What does "low hours" mean to you?

[foxvalley]

I recently bought a b-stock Ikegami HL-DV7we camera from Ikegami. Before I bought it, I asked the sales rep how many hours it had on it... "low, very low hours" was the answer. They couldn't get the exact number because the camera was in transit. The discount off street price was $2000.

What would you expect "low hours" to mean?

I'll fill in the details of what' happened after some feedback... Thanks

 

[dhart]

Gee I don't know, "low hours" is kinda of a vague term. It's not like a car that in Michigan that has to be labeled as "used" after 600 miles. I would have insisted upon an accurate account before I purchased. If it was a true "b-stock" it means it was used in demos and at trade shows. If it is delivered with too many hours (I would be most concerned about "tape time" as that means "head wear") I suppose you could try and return it, but I'm not sure what deal you struck with Ikegami. This will probably start one of the infamous "freelance dust-ups" but I'd say low hours would be under 100 hours tape time. Good luck.

 

[Lensmith]

Low hours to me is 100 or fewer hours ;o)

What happened? Did you already have to replace worn heads?

 

[joecam147]

'low hours' isn't that like 'creampuff', only used for church services on sunday. If you got it directly from Ike they should have been able to provide you with some numbers, if it was a broker well obviously there is more to the story. I would hope it was less than 100 or 200 or 300, its all pretty vague and open to interpretation. Bstock shouldn't have that many hours on it. If you bought it have it checked out by an engineer. Where are you located and what is the primary use for this camera ? I only know of one market where this camera is hot, Boston, where are you located and what kind of work do you do ? just curious.

 

[foxvalley]

I agree it is vague, that's why I'm checking here to see what other fulltime users would think of as "low hours" if that is all you were given. I know what b-stock is and like anything you have to weigh the discount against the wear/condition.

At the same time this deal from Ikegami was marketed, there was a used dv7 in Minn with 32 hours on it for less than the Ikegami, I went with Ikegami's promise of low hours and a 6month warranty.

So, I'm just trolling to get an idea of what others think "low hours" would generally mean when you were considering a purchase of a used camera. To me, in the ballpark of 100 hours or less would qualify.

The dv7 arrived with 365 hours on it, several chips to the exterior finish, the lens missing the zoom lever from the zoom ring.

It seems too used for the price.

I'm not unhappy with the camera, its about as good a DV25 camera gets, but I think their sales department puffed it up a bit too much and I made the wrong choice between the options I had in the market... eh?

 

[Thomas]

I think, given what you have described, the camera was misrepresented by the folks at Ikegami. They should take it back and allow you to take your money and purchase another camera from whomever you choose.

Make them take the camera back. You're not comfortable with the deal.