How many hours on your DVX?

A

activ8

New member
Having seen may posts about people worrying about buying a used camera with 100+ hours on the counter. I would like to find out who has the most used DVX out there?

I will put mine up as a candidate... I have 1022 hours logged. The camera is a DVX100BE two years old with a good few knocks and scrapes. I shoot commercial web video (webcasts and podcasts) and normally capture with a firestore FS-4pro with a backup tape in the cam. Last week the FS got dropped and we lost the drive data for the shoot. I was supprised to see that over 40mins of video was able to be captured from the backup tape without a single dropped frame!!

I was suprised by this because since using the firestore I have not cleaned the heads :shocked: which was over 700 hours ago. I have only used PQ tapes in the cam and only ever use a tape once. I will probably get this cam to around 1600 hours before it retires :crybaby: but by then it will have genuinely eaned it's weight in gold:laugh:

So who else has a high milage DVX it would be good to see a 2000 hour cam sill going strong :Drogar-Dum(DBG):
 
You make me feel very insignificant... I've got 69 hours on mine, that includes capture time (yes I use my DVX to capture).
 
115 on my 100A, but I use my JVC deck to capture.

I've also had to have my head replaced 2 years ago ($1500 later) because I used the Sony tapes in it and the oxidation got really.. really... bad. At the time I had logged about 200 hours with the camera since I was shooting and capturing with it.
 
woah, 1022 hours is quite a bit.
I've got 450 hours on my DVC30 which i beleive has the same deck as the DVX, or at least the same heads which are self cleaning, capture all footage with it, only use PQ's, and I am currently on the 41st tape.
I've had a few glitches in my footage, about half of them are from the camera being hit by a flying skateboard, unrelated to dirty heads. I don't think I've ever gotten the dropped frames message from final cut pro while capturing though.
the camera is about 1.5 years old too.
 
The heads must be very different on the B model (they look different). I think if you dont resuse tapes and let the heads self clean you could get a good long service out of the DVX B. For the type of work I do (web and podcast) where the maximum resolution used is 640x480 the DVX is perfect and in this case HD is a non-requirement. My local Panasonic service centre tells me that the B models heads are rated to 2000-2500 hours. They seemed to think that the A model and original DVX were around half of this though they can't be sure. This could have a bearing on the resale values of 'B's compared to the others (regardless of functionality).

So does anyone have a high milage (still working) original or A model ot there? One with over 1000 hours would be good!
 
I bought my DVX100a in April, 2005 and it has 439 hours on it. All but about 100 hours is from shooting video depositions. The rest is from shooting news and corporate video. I do not use it foe capture as I have a Sony "clamshell" for that. No problems so far.

I also have a Century Optics 16:9 eyepiece adapter which makes shooting "squeeze" mode easier, although it adds a bit of weight and moves the camera body farther away from your face --- a couple of inches --- when shooting. I'd recommend a brace --- I use a SteadyStick --- when shooting handheld.
 
I have 3 hours on mine (got it on tues), but I haven't even finished a single tape yet. I'm surprised there aren't two separate hour meters, one for head use and one for simply having it powered up.

I guess after I get to know the camera better I won't be running it 3 times as long as I've filmed with it.

Do most of you guys film a single shot, power down, then turn it back on again even if it's just a few minutes in between?
 
my first DVX ~ 200 hours (used on a feature doc, had a warrenty issue got a brand new one)

my second DVX ~ 500+ hours, sold it used to a friend for very cheap and he is still using it. I used it to shoot and capture.

My current DVX ~ 200+ hours, all shooting hours.

Yea, when people worry about how many hours are on the heads i laugh. I love the DVX, so good!
 
KSC said:
I have 3 hours on mine (got it on tues), but I haven't even finished a single tape yet. I'm surprised there aren't two separate hour meters, one for head use and one for simply having it powered up.

I guess after I get to know the camera better I won't be running it 3 times as long as I've filmed with it.

Do most of you guys film a single shot, power down, then turn it back on again even if it's just a few minutes in between?
Click to expand...


I have the powersave function on, so the camera turns off after a few minutes.
 
700 hours on my 100A. Had it almost 4 years now. Those are all shoot-only hours. I capture with a cheapo consumer camera. I've used almost exculsively PQ tapes. I did use a few sonys and tdks out of necessity, but I'd say over 95% of the tapes I've used are the PQs. I do not reuse tapes, and I've only had to use a head cleaning tape 4-5 times in those 4 years. The heads seem to be going strong.

I am starting to have an issue with the iris wheel, however. It's finicky.
 
I just looked, and I have 398 hrs on my original DVX. I did not know about the self-cleaning function. I only use tapes once, and have been using the AMQs since they became available, before that the PQs or MQs. I have all but occasionally used a Panasonic DV1000 deck to capture, only a few times capturing from the camera to a PowerBook in the field.

I too had the Sony mishap. Used one tape. Cost? $300 for the head-cleaning and related service. I have only ever used the dry system cleaning tape included with the camera three or four times.

I am currently shooting more with a friend's HVX, but I prefer the handling of the DVX for most of my work, which is nearly all hand-held.
 
aperture440 said:
I am starting to have an issue with the iris wheel, however. It's finicky.
Click to expand...

Mine's gotten touchy, too. Sometimes just jumps to f16 or black.

Plus I lost my 100% Zebras recently. Gibberish when you go to set them in the menu. Odd. (Seems to be saying KER%$#D.)

Otherwise running strong.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top