[old_tv_nut]

Cameras will be subject to the same failure modes as any other old electronics for everything except the pickup tube itself. This all depends on the components used, how stressed they are in the design (voltage/power ratings, heat buildup - you know the drill), amount of use.

The pickup tubes themselves are particularly prone to cathode wear compared to other tubes due to the small cathodes used to get a fine scanning spot. Standard definition tubes will have a longer life than high definition because of the larger cathodes. The longest life is obtained if the tube is fired up at least every three months or so for a few hours of use. This tends to sweep up any gas accumulation.

The first Sony HD Saticons were guaranteed for only 800 hours. In studio use, this would go by quickly. The ones we had in the early BTS camera at Zenith were run much longer than this and still had good performance, but after reaching many multiples of the rated lifetime we retubed the camera as a precaution (at a cost of $85,000).

Side note: the preamp for the Sony HD Saticons was soldered directly to the tube faceplate for minimum stray capacitance. Sony would not sell their proprietary low-noise preamps, but they were already installed at the factory. So, BTS could buy the tubes, but had to unsolder the Sony pre-amps and return them to Sony, and solder on BTS pre-amps.