, lens surface scratches, etc.
- check for smoothness of lens barel operation (focus and zoom ring) - is it crunchy indicating dirt or misalignment?
- check that the LCD is still firm and stays put when adjusted
- make sure tripod mounting threads are not stripped
Functional test:
- power up, and check all functions (more detailed list to come)
- have a look at the scene file settings to see if anything is way out of wack (will show if the previous user knew what they were doing)
- restore camera to default settings by pressing the small reset button beside the speaker
- insert tape, shoot some footage in all scene file modes, play it back, and look for drop outs or other issues.
Detailed camera test:
Roll tape while checking:
(maybe talk though what you are doing so you have it "slated" on audio?)
- exposure all stops
- focus range at various zoom settings
(from min focus, slowly through to 20 feet and then to infinity)
- audio inputs by pluggng mic into both one at time (check audio level pots while rolling)
- digitize the footage (this will also help confirm FW port works ok) and look at it on a full res monitor, listen to audio with a good head set.
this was off the top of my head... I'll add to it as I think of more - any other help would be apreciated.
- any aditional thoughts would be apreciated.
Physical/visual inspection:
- check for obvious signs of abuse, dings on corners indicating drops, lens surface scratches, etc.
- check for smoothness of lens barel operation (focus and zoom ring) - is it crunchy indicating dirt or misalignment?
- check that the LCD is still firm and stays put when adjusted
- make sure tripod mounting threads are not stripped
Functional test:
- power up, and check all functions (more detailed list to come)
- have a look at the scene file settings to see if anything is way out of wack (will show if the previous user knew what they were doing)
- restore camera to default settings by pressing the small reset button beside the speaker
- insert tape, shoot some footage in all scene file modes, play it back, and look for drop outs or other issues.
Detailed camera test:
Roll tape while checking:
(maybe talk though what you are doing so you have it "slated" on audio?)
- exposure all stops
- focus range at various zoom settings
(from min focus, slowly through to 20 feet and then to infinity)
- audio inputs by pluggng mic into both one at time (check audio level pots while rolling)
- digitize the footage (this will also help confirm FW port works ok) and look at it on a full res monitor, listen to audio with a good head set.
this was off the top of my head... I'll add to it as I think of more - any other help would be apreciated.