ALEXA MINI: Max Hours on a Used Alexa Mini?

DustinSchmidt

DustinSchmidt

Well-known member
I wanted to ping the braintrust here to get opinions on the Alexa Mini. I know there are several here who have used it extensively.

In your opinion, what is the maximum number of hours you'd feel comfortable with when buying a used Alexa Mini?

I've been around all of the forums, etc. and I've seen varying answers. Some say 4000 hours is the max they'd be comfortable with, others say to just make sure it's recently been checked out and certified by Arri, regardless of hours.

I'm 99% sure I'm NOT going to pick one up. But they're going for pretty low prices nowadays and if the right opportunity struck...I might. Never say never. ;)
 
4000 would be the highest I'd also go with if I had to pay more than $10K.

For $5K I'd take a shot at more.

Back in the day, 10000 hours was even considered low by some, but I think the general consensus over time has changed to less.
 
Peter's been checking the for sale listings again...he's ready to make a move...get that white balance right with a new camera...
 
NorBro said:
Peter's been checking the for sale listings again...he's ready to make a move...get that white balance right with a new camera...
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Did you finally sell that Alexa? How many hours did it have? I wanted it but thought it might be a little too much for depositions and dance recitals.
 
DustinSchmidt said:
I know there are several here who have used it extensively.
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I doubt it!
DustinSchmidt said:
I've been around all of the forums, etc. and I've seen varying answers. Some say 4000 hours is the max they'd be comfortable with, others say to just make sure it's recently been checked out and certified by Arri, regardless of hours.
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Do all video cameras log hours the same? Is it just if it's on, hours are being logged? I'd be more comfortable with 4000 hours from a sony or arri vs. a BM cam. Or 4000 studio hours should be better than 4000 hours of flying around the world. If someone from Arri gave the all clear, that would definitely be good enough for me.
 
rob norton said:
I doubt it!

Do all video cameras log hours the same? Is it just if it's on, hours are being logged? I'd be more comfortable with 4000 hours from a sony or arri vs. a BM cam. Or 4000 studio hours should be better than 4000 hours of flying around the world. If someone from Arri gave the all clear, that would definitely be good enough for me.
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I've had cameras that would break it out hours on and recording hours. Now that we don't use video tape, recorded hours isn't important anymore because there no physical wear.
 
Peter C. said:
I've had cameras that would break it out hours on and recording hours. Now that we don't use video tape, recorded hours isn't important anymore because there no physical wear.
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I would agree there's less moving parts now, in terms of tape vs. digital, but I still think the hours logged are important. Either way, it's crazy what's available nowadays at different price points.

3-4 years ago I had no interest in the Mini because it was way out of my price bracket. It's still spendy in 2024-25, but it's come down quite a bit.
 
careful...once you're filming with an ARRI and working with the footage the Canon's done dada, there is just no going back to anything else.
 
Hours are one consideration, but age may be more important. As someone who worked in the world of high reliability design for equipment designed to last 20 years running 24/7/365, I can tell you that it is the things like electrolytic capacitors that are the first electronic items to fail, and those fail due to age, not use. So a mini manufactured in 2015 is more vulnerable than one built in 2020 due to that failure.

Then there are fans (does the mini have fans?); those also are an hours item and are the most failure-prone item as their bearings wear out.

Buttons also are mechanical and so hours mean something for them as it implies use.

To me, 4000 hours sounds pretty low for electronics. The least reliable item we had was fans. They ran continuously for five years before they started failing. That's 43,000 hours.
 
Paul F said:
Hours are one consideration, but age may be more important. As someone who worked in the world of high reliability design for equipment designed to last 20 years running 24/7/365, I can tell you that it is the things like electrolytic capacitors that are the first electronic items to fail, and those fail due to age, not use. So a mini manufactured in 2015 is more vulnerable than one built in 2020 due to that failure.
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How old is too old for capacitors? Can they be easily replaced?
 
Unfortunately, like anything else, it depends. The main parameter that affects lifetime is temperature.

Every 10 degrees C rise in temperature cuts the life of the capacitor in half. So a capacitor that runs in a cooler area of a box (say 55C) lasts 160,000 hours (18 years), if it was running in a hotter area (95C), it would last 10,000 hours (1.14 years).

So, you see, there is no easy answer.

Electrolytic capacitors (the ones that fail most often) are usually easy to replace.

Once again, here I am, providing tedious trivia that really doesn't help the OP.
 
I'm not sure. Things don't like temperature cycles, but if something is running at high temperatures, for sure, having periods of being off is of benefit.
 
Paul F said:
I'm not sure. Things don't like temperature cycles, but if something is running at high temperatures, for sure, having periods of being off is of benefit.
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I don’t know all of the ins and outs of Arri’s testing, but I know that reliability in all kinds of weather is one of their core tenets.

The ability to keep the sensor within a specific operating range is key to its performance, so the ability to run it in extreme heat and cold, while maintaining that sensor temp, is all part of the design philosophy.

All that to say, I imagine the Mini can handle lots of turning on and off, running for extended periods, cold starts and hot ones, etc.

I may just be drinking the marketing kool-aid but they certainly have a reputation for robustness.

But I’ve also never had any issues in that respect from my Canon’s.
 
Any used gear you take a chance but they're tools at the end of the day. I remember people had the same type of conversation with computers back in the day that most of the wear occurred during start up so it would last long if you left it on. For cameras the bulk of the repair cost is the labor to gain access to the component to be replaced. If you worry too much about your tools you never be able create the movie you want.
 
rob norton said:
I doubt it!

Do all video cameras log hours the same? Is it just if it's on, hours are being logged? I'd be more comfortable with 4000 hours from a sony or arri vs. a BM cam. Or 4000 studio hours should be better than 4000 hours of flying around the world. If someone from Arri gave the all clear, that would definitely be good enough for me.
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With my Amira and Alexa 35 (I believe all Arri's are the same), it's just Power On hours. Going back slightly to my P2 VariCam's (which are solid state recording, as well), they broke out hours into three sub divisions: 1) total power on, 2) recording and 3) on/off cycles.
 
I probably wouldn't buy one with more than 4K-5K hours on it. I're read on some of the forums that once you start getting to that 5K-7K range, there's a decent chance you may run into having to get the sensor replaced.
 
DustinSchmidt said:
I don’t know all of the ins and outs of Arri’s testing, but I know that reliability in all kinds of weather is one of their core tenets.

The ability to keep the sensor within a specific operating range is key to its performance, so the ability to run it in extreme heat and cold, while maintaining that sensor temp, is all part of the design philosophy.

All that to say, I imagine the Mini can handle lots of turning on and off, running for extended periods, cold starts and hot ones, etc.

I may just be drinking the marketing kool-aid but they certainly have a reputation for robustness.

But I’ve also never had any issues in that respect from my Canon’s.
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That's one of the things that Arri has figured out: thermal management of the sensor. That's why yo don't have to black balance an Arri(and there is no option to), because it is designed to keep the sensor operating within an extremely tight temperature window.
 
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