how many hours is too many hours?

[Will Clegg]

i am looking to buy my first HVX, and i have located a used unit. the camera shop is reputable, offers 48 hour inspection and 60 day warranty, but the camera has 5000 HOURS on it. that seems like way too many hours, but i thought maybe somebody on these forums could weigh in. i have not held the camera in my hands yet as it will require a two hour trip, but the guy on the phone says the hours used is around 5k for both tape and P2 modes.

what do you think? price aside, how many hours is too many hours for a camera like this. i know the P2 requires no moving parts, but it sounds like the tape carriage won't last much longer, and at 5000 hours i am worried about every aspect of the camera, but maybe some of you out here have cameras with many many more hours than that that still work great...

 

[TwistedLincoln]

That's a lot of hours... The HVX has only been available for about two and a half years, yes? (or has it even been that long?) Assuming they purchased it about that long ago, they'd have had to been taping for 5+ hours staight each day for 7 days a week... (5000/2.5 = 2000hours per year... 2000/365 = 5.47 hours per day).

If the price is really, really good, and all you're going to be using it for is P2, I'd consider it. Otherwise, I'd pass.