How many hours to test new camera? at DVinfo.net

Dave Findley · August 26th, 2007, 07:07 PM

Getting XH A1 for overseas project, gonna be problem if it has defects, just wondering if there is a general consensus on how many hours of operation are needed to determine if new camera is up to snuff?

Bill Pryor · August 27th, 2007, 09:43 AM

My experience has been that in most cases if there is a problem it will show up fairly soon. It would be good to shoot a few tapes under different conditions before you go, if possible. It's not a good idea to get a new camera and immediately leave on a job without checking it out thoroughly. With all the thousands of these cameras sold, problems are very rare, but they do happen.

When I got mine, I shot probably not much more than an hour's worth of tape, just to get accustomed to the camera before doing some real interviews. But I spent a lot of time checking everything out, using the cleaning tape at the very first, going through all the settings, etc. Sometimes when you think you have a problem, it's simply that some setting is on that you thought was off. A good example of that is the auto shutter on the old DSR250. Some people thought the camera was defective when it came out because you couldn't just turn the shutter toggle to off--you had to set the shutter to 1/60 in the menu, then turn the toggle on...very counterintuitive, but that's the way it was. I've seen other cameras where people though they had some kind of problem and it was the auto shutter being on, or auto white balance, etc.

August 26th, 2007, 07:07 PM	#1
Dave Findley Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Nashville Posts: 39	How many hours to test new camera? Getting XH A1 for overseas project, gonna be problem if it has defects, just wondering if there is a general consensus on how many hours of operation are needed to determine if new camera is up to snuff?

August 27th, 2007, 09:43 AM	#2
Bill Pryor Contributor Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Kansas City, MO Posts: 4,449	My experience has been that in most cases if there is a problem it will show up fairly soon. It would be good to shoot a few tapes under different conditions before you go, if possible. It's not a good idea to get a new camera and immediately leave on a job without checking it out thoroughly. With all the thousands of these cameras sold, problems are very rare, but they do happen. When I got mine, I shot probably not much more than an hour's worth of tape, just to get accustomed to the camera before doing some real interviews. But I spent a lot of time checking everything out, using the cleaning tape at the very first, going through all the settings, etc. Sometimes when you think you have a problem, it's simply that some setting is on that you thought was off. A good example of that is the auto shutter on the old DSR250. Some people thought the camera was defective when it came out because you couldn't just turn the shutter toggle to off--you had to set the shutter to 1/60 in the menu, then turn the toggle on...very counterintuitive, but that's the way it was. I've seen other cameras where people though they had some kind of problem and it was the auto shutter being on, or auto white balance, etc.