Hours on DVX100A
 

How many hours should be considered alot, and therefore avoided, on a used DVX100A?

hmm.. this is a toughy.. u see.. if teh camera has been used as a camera AND as a cpture deck of said footage, then i would HALVE the hours and go from that..

I'll explain why..

teh DVX, unlike sony cameras, doesnt have operation, drum, and head hours...
It only has one countdown and thats for the tape transport as a whole..
SO
If you record an 8 hour job on 8 tapes, u got 8 hours clocked on teh meter.. NOW, if u capture that footage, a further 8 hours will be added to clock.. play or record, it dont matter...

Now if u spent lets say 5 minutes FWD and RWD the tape, those 5 minutes will ALSO be added to the head count (even though the head isnt in play here..)

Basically the hours on a DVX count the transport hours ONLY... it doesnt differentiate between power, play, record, or wind..
this is a bummer coz if its the only deck u got, ur clock hours will rack up rather quickly... but these days u can find a cheap arsed DV cam and use THAT as a capture deck and save hours on teh DVX.. this way it actual hours u record on the meter are only actual recording hours...

As asn example, over 4 years on one of my cameras, its racked up somethign like 350hr (from memory) now if i was to ONLY have that one camera, it would be OVER double that, considering everything i do with the transport is timed... thnk about it, playback of 350hrs worth of footage, PLUS the winding FWD and BACK of said footage...

So yeah.. take the timer with a grain of salt..

I agree - a grain of salt is called for. 5 hours on the timer for a camera that's been used to film Nomadic Tribesmen living in the sand-storm Sahara is a lot more harmful than 500 hours at air-conditioned weddings.