Does the Usage counter on the HVX mean anything?

Ryan Patrick O'Hara

Ryan Patrick O'Hara

Veteran
Does the hours of use meter actually mean anything?

It must mean something.... so what should the number be for people to start to wonder about the cams performance.

I'm about to sell my HVX in a month or two and I've taken EXTREME good care of my camera. I didn't baby it, but I was professional. There is not so much a spec on my lens and the body is in great cosmetic condition...But the camera has 1,300 hours of use on the P2 side of things... maybe 100 hours on the tape heads. Is this BAD? Most HVX's I see are less, but that doesn't mean 1300 hours is bad, right?

I guess I'm asking what the point of the counter is.... if the camera slowly degrades with use, what is the number of hours one should start to be concerned with? Surely there is a rating.... with cars, people get really worried over 100k... what is it with the HVX? If it's high like 5,000 then what difference does a 1,300 hour cam have in comparison to a 600 hour cam? And don't say 700 hours, lol.

Thanks
 
Personally i don't think those numbers would scare anyone from purchasing that camera as long as they understand P2 has no moving parts. Some people look at those numbers like milage on a car, some consider the physical condition of the camera more. Take good images of it when you put it up for sale. I believe the p2 counter is always running when the camera is on p2 mode and powered on no matter if you are shooting or not.
 
On eBay it makes a big difference, 1,000 hour cams people back away from, there are to many 100ish hours cams for sale for a cheap price. You'll have to lower your price a lot cheaper than the 100ish hour cams. I bought a 300 hour hvx for $1750 with a 4 gig card. Deals are everywhere. You might as well just keep it and use it for a b cam. It's not worthless but on a no reserve auction I'd bet it does $1500-$2000 having 1300 hours.
 
ChipG said:
On eBay it makes a big difference, 1,000 hour cams people back away from, there are to many 100ish hours cams for sale for a cheap price. You'll have to lower your price a lot cheaper than the 100ish hour cams. I bought a 300 hour hvx for $1750 with a 4 gig card. Deals are everywhere. You might as well just keep it and use it for a b cam. It's not worthless but on a no reserve auction I'd bet it does $1500-$2000 having 1300 hours.
Click to expand...
Eh. Well I'm selling all accessories, two batteries, 16gig card, etc. We'll see. I'm gonna shoot for $2,800. Anyway, thanks for the input. I guess I'll wait for Barry to show up and tell me the 'life' of the CCD block, because I guess that is what the counter is really taking into consideration... that it's had 1,300 hours of light hitting the sensor and making images. Like i said, if the HVX is tested and CCD goes wierd after 5k or 10k hours, the difference between 500 and 1,000 just seems silly for me to drop a huge price difference. Now if CCD may start to go at 2k hours of use, that is a different story.

So my question is... if there is not a number like i am discussing what is the point of the HVX counter? Bragging rights? I guess I can brag on 1,300 hours of use until I want to sell it. :P
 
The life of the ccd block is probably well past 20k hours, I have seen hvx's with over 5k hours that perform like new. Life limit isn't your problem it's how your customers will react to a camera with 1300 hours priced the same as a 100 hour camera. If you were buying a camera would you get the one with 100 hours for $2500 or the one with 1300 for $2800?

I know where I can buy a 600 hour hvx right now for $1500 with no cards.

You should just keep it for a b cam.
 
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