Rumor? Or Fact: Sony July 1 Price Increase? [Archive] - DVXuser.com -- The online community for filmmaking

basspig

06-18-2008, 06:52 AM

I read that European prices for the EX1 will be increasing on July 1 by 10%. This was quoted from an authorized dealer, according to the posting party.

Has anyone learned of any similar price increase in the US?

I have twelve days to make a decision to buy now, or hold off for an indefinate period, as a $650 increase would place the EX1 out of our shrinking budget.

If anyone has information from a reliable US source, it might be helpful to those who are in the process of decision-making.

I would really like to replace the rest of our (now worthless in terms of resale value) HDV cameras because of the workflow issues with HDV tape dropouts, audio synch problems and the entire day consumed just capturing tapes. Also, working in a mix of HDV and XDCam creates some problems, as well as having the HDV footage look like garbage after switching from the XDCam footage in an edit. I'm working on a project right now that is making me grit my teeth. I want out of HDV so badly I can practically taste it.

booth

06-18-2008, 08:20 AM

I read that European prices for the EX1 will be increasing on July 1 by 10%. This was quoted from an authorized dealer, according to the posting party.

If that's true I may not get one then. I won't be getting a new camera till around August/September due to us needing our HVX for a few more months - and paying 10% more for something is taking a huge chunk from our trade-in.

David Jimerson

06-18-2008, 08:42 AM

As with anything, you should treat it as rumor until it's confirmed.

NoahK

06-18-2008, 09:07 AM

Hmm kinda doubt this highly. SRP for things like cameras go down, they rarely go up.

Noah

booth

06-18-2008, 09:38 AM

I don't know, look at CVP's website...

http://www.creativevideo.co.uk/public/view_item_cat.php?catalogue_number=sony_pmw-ex1_no_cards

£4346.33 inc VAT
Offer ends 30/06/2008

Doesn't bode well.

Edit: Actually that's for without cards, with two cards it doesn't say anything about offer ending...
http://www.creativevideo.co.uk/public/view_item_cat.php?catalogue_number=sony_pmw-ex1_2x8gb

basspig

06-29-2008, 01:05 AM

Here in the US, with the rapidly falling value of the Dollar, I am concerned that we may see, for the first time, a reversal of the trend for electronics innovation to beat inflation. I heard some inside news in the chemical manufacturing industry that an "inflation torpedo" was launched this past quarter and that drasticly higher prices are in store for Q3 and Q4.

Now with cameras that are imported from Japan, a falling dollar can't be good news. There's only so long that a price can be maintained, before profit is lost due to monetary depreciation.

July 1 is just a few days away. I'm getting ready to "pull the trigger" on the rest of the EX1 lineup on Monday, for concerns that on Tuesday it may be adjusted to $7,995. The frustrating part is one can't predict and 'insider' information is not reliable in some cases. One thing's for sure, we're entering a bad recession with stagflation ahead, and that will crush demand for all sorts of items, especially cameras. Whether Sony can keep selling them here at a possible loss remains an open question that depends on how severe the financial turmoil will be. If sales are brisk, the price COULD go up.

I'm thinking, better to be safe than sorry. Buy it with credit now, pay it off with devalued greenbacks in 6 months. :)

girlwithamoviecamera

06-29-2008, 06:01 AM

I heard from a couple of trusted sources (official UK resellers) that Sony plans to increase prices in the UK to bring them to the same level as the rest of Europe.

Indeed, while doing a bit of comparison shopping in Europe for the EX1 (chiefly in France, Italy, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Spain, and the UK), I soon realized that the UK had the lowest rates for any A/V product. Little geek that I am, a month ago I compiled a chart in Numbers (iWork) and came up with the following prices (after conversion - NB currency values were calculated a month ago):

EX 1 on sale at:

B&H (U.S.) = $6450 = 4083 Euros
PEC (U.K.) = $9096 = 5760 Euros
Broadcastor (France) = $9792 = 6200 Euros

And prices in Italy, Spain, Switzerland were even steeper than that. So, basically, Sony wants to increase prices in the UK to bring them to the same level as the rest of Europe and make more money.

