Used camcorders: PROS and CONS. 5 ordinary methods to check

Type the query “Avito used video camera” in the search bar, and you will get access to a thousand ads. Digitalization of sales drives the growth of the used equipment market. The video surveillance market is no exception. How profitable is it to buy used video equipment? Let’s figure it out together.

Pros and cons

A used video camera purchased for surveillance can be both a profitable and a wrong purchase. Supporters and opponents of used equipment will always find arguments for and against their beliefs.

Reasons to buy a used camcorder

According to experts, all the reasons to buy used video cameras for monitoring come down to savings, namely:

1. Significant price difference compared to new equipment.
2. The likelihood of buying a cheap exclusive model that is rare on the Russian market.
3. The likelihood of purchasing almost new equipment with a low percentage of wear at a reasonable price.
4. Opportunities for bargaining, receiving bonuses and discounts.

For example, on popular electronic bulletin boards, you can find expensive thermal imaging cameras Wisenet, Bosch, Axis “a little-used” at a price 2-2.5 times cheaper than new ones.

Main fears and risks of buyers

Whether it is worth considering buying a used camcorder seriously, given the following risks, is up to you.

 Main risks:

1. Internal damage, invisible on examination. There are significant risks to purchasing equipment after repair.
2. The likelihood of the former owner access to the equipment viewing.
3. Lack of Warranties and Maintenance.
4. Difficulties with the return of funds.
5. Lack of Russian certification.
6. The likelihood of purchasing software with viruses.
7. Impossibility of integration.
8. Difficulties with installations and system updates.

Conclusion: having bought used video surveillance equipment, the buyer will be left with one-on-one problems. Also, similar problems (and several new ones) can be expected by buyers of camcorders from Chinese markets. Read the article “9 reasons why you shouldn’t buy video surveillance on AliExpress“.

TOP-5 simple check methods

Based on open sources, we have systematized the available information on basic methods of checking used video cameras.

Power supply and battery status

There are two working methods for checking the power supply and battery:

• turn on the camera, cover the infrared lamps designed for illumination at night with your palm. If they do not light up, then the power supply is worn out and needs to be replaced;
• connect the power supply to the measuring device (voltmeter). An efficient power supply should provide a voltage within 10-15 volts.

Exterior sounds

Turn on the camcorder in a quiet room. Do you hear how it works? Are there any external sounds: rustles, crackles, hiss? Ideally, there should be no side sounds.

If your camera has an indexing mechanism or zoom lens, it should be silent.

Image clarity

The image should be clear, without distortion. However, when testing, it is difficult to assess the image quality due to several reasons indicated in the article “5 Proven Ways to Avoid Interference in a Video Monitoring System“.

Shaking behaviour

Shake the used camcorder while watching and listening. High-quality equipment will not twitch the image and exterior sounds (such as whistling, hissing, rustling).

TV connection

If it is possible, connect the camcorder to the TV. So you can see if there are any dead pixels. And also, check the sound quality (sometimes exterior noise can be superimposed on the sound): connect the camera to the TV and turn on the sound at full power.

What if saving is vital?

Just imagine that in 2021 to organize a video surveillance system:

• video cameras are not needed at all;
• you can get by with two old smartphones (with a minimum set of requirements);
• you can download the free Faceter mobile application, taking into account the operating system of the device;
• you can use the cloud completely free of charge on an ongoing basis.

If this is new to you, you are not familiar with the Faceter cloud video surveillance service.

The principle of operation of the system is described in detail in the article “Analysis of the smart surveillance system Faceter: in simple words about the complex”.

Instead of conclusion

“Buy a used camcorder” is a popular request in Yandex and Google. To decide on a purchase issue, analyze all the pros and cons, and conduct a preliminary test of the used equipment. And if this story is not about you, but you want to save money, pay attention to the mobile cloud video surveillance from the Faceter company.