Does Canon seal the A1's box at the factory?
 

Does Canon seal the A1's box at the factory? My A1's box was not sealed with a sticker or anything.... just like how Canon ships it's digital cameras...

I could swear that when I bought my old GL2, its box was sealed. In fact, I'm looking at the old GL2 box right now and there's a clear round sticker sealing the opening.(which I had to cut open before opening)

Thanks!

not sealed on both of our A1's

Same here- just pry it open- but you can sorta tell if the box has been open prior- it should be fairly stiff and corners razor sharp- just opening it a few times frays the edges.

Is there a way to tell if or how much a camcorder has been used?

A B&H salesman told me their policy for returns was up to 7 days and no more than 2 hours of use.

What would you do with that information if you had it?

Y'all should run a head-cleaning tape in any brand new camera, before putting that first DV cassette in anyway.

I never thought about doing that. Thanks for the advice! I'll do that when I get my next cam... :)

Nothing underhanded. With the cameras coming in unsealed boxes I thought it would be interesting if there was a way to see if it had been used at all.

Speaking of head cleaning tapes... Is there a particular one that is recommended? Or anything I can find at the local electronics superstore?

When I was visiting the NAB annual show last spring, the Canon reps were giving out free Canon DV cleaning tapes. I grabbed a couple and have been using them ever since. :)

See our Long Black Line forum for all things relating to tape, including head cleaning cassette recommendations. In short, the brand does not matter as long as it's a major one.