Author Archives: Mike

Why We Don’t Purchase Lower Value Equipment

If you’ve requested an offer from us you might have received a response that included the term “minimum value threshold”. Our minimum value threshold is the dollar amount at which we no longer purchase any particular item. Generally it’s around $200 used retail value. If an item sells for less than that amount used we […]

We’ve got a temporary offer freeze on RED DSMC cameras. Here’s why.

We’re currently not making offers on certain RED DSMC camera bodies. This includes the original Scarlet and Epic bodies. Why aren’t we offering on these cameras? Do we not like them? Well no. We love the DSMC cameras however in the past 6 months we’ve seen the market for these cameras, for lack of a […]

Selling to a Blood Sucking Reseller is Better Than You Think!

We get a lot of interesting responses to our ads and requests to purchase gear. They range from simple no thank you’s to the more colorful “go **** yourself” but sometimes we get a little dose of honesty too and one of the responses we hear on a semi-regular basis is that people want their gear […]

Understanding California’s 6378 Teleproduction Sales Tax Exemption

Since we’re located in Los Angeles we get a fair amount of requests to purchase equipment using California’s Teleproduction sales tax exemption (Section 6378). If you’re not familiar with this exemption, it basically gives you a 5.5% discount on the sales tax we would otherwise be forced to collect on your behalf. All you need to […]

You pay HOW much for that?

Popularity is best and worst thing for a camera’s resale value. If you’re selling a common camera in the peak of it’s popularity you can often easily sell it for close to what it sold for new. For instance, if you were say selling a Blackmagic 4k Cinema Camera right now you can get just shy […]

HDV is Not Obsolete and Here’s Why

The advent of solid state cameras has certainly ushered in a new era of efficient workflow but the price tag can sometimes be off-putting for those just getting into filming yet a lot of these people would rather have a solid state consumer camera than an HDV professional camera. That's a terrible idea. Here's why.

Why Hours of Use Matter Less and Less

The number one question people ask us about our cameras is how many hours are on them. More and more it matters less and less. The hour meter was made popular with cameras that required some form of regular maintenance. Either cleaning and adjustment of the tape transport, cleaning of the heads, replacement of the drum, etc but as cameras transition into mostly solid state media the hour meter becomes less relevant. We're not suggesting you ignore it but don't use it as your sole deciding factor on making a purchase.

MiniDV Cameras and Data Transfer

If you’re considering purchasing a used Prosumer/ semi-pro Mini-DV camcorder there’s one suggestion we feel compelled to make: Don’t use the camera for playback or to transfer footage to your PC. At first thought you might be asking yourself, “why am I paying this much for a camera and not using it for data transfer?”. […]

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