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About half my cameras were second hand, with a couple of them likely having a lot more than two previous owners, but haven't had any issues with mine. If you're concerned about overheating, get a camera with a fan. A fan is the difference between a camera overheating in air-conditioning in under 45 minutes vs a camera recording for 24 hours in a race car at 120F / 48C.

I've purchased some new and some used. If you're super lucky, you can buy new for used prices. IMO, that is the time to buy. For Panasonic, it's during Black Friday. A few years back, I got the Olympus E-P7 with the kit lens and the Olympus 75mm f/1.8 for 899 euros. That's probably the best deal I've ever found for new. In France, you have leboncoin, which is very good too with some amazing deals from people who just want to unload material or just don't understand what they have. When you buy, you have the choice of sending it back. If you know your cameras, you can thoroughly test it. Buying off Ebay is an option too, but you never seem to find good deals anymore (I gave up). MBP is also a great choice, but they're too expensive for some cameras and lenses.

If you are really worried about that, buy it and stress-test it quickly so that you can return ASAP it if you're not happy. But if long recording times in hot environments are important to you, then you should be looking at a camera with a fan anyway (so you don't get distracted from the enjoyable creative stuff by worrying about overheating). Otherwise avoid leaving the camera out in hot direct sun/put a sunshade over it/put a white or reflective cloth over it. And turn it off when not using it, so it's not already hot before you press the record button.

I also buy most of my gear used; I did buy my Sony A7iii new, mainly for the warranty. For Blackmagic Design cameras I think it's best to buy used because BMD's quality assurance is so poor that you may need to buy several new cameras to find one that works. The two BMD cameras I bought new were defective out of the box and had to be returned; the used one I bought on eBay is perfect. People who buy a defective camera will likely return it to exchange, so you'll probably have better luck buying a used one.

I've owned many cameras (too many) and i think I've only ever bought 2 from new. Thing is, there are so few moving parts on cameras these days that there's not a huge amount that can go wrong in normal use. That said, unless an eBay or similar deal is just too good to pass up, you are safer doing it through a dealer, as @ac6000cw says.

Thanks for this!! I ended up finding one that had the upgrade and it wasn't that much over my budget. Thanks for the input guys. I ended up going with the S1 only because of ergonomics, the full size HDMI as I use a monitor and having no record limit. I know in the S5 you could just start and stop again but when shooting interviews in a multiple camera shoot the no time limit just makes things a bit easier. It gets here on Saturday and I got a couple of Canon FD primes ready to go. Really excited about this. Thanks so much everyone

If you want to minimise the risk buying used, buy the body from a major dealer who will provide a decent length warranty and allow you to return it if you're not happy with it e.g. in the UK, Wex offer a 45-day return period and provide 12-month warranties on used gear. MPB offer 6-month used warranties, as do some of the other major UK dealers. If you want long warranties, buy new and then buy an extended warranty from the manufacturer, or wait until the manufacturer offers a free extended warranty as a sales promotion on new bodies.

If your looking at used S1, make sure it has the vlog upgrade or you'll need to figure that into the cost. Between the S1 and S5 I have both and prefer the S1, the full size HDMI will one day serve you well if you want to shoot RAW. If you haven't held either then visit somewhere that will let you experience the difference, the S1 is solid and feels reassuring but it is heavier which for me is a preference. The S1 viewfinder is more than twice the resolution and a joy to use. Both are great cameras but for me the S1 stands out. Good luck.

S5 is definitely "better" image quality than GH5 imo, and that certainly factors into my choices, but technology is at a point where pretty much everything looks pretty good. So if all my lenses were MFT, or if GH5 had some other feature that I really needed, I'd be happy with GH5 as well. Better photographers than I might have a more nuanced look at photo ergonomics, but to me all hybrids are roughly the same amount of pain when rigged for a narrative shoot. For my amateur photography, every camera I touch reminds me that the NX1 was more comfortable 😞 The S5 has a great APS-C crop mode, which will pair nicely with your Sigma 18-35. You're already in the system, no pressure at all!