I had planned on purchasing the EX1 from the UK sometime this summer, but after a conversation with a friend in London, and a phone call to a couple of official Sony resellers (confirming the July 1st price increase), I purchased the camera just in time this past Friday... (a good deal, including 2 SxS 8GB cards)

NB: UK resellers told me they would increase the prices on Monday (i.e. June 30th)

booth

06-29-2008, 06:37 AM

NB: UK resellers told me they would increase the prices on Monday (i.e. June 30th)

June 30th! But that's a day early, I was thinking of putting in my order tomorrow :embarasse

girlwithamoviecamera

06-29-2008, 07:54 AM

call them up before you place your order - i have talked several times to people from PEC and creative video, and they were extremely nice and helpful. explain the situation, tell them you'll pay by credit card (as opposed to bank transfer, which takes longer). i would also call after placing the order, making sure it went ok and there were no delays in processing... best of luck!

basspig

06-29-2008, 02:14 PM

Seeing that the UK was already paying MUCH higher prices for AV equipment than the US, and that now the UK pricing is being forced into parity with the rest of Europe, I can only wonder how long it will be before the US pricing will be forced into parity with Europe. Imagine paying $9700 for an EX at B&H? I can't, which is why I'm planning to order the rest of them on Monday as well.
Good luck to everyone with getting the "old" price this Monday!

booth

06-30-2008, 04:09 AM

chrisccw

06-30-2008, 08:31 AM

My dealer confirmed a 2 to 10% increase "across the board" by Sony before summer's end. I have 2 EX1's I bought in March that I'm selling in July, have ordered 2 EX3's at firm $8320 pricing.

Carl Marxx

06-30-2008, 10:28 AM

Jon Neely

07-01-2008, 01:37 PM

July 1st, and no price change....

Jon

Racker99

07-01-2008, 02:15 PM

My dealer confirmed a 2 to 10% increase "across the board" by Sony before summer's end. I have 2 EX1's I bought in March that I'm selling in July, have ordered 2 EX3's at firm $8320 pricing.

Chris, $8320 sounds like a very good deal for EX3's given I was expecting an upper end price of around $13K with a street price closer to 10.5K or 11K. Where did you get such a low price? Is this an 'at cost' special for you from a dealer friend or something? Or is it available at that price to the genral public?

Jon Neely

07-01-2008, 02:18 PM

Chris, $8320 sounds like a very good deal for EX3's given I was expecting an upper end price of around $13K with a street price closer to 10.5K or 11K. Where did you get such a low price? Is this an 'at cost' special for you from a dealer friend or something? Or is it available at that price to the genral public?

The price has always been that low, B&H, BandPro, anywhere, its that cheap, the 13k was bogus...

Jon

Jhundiboy

07-01-2008, 10:37 PM

I think Sony are determined to stop me from being able to afford an EX3. Either that or its a sign that I should wait for the Scarlet. Damn.

booth

07-02-2008, 06:19 AM

July 1st, and no price change....

Jon

It's gone up in the UK, but not with everyone strangely enough.

Jon Neely

07-02-2008, 09:29 AM

sorry to hear that for you UK buyers.

Jon

FrankC

07-02-2008, 03:24 PM

Sony's style is usually not to raise prices on a particular model, rather, they will discontinue that model, come out with another model with a very minor added feature...and then up the price on that one. Did that with the DSR-300. They flew off the shelves at $7K. Quickly Sony realized they were leaving money on the table and discontinued the camera...coming out with the DSR-300a, adding only a firewire port which nobody every used...and raising the price $3K.
The EX1 is a bargain. The EX3 is about what it should cost.

chrisccw

07-02-2008, 03:44 PM

My dealer is VSA in Houston. They usually match B&H pricing.

