modcomper Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 Hi all, Was wondering if some long term canon c100/c series users could give me some advice... I've just bought a used canon c100 mki w the daf upgrade after some ebay hunting (I know, pretty nuts for 2020, but does what I need!). Managed to get a pretty good deal for £600 ($750). (the average price seems to be between £650-850 ($800-$100) with the daf upgrade nowadays). The seller had said he couldn't find the usage hour counter when I asked, but said that it was most likely around 700 hours, with everything in great working order. Received the camera a couple days ago and it turns out it has 3000h on the counter! That said, it does appear to be in good working condition. All mechanical parts working fine, sensor pretty clean, only a few dust specs and apparently never had any issues in the past. So my question is, how much of an indicator of the lifespan of the camera is the hour counter? Is it a ticking time bomb at this point in its life? As I said the mechanical parts and sensor seem to be fine and the owner said he mostly racked up the hours on it over the years recording theatre productions, where he'd prop it on a tripod and leave it on to record for hours... So not too much handheld run n gun action gone on. I don't believe the seller was trying to "fool" me by not telling me the true hour count, we've been in touch since. But obviously the fact that it is so high would've been a factor for me, and I do feel a bit cheated. I've seen a couple other similar condition cams with <500hrs go for not that much more than what I spent. So what would you advise? Are hours a big factor? Should I try to get a refund and return it, then get back on the eBay hunting? Or suck it up and hope nothing breaks (which could cost as much as I paid for the camera to replace)... Any advice appreciated, thanks!! Matteo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronFilm Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 Sensor hours are not like kilometers on a car, or shutter life on a camera. They shouldn't necessarily "wear out". All it does is give a rough indication of how much the camera has been used. However, I'd rather take a C100 with 10,000hours on it that has been used as a locked off 24/7 live stream camera inside a house, than a C100 with "only" a thousand hours but has seen multiple expeditions into remote foreign battle zones to film documentaries on the front line. newfoundmass 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Sewell Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 Hours of use are very much a relic of the days of tape heads, when it really mattered. Remember, 3000 hours of operation actually only represents 300x10 hour work days - about a year and a half. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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