The Cost-Saving Benefits of Purchasing Used Broadcast Gear for Live Events

If you’re a video production company that handles live events, you know that having the right equipment is crucial for capturing flawless footage for your clients. However, the costs of buying everything brand-new can seriously add up. That’s why more and more videographers and production teams are choosing to purchase high-quality, used broadcast gear to equip their setups for a fraction of the price of new.

As a leading supplier of new and used professional video equipment for over 10 years, Allied Broadcast Group helps our customers weigh the options and make strategic purchasing decisions based on their budgets. We understand the unique equipment needs for multi-camera shoots of conferences, concerts, awards shows, corporate events, sporting matches, houses of worship, and more. Our extensive inventory includes a wide selection of top used broadcast cameras, switchers, routers, processors, lenses, tripods, and accessories that provide exceptional functionality and reliability without the premium costs.

So if saving money is important for your video production business while still using gear that can handle major live event coverage, consider the multitude of benefits to buying used. Here’s an overview of why purchasing reseller-approved, pre-owned equipment is a smart investment:

Significant Upfront Savings

The most obvious perk of used gear from a reputable reseller is the dramatically reduced upfront costs compared to brand-new. Premium brand cameras like Sony, Panasonic, Canon, Hitachi, Ikegami and Grass Valley that are just a few years old can offer tremendous savings of 40% or more off retail pricing. This allows you to afford more gear for the same budget so you can take on bigger jobs. Or you can simply keep more profit on projects while delivering the same quality your clients expect.

Depending on location, you may incur substantially lower shipping fees buying multiple items in one shipment direct from a reseller warehouse rather than numerous retail orders. In short, purchasing used can equate to huge cost savings from start to finish.

Proven Durability

The gear produced by the top broadcast manufacturers is designed to endure many years of constant use in demanding production environments. Models that are only two or three years old often still have plenty of life left in them for mobile productions, especially if properly maintained and stored.

Buying used lets you access these durable cameras, lenses, tripods, accessories and other gear that have already withstood the test of time in the field without paying top dollar. Past demonstration of longevity gives you confidence in dependable performance throughout lengthy events.

Of course, condition and functionality vary between specific used units. But purchasing from a reliable reseller like Allied Broadcast Group ensures every item is thoroughly inspected and graded so you know what you are getting. Having access to both cosmetically-flawless units as well as those with some visible wear at even lower costs provides you great flexibility in balancing condition with budget considerations.

Abundant Selection and Availability

Shopping used opens up many more gear acquisition options that align with your technical requirements as well as financial realities. While the latest new cameras or accessories may be tempting but out of reach cost-wise, you’re likely to locate plenty of affordable choices amongst gently-used equipment. This includes an array of cameras and lenses from different generations along the technological innovation curve.

Renting gear is another common option for equipping infrequent or one-off productions. However, availability of specific items can be hit or miss at rental houses depending on demand cycles. In contrast, taps into a vast global inventory feeding the used gear market, making acquiring ownership of numerous solution choices much more assured.

No Compromising on Quality

Using older equipment inherently brings to mind images of outdated or inferior technology. However, in the case of reputable used broadcast gear, nothing could be further from the truth. High-end cameras and other hardware designed for professional use often retain excellent image quality, features and functionality that outpace typical needs for many live event productions.

For example, although 4K and HDR (high dynamic range) capabilities dominate marketing hype with newer cameras, 1080 HD continues to be the staple resolution for live broadcasting. Similarly, advances like 12G-SDI connectivity provide limited advantage in mobile, multi-camera environments using typical HD video outputs and infrastructure.

In reality, legacy models only a few years hold often own more than enough performance for the majority of live event capture tasks. This includes superb HD video quality, extensive creative controls and connectivity for signal routing that continues to meet real-world production requirements. Buying used translates to getting all the quality you need for the job without overspending for unnecessary cutting-edge capabilities.

Abundant Lens Options

An arsenal of video production lenses to cover every kind of shot, lighting and distance is vital for live event videographers. And brands like Fujinon, Canon and Angenieux make some of the best lenses money can buy. So being able to tap into abundant used lens options across makers, styles, mounts and price points is hugely valuable.

Of course owning an array of native lenses tailored specifically to each camera model would be ideal to maximize image quality. However that scenario proves cost-prohibitive for most. Alternately, a smart portfolio mix of used third-party EF/E-mount lenses combined with various lens adapters can provide exceptional creative flexibility at a fraction of the price. Buying used helps make such a “money saving lens toolkit” approach achievable.

Custom bundled packages of used camera bodies, tripods, lenses, media cards, batteries and cases from dependable resellers allow you to get fully production-ready without blowing your gear budget. This lets you concentrate more cash on other operational expenses related to each event you shoot.

Other Savings Opportunities

Access to an abundance of affordably-priced used gear additionally opens up more options to save money elsewhere long-term:

Stock Up on Backup – Having backup gear readily available is every live event shooter’s dream for minimizing production disruption. Multiple affordable used cameras and lenses can make such redundancy financially feasible.

Future-Proof Investments – While used gear saves money upfront, it can power future profits too. Ownership locks in current capabilities at current pricing to support productions for years before needing upgrades.

Personnel/Service Savings – Used equipment warranties may be limited or unavailable. But buying backup gear enables economizing on expensive technician and gear rental costs if issues ever arise. Ability to substitute functional units with owned inventory delivers huge peace of mind.

Reselling to Recoup Investment – Good used gear holds value. Reselling it after several years of ownership/depreciation allows recouping much of your original buying costs. This effectively lowers net long term equipment expenses.

In summary, expanding your gear investments beyond exclusively buying new using a balanced strategy of owned and used equipment offers tangible ways video production businesses can stretch budgets further. The savings opportunities translate to improved profitability on live event shoots both now and into the future.

Depend on Allied Broadcast Group for Your Used Gear Needs

As you can see, purchasing approved used gear rather than only new equipment opens up immense money-saving benefits for videographers involved in live event production and broadcasting. As a leading global supplier to the broadcast industry for over 10 years, Allied Broadcast Group strives to help customers modernize facilities with premium quality used solutions at substantial cost savings.

Our extensive inventory is continually refreshed, allowing flexible procurement options with availability when you need it. And every piece of used gear undergoes thorough inspection, testing and refurbishment processes by experienced technicians before shipment. This way we can stand behind the quality and functionality to meet professional production requirements.

If you have questions or need guidance navigating used gear decisions for purchase or trade-in, our representatives rely on decades of industry expertise to help identify affordable options tailored to your situation. Contact Allied Broadcast Group today to leverage our abundant used gear resources toward upgrading your event videography toolkit while achieving serious budget savings.