basspig

07-02-2008, 11:53 PM

:violin: Hey, Basspig! - How bad is the image on the XDCAM in HDV mode compared with Full HD since I think you have mentioned them side by side on your editing time line? I know you want to get out of tape for storage and so do I, but Sony's Blu-Rays XDCAM's answer to that is a $10,000 plus deck. Did you know that you can sucessfully "download" to a HDV tape camera or deck directly from the XDCAM EX-1 through the "fire-wire", and that you can record with full function from this camera to to same for 4 1/2 hours non- stop; It's great for lectures or concerts. Unless you are submitting to Disney or the Discovery Channel or producing a full length movie, it would seem that HDV is not dead for those that have clients with less than wine tastes. Again, how does Full HD stand up to HDV (3/4HD I call it,) in your opinoin on the EX-1 HD camera, is it really that bad? --- Carl

I was originally comparing HDV out of my HVR-V1Us against XDCam in an XDCam Premiere project. The HDV doesn't look so good stacked up against XDCam--when it's coming from a 1/4" chip with noise.
That said, the HDV output from the XDCam looks decent. It's just not as detailed. Looks somewhere between 720p and 1080p. If you're shooting a training video, and need the extra record time, it's a reasonable choice.

basspig

07-02-2008, 11:59 PM

Thanks Basspig, I'm about to begin my journey :)

As for CVP, they now say the offer is over at the end of august

http://www.creativevideo.co.uk/public/view_item_cat.php?catalogue_number=sony_pmw-ex1_2x8gb

Congratulations on your journey! You won't regret it, if you have knowledge of all the issues and know what to expect. Don't mind the complaints you hear about this camera--the pluses FAR outweigh the 'disadvanteges'.

You want rolling shutter? I can induce rolling shutter on the human eye, just by turning up my stereo until your eyeballs rattle around in their sockets. :)

I've taken delivery on XDCam EX #2 on Wednesday. Just in time to shoot the fireworks tonight, so I'll have two EX1s aimed skyward. Probably use one as overcranked and the other realtime. It came with an SxS inside the Sony box, and another SxS in the outside box. Wow, what a deal for $6449 and free shipping! That's a $399 bonus. :)

basspig

07-03-2008, 12:01 AM

Looks like whether the price goes up, or they stop bundly SxS cards, or they discontinue the model, the prudent thing to do is order before any of those happen. I'll be thinking about #3 before end of summer, if things get busy. At least the very important fall concert season, where I make my real money, is in better shape now that we have two EX1s to shoot with. Makes my editing unbelieveable easier too.

basspig

07-04-2008, 07:08 PM

It seems now that the price increase is official:

From Sony's web site:

http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/product-PMWEX1/ (http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/product-PMWEX1/)

Jon Neely

07-05-2008, 12:25 AM

Where have you found 8gb cards for 399? even the sandisk ones are 499 I thought. please link us,

Jon

davidcheok

07-05-2008, 10:49 AM

It seems now that the price increase is official:

From Sony's web site:

http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/product-PMWEX1/ (http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/product-PMWEX1/)

Expandore still selling them for usd$6k

http://www.expandore.biz/product_detail.asp?productid=740&codeid=&catid=&brandid=&formatid=&start=1&home=1

basspig

07-05-2008, 11:32 PM

Oops, I mistyped--that should have been $499. I confirmed with B&H's web site. Although I have seen some bargains around $400. I just snagged an SxS 16GB card on eBay tonight for $750, seeing as I'll need it for this rather busy summer season of outdoor concerts and watersporting events.

Jon Neely

07-06-2008, 12:12 PM

luckily bh has the ex1 still for 6499, i bet the prices will increase after july, thats when the rebate ends at least.

Jon

basspig

07-09-2008, 08:39 AM

You mean $6,449, right? Or did they increase the price already?

I've got two EX1s, but now am contemplating a third before the fall concert season gets into gear. I really don't want to be editing HDV anymore, especially mixed with XDCam footage, as it looks like I'm cutting between pro video and consumer video and that detracts from the quality of the product.