Buying equipment

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Photographer

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I'm looking to buy some gear. I read the post below about starting out and renting gear first. I however have the cash flow to buy. I'm looking for something used. SP something. I'll be shooting broadcast/network stuff. I'm already renting gear for current work and would now like to buy.

Does anyone have any ideas or leads? I'm not starting from scratch here. I've already started knocking on doors this is just one of many doors.

Thanks in advance.
 

joecam147

Well-known member
Photo,buy away, just remember once you start you just can't stop. There will always be a new shiny bauble that you just need to have so if you can get people to rent it and pay for it then its worth it. Thats kind of the point, once you have your basic setup see what people want and if they want it enough get one so you can get a rental on it. Without getting into a discussion of tape formats and analog/digital you are safe to buy yourself a decent Betacam if you must buy something, just make sure its in good shape and you have it checked out by a real live 'engineer'(Roger Macie) before you purchase, DON'T take anyone's word for its condition or it could turn into a costly mistake. There are plenty of brokers and deals around, do your homework. The writing is on the wall for Betacam and you will probably get many calls for other formats but thats probably your safest purchase at this point, at least its established and there will still be a call for it enough to get it paid for. Also most professional outlets will take it for field material, the plethora of digital formats are not necessarily better just newer. I've seen some decent deals on Betacam camcorders, they are going cheap (under 20K), of course they aint making them anymore so be careful, its alot like buying a used car. I would look for something that was once a little higher end perhaps a Sony 400A or Ike HL-V55, maybe even an early Sony 600...none were built to last forever so be aware of age as major components do wear out on all cameras. Whatever you do make sure you get it checked out ! Good Luck
 
I have an extensive and full Ikegami HL59w beta package all "network" ready and extremely reasonably priced.

Please call or email me for the list.

Jerry Gonzalez
Lone Wolf Productions, Inc
210-308-0044
jerry@lwptv.com
 
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