*2nd Hand PD-150 evaluation*

[John Garcia]

Hey everyone,

I checked out my friends PD-150 that I’m gonna buy, and I just had a few questions regarding head time and operational time.

in relation to this thread:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9126&highlight=2nd+hand

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"The hour meters are the last item on the last page of the Menu on the camera. Open the LCD and press the Menu button to open the Menus on the screen. Use the thumbwheel on the back of the camera to navigate them, pushing in on the wheel to select a function or make a choice.

DV heads require replacement somewhere between 600 and 1000 hours in normal life. Mileage may vary. I purchased a used DSR-300 with 620 hours on the heads and think I'm OK with that as I don't put hundreds of hours a year on anything but my PD150. Balance price vs the cost of new heads and you quickly know how much you want to discount (if any) for head hours."
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I went down the checklist and everything looked fine. Here’s my question...

OPERATION
32 X 10

DRUM
22 X 10H

TAPE RUN
11X 10H

THREADING
17 X 10

These were the numbers on the hours meter. What do the numbers mean?

He has only used premium Sony tapes in the camera, and he has had it for about 3 months. Still has all accessories, manual, memory stick reader etc.

Is it still worth buying for $2000.00?

Thanks in advance...

John

[Mike Rehmus]

John, the answer to your hour meter question is about 20 threads below this one, the one you've quoted from. http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9254

It is a good buy for $2K but he certainly put a lot of miles on it in 3 months! What did he shoot, a movie?

[John Garcia]

Thanks Mike! yeah, I just found that thread, and I now understand. Crap, yeah, 220 hours on the head already. i better check into this. But in any case, the camera is still solid and well taken care of, and is in brand new condition. But thanks for the information. It helped alot.

So from what I understand, Ive got roughly 800 hours or so until I can expect to replace the heads? hmm...

Thanks again...

[Alex Kamm]

<<<-- Originally posted by Mike Rehmus : John, the answer to your hour meter question is about 20 threads below this one, the one you've quoted from. http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9254

It is a good buy for $2K but he certainly put a lot of miles on it in 3 months! What did he shoot, a movie? -->>>



John the camera was purchased from a video service company up in Missisipi some where I forget but yes their was alot of hours used. He tapes alot of court stuff, called depositions. It cost about $60 from sony to clean the head professionally. But I haven't noticed any problems with the one I bought from this guy.

[John Garcia]

sup alex! thanks for the reply. Yeah, I took a look at the camera last night, and I like it. We were installing seth's new fully adjustable Tien HA suspension on Brian's old 240. lol, he misses it now. Were gonna do a little tech article for the website. I got pics of the installation along the way. anyways, yeah, the camera is solid, I was just reading what to look for in cameras, and checked out the numbers on brian's. The camera is in awesome condition. When I get it, would you recommend getting it cleaned?

haha...I told him be careful with it until next month...haha. its in escrow. thanks again dude...

[Mike Rehmus]

There is no reason to have it cleaned unless you want an alignment check. My theory is that if it isn't broken, don't break it by sending it to a repair shop.