Life Expentancy of a Phase 1 back

[pflower]

Finally the prices of 2nd hand backs are coming down to where I can start to consider them.  But what are their life expectancies?  I have seen various P25s, P21s even some P30s at attractive prices but with counts of 100,000 plus.  As far as I am aware there are limited mechanical operations but is a P25 with, for example, 120,000 captures on it and (obviously) no warranty a disaster waiting to happen or (if the price is right) worth considering?

Obviously I am not a working pro, but I spend upwards of £2k per annum on film and processing so I can just about start to consider these things as making commercial sense.  But ...

Any thoughts?

Thanks

[michael]

I can't directly answer your question, but since a digital back essentially has no moving parts, there's is little if anything to wear out.

When I visited the Phase One factory a few years ago I was told that there are Phase backs being used for aerial mapping applications that have seen more than 1 million exposures and which are still going strong.

I would look at the buttons and the card door, and if these look OK, and the images from the back looked fine, then I wouldn't worry about the number of exposures.

Michael

[Doug Peterson]

See: http://luminous-landscape.com/forum/index....ing+parts\

The physical condition and where/how the back was used is much more important than the number of actuations. 200k actuations in a quiet clean inside studio by a still life photographer who cares for his equipment will be much less likely to have problems than a back with 10k actuation from a location fashion shooter who tromps through forests and along salt water beaches with his gear.

A used back is a big investment regardless of who you buy from. Some things to concern yourself with: what warranty does the back have? if the back's warranty is value-added has the free platform swap been used? who will you contact if you think you need a repair? are the accessories new (e.g. batteries run out of juice and fw cables wear down in heavy use)? is the CCD filter free of any scuffs/scratches? Are there any pixel or line errors in the sensor (like a dead pixel on an LCD TV)? If the sale goes poorly what will you do? What is the repair history of the back (is it a lemon?)? I would argue all of these questions point you towards buying used from a dealer. But then, I'm a wee bit biased.

Doug Peterson (e-mail Me)
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[Anders_HK]

Hi,

I use Leaf, but... by far the most expensive on a digital back is the sensor. You want to make very sure it is good and well (test at high ISO and pushed exposure can help to tell). Other parts are more affordable to replace. For P1 if I am not mistaking backs are sent back to Denmark for repairs?? I am told by my agent here in Hong Kong they can do many repairs for my Leaf if necessary, but if sensor related it needs to go back to the factory.

Regards
Anders