Average Life of GL2 (Or Digital Cams in General) at DVinfo.net

Eric Richmond · August 29th, 2002, 06:55 AM

About how many hours of shooting/transferring can one expect out of a digital cam?

I'm kinda worried, since I've been reading all this stuff about not using the cam to transfer video to my NLE.... I would have never guessed that was an issue

I would have assumed you could use a cam for at least 2 years w/o anything wearing out...

Whats the total shooting time these camera will provide? 100 hours? 1000 hours?

Just Curious

-Eric

Barry Goyette · August 29th, 2002, 07:24 AM

Eric

I don't know if canon publishes a "duty cycle" for these cameras, so any information you'll get will be anecdotal...I've had a gl1 for three years now, and used it for the first year to edit one large project, and several smaller ones. I shoot with it an average amount, but couldn't tell you how many hours.

The issue with using the camera for editing is more one of camera design. When editing, there is a lot of shuttling, rewinding etc that is not part of "normal" camera operation. The leads many of us to seek out something cheaper, or more robust to handle these chores....I don't know of anybody who has worn out their camera because of NLE use, but I'll bet it could happen. The question is do you want to do it to your $2700 shiney new toy or a $600 beater, or a $1500 deck that's designed for just such a task. Also, decks...even my little sony walkman....work much better as editing machines...responding to the cues from your NLE with much more speed and elan.

Barry

Jeff Donald · August 29th, 2002, 07:37 AM

Digital is a different beast than analog. In analog every pass of the tape over the heads wears them slightly and slowly decreases quality. Digital only requires a one or zero. Yes, the heads wear, but unlike analog thousands and thousands of hours would need to pass before a noticeable decrease in performence. The internal components are all direct drive (gears, shafts, springs). No belts to dry and crack or slip. It is unlikely you would ever wear out a camcorder. It can mechanically fail, however. This is usually the result of a drop or bump. Parts become bent, or misaligned from the drop. Continued use cause abnormal wear and the parts eventually fail.

The advantages will come from faster response from the dedicated decks. Also, much less wear and tear on the cable connectors. People break cable connectors all the time. Break the FireWire connector on your camera and your out of commission for several weeks.

Jeff

Eric Richmond · August 29th, 2002, 07:58 AM

Wow, thanks for the quick and excellent responses.

I really appreciate all the advice that's been given, I promise to keep my newbie questions to a minimum :)

Actually Jeff, the fact it was digital is why I was questioning why it seemed like there is a short life expectancy on these cams... I'm a computer scientist by trade, and a musician by passion, I'm involved heavily with digital music, and knowing there is no loss when using digital music is why I assumed there would be no wear on the camera tapes and such.

Barry, thanks for the info... at some point I'll need to get a deck I guess, for now I'll use some cheap cams to transfer my stuff to vegas.

-Eric

Don Palomaki · August 30th, 2002, 06:22 AM

Expect a head life of on the order of 1000-2000 hours. Those are total of record + playback + pause mode hours. Then several hundred dollars for replacement. That is routine maintenance, like replacing tires on a car.

For most consumer-class users that is a lifetime. For professional use that is a year or two.

Expect a good camcorder like the GL1 to have a useful life with frequent use of around 6 years or more.

Analog signals degradegradually over time, as the heads wear and tape wears. With DV the issues appear as an increassed number of errors when reading the tape. The digital playback systems are good at error correction and masking. However, at some point the error correction and masking will no longer keep up with the errors and you will start to see the block/mosaic effects in your image. You also amy see increased difficulty in firewire transfers as wear becomes a factor. Probelms in audio may appear before it is apparent in the video.

