What to check my HVX for during a three day trial period?

Jacques le Clochard

Jacques le Clochard

Member
Dear all,

Somewhere in the coming weeks I will receive my HVX200. I bought a used camera, and the sender offered me a three-day inspection period. If I decide not to commit, I can return the camera to sender and receive a full refund.

The seller told me there were no more than 12 hours and 36 minutes on it, it comes with an adapter and a 35 mm, and 2 P2 cards - for no more than 1500EURO. It sounds too good to be true, hence my suspicion.

What should I definately check, test and inspect? I have no experience with the HVX200, so if you have some pointers, I would be very grateful.

Chris
 
yeah, that price sounds way too good to be true. did you pay in advance?
i kind of half expect you to get nothing, or maybe a box of rocks... its happened before. : (

if it does arrive...
the list is pretty long. just to start, id suggest:

battery tabs
focus at both ends
lens servo
firewire port
auto iris and focus
audio ports
menu funtions (in both modes)
headphones
all physical switches and knobs

and as far as the adapter:
all the glass
the diffuser screen
motor (if its a motorized model)
 
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Well, a scam, or so it appears: list of hits by google. All of them direct to fora where the main topic is "Scam, scam, alert, alert." Guess I took the bait. I should have did a more extensive search on the transport site, which does look pretty legit.

Question is, now what? I just called the bank, and at the moment, they can not help me since the department foreign transactions is closed. However the receptionist told me that the chances are next to none that they can reverse the transaction.
 
well, as they always say "a fool and his money are soon parted"

you may have to chalk this one up to a lesson learned.

just remember if a deal seems too good to be true. it almost always IS!
no reputable dealer is going to sell an item for significantly less than any other
and no individual is going to sell something for less than market value unless something is wrong or theyre just dumb. and sadly in most cases its the former rather than the latter...

you always have to ask yourself. is a 50% savings worth a 100% risk?
 
an escrow service is always the way to go.
Click to expand...
i disagree. "escrow services" are a BIG component to a TON of online scams. ive seen WAY too many of them personally, and they have become a big, BIG red flag. after about a dozen succesful transactions here on the forum. another dozen or so on craigslist and nearly 200 on ebay. if somebody mentions "escrow" to me - the deal is off

the best thing to do is trust your gut. share some emails with the person. see how many posts they have? does the item photo show the actual item or just the "sealed" box.
be wise. a box being "sealed" is in most cases of no benefit to the buyer. if the item has a warranty, its valid whether the box is open or not.

the best tool any of us has in this situation is our common sense.

DONT BE DRUNK ON THE DEAL!
 
wgzn said:
i disagree. "escrow services" are a BIG component to a TON of online scams. ive seen WAY too many of them personally, and they have become a big, BIG red flag. after about a dozen succesful transactions here on the forum. another dozen or so on craigslist and nearly 200 on ebay. if somebody mentions "escrow" to me - the deal is off
Click to expand...

That is exactly what happened here. The seller introduced me to an escrow site. It looked so official! But a whois done by a fraud data forum showed that this site was run from Romania. Said site is no longer online, after I managed to cancel the bank transaction.
 
Glad to hear that you got your money back okay.

In regards to your original question, if you are purchasing a used camera, check the following:

1) Open the LCD and check the hinge. If the LCD is moving easily, then the hinge is wearing out. This can lead to picture loss in your LCD .
2) Give the focus ring a swirl. If it is feeling grainy and not turning smoothly, then most likely the person you are purchasing it from was using it in very dusty/sandy conditions. Sand in the focus ring can be a scary thing as with time, the sand particles can move into the lens, requiring a new lens assy. Very pricey.
3) Check the battery case. Make sure the battery tabs are there and battery is locking into place.
4) Check the cameras bottom cover. If it looks crack, you may require a centre frame or tripod plate later down the line.
5) Check for any cracks in frame which would suggest that the camera has been knocked or dropped. Knocks/drops can cause all sorts of problems depending on if and which boards have been damaged.
6) Insert cables, feel for loose inputs. Over time, the motion of inserting/pulling out cables can weaken the connectors.
7) If possible, check the firewire connection. If there is no firewire connection, chances are it is either the firewire connector or Codec PCB. The Codec PCB is very expensive to repair.
These are all of the things that I could think of that you could check with the eye. For anything else, take the camera (if possible) to a repair shop. We get customers often coming in requesting a diagnosis for sale/purchase. As soon as we open up a camera, we can tell if the camera has suffered water/moisture damage, if PCB's are cracked (from knock or fall), if liquid was spilled in it (we have seen coke spilled in a camera once), etc.

I am not sure how much your repair centre would charge for a diagnosis only but in my opinion, it really is worth it, especially if you want to verify the condition of the camera. Remember, it may look well kept on the outside, but the inside could be a totally different story.
 
I'd simply add shoot some video and then watch playback to all the other pointers.

Glad you got your money back.

Cheers,
E
 
Zoom in with the camera on an object and set the focus correctly, then zoom out, then fully zoom in again. Is the object still in perfect focus? If yes, the lens is good, if not, the camera has most likely been dropped or slammed into something.

Good luck!
 
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