1200 recording hours is it too much for buying second ?

[Cristian Mihai]

Hello guys. Would you consider 1200 recording hours to be aa lot and stay away from such camera ? Is it safe to buy second a camera with such a high number of recording hours ?

 

[Tristan Houghton]

I wouldn't stay away, i'd just check the work the person does to see if the cameras would have ever been exposed to salt water or really dangerous practises.

Mine are past that and never miss a beat

 

[Hrvoje Simic]

Hello guys. Would you consider 1200 recording hours to be aa lot and stay away from such camera ? Is it safe to buy second a camera with such a high number of recording hours ?

Hours alone don't say much, what Tristan said.
There is a big difference if it sat on sticks in the studio all the time or if it has been used roaming around the globe in various production scenarios.

I wouldn't say that sensor and electronics have problems with working hours if operated properly, shooting conditions and camera's physical state are your main concern, not how much was it operating.
No gears and belts inside.

This can also mean that it was used by an experienced operator/owner and handled with proper care.

 

[Dunkan Wolf]

I personally don't know of any Red camera failing after long term use. There used to be bad boards that broke cameras within the first 100 hours of use... but that's been fixed afaik

 

[Mark Phelan]

This is an unknown at the moment. R1s are still going strong. No real moving parts beside buttons. What exactly is the MTBF for a computer cam? If I were to base it off my computers, it would be for a very long time. I have a Mac SE that still runs and it's 28 years old. Anyone up for a game of StuntCopter?

 

[David Battistella]

FYI, the hours meter is not recording hours (like tape record hours on tape based camera recording heads) but it is based on how long the camera has been powered up.

As a reference point 2000 hours is about a year of 9-5 work.

Battistella

 

[Cristian Mihai]

Thanks guys. As usual very well documented answer. Really appreciated.

 

[Jordan Buck]

I always thought it was turn over time as well - until I received my dragon and after turning it on and spending 2 hours playing with the menus and shooting about 30 seconds of footage and noticed the clock went up it all started to make sense! Having bought my MX second hand I didn't notice the hours move as much as I was looking more at 100's than just single hours.

Agree with all of the above, when I first bought my MX second hand I was between two bodies, one with 250 less hours on it, after some research I found out this had been used to make a wakeboard film and had been in some pretty harsh environments, I am sure it was fine but the other camera seemed to have been in studios and a few on set commercials so made more sense to buy the camera with more hours based on what those hours probably were.

good luck with it!

 

[Doménico Travano]

FYI, the hours meter is not recording hours (like tape record hours on tape based camera recording heads) but it is based on how long the camera has been powered up.

As a reference point 2000 hours is about a year of 9-5 work.

Battistella

This is actually great to know! Thank you David.

 

[Christopher-lee dos Santo]

Yeah. I had my dragon for less than a month and it already had 100 hours on it. First camera assistant kept it powered up almost all the time during our 2 week shoot. That mileage racks up pretty quick if the camera is just left on whilst DOP and Gaffer move lights etc.

 

[Jon Carr]

Hours to me mean the camera was actually used, not sitting on the shelf or worst case a lemon. I wouldn't mind little cosmetic damage (you should see the shit my camera been through) as long as the sensor, controls, contact points, buttons, threads are in working condition. Cause that's what really matters.

 

[Peter Lyons Collister ASC]

As long as you pay for Red to do an inspection on purchase ( I think around $300) then they really do a great job checking everything. When I just sold my Dragon the purchaser paid for this service and Red found a button on the Side Handle that was loose and gave confidence to my buyer.

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

If RED inspects the camera and the seller/ buyer pay for any necessary repairs, then the new owner can purchase a new, but short, warranty.

 

[Cristian Mihai]

Thanks for your answers guys!