Chris Hurd · August 30th, 2002, 10:20 AM

How you actually treat the camera physically will have a big impact on this. As a matter of course, you should send the camera in to factory service at least once per year for a normal cleaning/checking/tweaking of the camera system and tape transport. For what it's worth, all camcorder makes are serviceable at the factory up to seven years after they are discontinued. As an example, the XL1 was discontinued last year (July 2001) but will continue to be serviced by Canon USA until July 2008. Hope this helps,

August 29th, 2002, 06:55 AM	#1
Eric Richmond Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Boston, Mass Posts: 42	Average Life of GL2 (Or Digital Cams in General) About how many hours of shooting/transferring can one expect out of a digital cam? I'm kinda worried, since I've been reading all this stuff about not using the cam to transfer video to my NLE.... I would have never guessed that was an issue I would have assumed you could use a cam for at least 2 years w/o anything wearing out... Whats the total shooting time these camera will provide? 100 hours? 1000 hours? Just Curious -Eric

August 30th, 2002, 10:20 AM	#6
Chris Hurd Obstreperous Rex Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: San Marcos, TX Posts: 27,366 Images: 513	How you actually treat the camera physically will have a big impact on this. As a matter of course, you should send the camera in to factory service at least once per year for a normal cleaning/checking/tweaking of the camera system and tape transport. For what it's worth, all camcorder makes are serviceable at the factory up to seven years after they are discontinued. As an example, the XL1 was discontinued last year (July 2001) but will continue to be serviced by Canon USA until July 2008. Hope this helps, __________________ CH Search DV Info Net \| 20 years of DVi \| ...Tuesday is Soylent Green Day!

August 29th, 2002, 07:24 AM	#2
Barry Goyette Trustee Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: San Luis Obispo CA Posts: 1,195	Eric I don't know if canon publishes a "duty cycle" for these cameras, so any information you'll get will be anecdotal...I've had a gl1 for three years now, and used it for the first year to edit one large project, and several smaller ones. I shoot with it an average amount, but couldn't tell you how many hours. The issue with using the camera for editing is more one of camera design. When editing, there is a lot of shuttling, rewinding etc that is not part of "normal" camera operation. The leads many of us to seek out something cheaper, or more robust to handle these chores....I don't know of anybody who has worn out their camera because of NLE use, but I'll bet it could happen. The question is do you want to do it to your $2700 shiney new toy or a $600 beater, or a $1500 deck that's designed for just such a task. Also, decks...even my little sony walkman....work much better as editing machines...responding to the cues from your NLE with much more speed and elan. Barry

August 29th, 2002, 07:37 AM	#3
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	Digital is a different beast than analog. In analog every pass of the tape over the heads wears them slightly and slowly decreases quality. Digital only requires a one or zero. Yes, the heads wear, but unlike analog thousands and thousands of hours would need to pass before a noticeable decrease in performence. The internal components are all direct drive (gears, shafts, springs). No belts to dry and crack or slip. It is unlikely you would ever wear out a camcorder. It can mechanically fail, however. This is usually the result of a drop or bump. Parts become bent, or misaligned from the drop. Continued use cause abnormal wear and the parts eventually fail. The advantages will come from faster response from the dedicated decks. Also, much less wear and tear on the cable connectors. People break cable connectors all the time. Break the FireWire connector on your camera and your out of commission for several weeks. Jeff

August 29th, 2002, 07:58 AM	#4
Eric Richmond Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Boston, Mass Posts: 42	Wow, thanks for the quick and excellent responses. I really appreciate all the advice that's been given, I promise to keep my newbie questions to a minimum :) Actually Jeff, the fact it was digital is why I was questioning why it seemed like there is a short life expectancy on these cams... I'm a computer scientist by trade, and a musician by passion, I'm involved heavily with digital music, and knowing there is no loss when using digital music is why I assumed there would be no wear on the camera tapes and such. Barry, thanks for the info... at some point I'll need to get a deck I guess, for now I'll use some cheap cams to transfer my stuff to vegas. -Eric

August 30th, 2002, 06:22 AM	#5
Don Palomaki Wrangler Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Northern VA Posts: 4,487	Expect a head life of on the order of 1000-2000 hours. Those are total of record + playback + pause mode hours. Then several hundred dollars for replacement. That is routine maintenance, like replacing tires on a car. For most consumer-class users that is a lifetime. For professional use that is a year or two. Expect a good camcorder like the GL1 to have a useful life with frequent use of around 6 years or more. Analog signals degradegradually over time, as the heads wear and tape wears. With DV the issues appear as an increassed number of errors when reading the tape. The digital playback systems are good at error correction and masking. However, at some point the error correction and masking will no longer keep up with the errors and you will start to see the block/mosaic effects in your image. You also amy see increased difficulty in firewire transfers as wear becomes a factor. Probelms in audio may appear before it is apparent in the video.