HMC150 Price Drop!

[Carlos Corral]

B&H Photo has already dropped it to $3,399.95:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/575992-REG/Panasonic_AG_HMC150_AG_HMC150_AVCCAM_Camcorder.htm l

Add Cart to see lower price :thumbup::thumbup:

[impressive creations]

Got mine at Full Compass for even cheeper..

Call Ryan Davis..

[Lee_B]

How much cheaper? I plan on buying one soonish. Times are tough.

[Mike Harvey]

Depends on how much stuff you order from them. I got the camera, two of the big batteries, and a Sennheiser Me64 mic capsule, so it wasn't a huge discount... but still little cheaper than the B&H price. Plus free shipping. I went through Shawn Tallard. Email either of them and let them know you're a DVXuser member. (I know Shawn at least is a member here)

[JaviBUSA08]

What is "Full Compass" website? I googled it and got a website that doesn't even list that they sell the hmc150....

[Mike Harvey]

Yeah, I noticed that, but they should have it if you call or email.

[Carlos Corral]

I'm actually curious as to why this camera is dropping in price so fast. It just came out a month ago. Must be selling like hot cakes!

[Mike Harvey]

Full Compass is just now shipping my batteries for the simple reason that they can't keep them in stock (they told me that would happen before I bought the camera... so not a knock on them). Apparently Panasonic is having a hard time keeping up with demand. So yeah... hot cakes. With strawberries and whipped cream.

Dang it, now I'm hungry.

[PJ Sullivan]

I'm actually curious as to why this camera is dropping in price so fast. It just came out a month ago. Must be selling like hot cakes!
Not a huge drop by B&H. They've been offering with the shooting package - worth about $500 - for $4k for a while. Now are offering at $3400 without shooters package, which is in line with where other low cost retailers have been offering, albeit still nicely below MRSP.

[PKraft]

Must be selling like hot cakes!

Quite to the contrary, I fear. Sitting on stockpiles of product and less demand then anticipated. Well, whatever the reason is, let the price tumble downwards even more.

[BrianMurphy]

FYI I just bought one in Canada. I paid $3999.00 CDN for it stock no cards extras etc. The dealer in Canada had requested 25 Cameras and was only allotted 15 and delivery will not be for two more weeks.
My usual dealer who is a small independant told me that the HMC 150 would not be sold by small retailers in Canada and reserved for the big retailers Vistek and Henry's in Ontario etc.
So right now the price I paid for the camera at the current rate of exchange for American dollars would be $3,290.00.
My dealer also said due to our falling dollar prices would be going up quickly and that Sony Canada had already increased its prices by 8% at the wholesale level. This is why I prepaid for my camera .
I changed my mind about buying an HPX170 a few weeks ago, thanks mostly to reviews here by Barry and comments from other awesome folks who make up DVXUser.
Hope this is of some use to folks.
Brian

[Kholi]

What's with the sudden price drops?

[carbon3c]

MacMall has it for $3319.99 with free shipping!

[carbon3c]

What's with the sudden price drops?

I can only guess: 1) poor economy, 2) the Scarlet announcement coming on Nov 13

[BrianMurphy]

I highly doubt that Panasonic is worried about Scarlet. It is now in its second revision and all anyone has every seen is a metal mockup and lots of hopeful buzz from "potential" users. I think Nikon and Canon have done more to rock Jannard's world and cause the "take 2" not to mention Redrock and Zacuto and everybody else joining the bandwagon.
However, the economy sucks lets face it and there is less disposable income and money for upgrades/changes and especially ones with new/different codecs.
Lets all hope it gets better for everyone soon. You just have to go to our own Marketplace and read the comments of folks selling their kits.

[Kholi]

Scarlet has nothing to do with anything. It's vaporware until proven innocent.

[Evro]

In Australia we're still waiting to get the first batch... I was told I'd have my two cameras by mid to late October and I'm still waiting :(

[carbon3c]

I agree Scarlet doesn't have any impact for those who use their cameras to generate incomes. Those people are still going to buy whatever they need now, because their income will pay for it. But there's a huge adjacent market of hobbyists and student film makers who are eyeying Scarlet and holding off on the HMC150. They'll continue using their HV20/30s, HF100s, and DVX100s. Imagine if come Nov 13, Red announced that they were going to cancel the Scarlet. I guarantee you that Panasonic would sell more cameras in the 6 months that follow, compared to sales that will follow the actual announcement of a $3k camera that performs better than camera that cost 3 times that amount. Even if it's vaporware - even if the Scarlet is delayed 24 months - even if the ultimate cost is changed to 10 times the estimated $3k price -- it doesn't matter. A percentage of the market will believe the hype and will delay their purchase. I guarantee it, because I know people doing it.

[BobDiaz]

B&H Photo has already dropped it to $3,399.95:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/575992-REG/Panasonic_AG_HMC150_AG_HMC150_AVCCAM_Camcorder.htm l

Add Cart to see lower price :thumbup::thumbup:


Odd, when I click on the link, it now appears as $3,495.00

MacMall appears as $3,319.99


Bob Diaz

[carbon3c]

Odd, when I click on the link, it now appears as $3,495.00

MacMall appears as $3,319.99


Bob Diaz

You need to "Add to cart for lower price." MacMall is the better deal anyway.

[Paul Vicente]

FYI I just bought one in Canada. I paid $3999.00 CDN for it stock no cards extras etc. The dealer in Canada had requested 25 Cameras and was only allotted 15 and delivery will not be for two more weeks.
My usual dealer who is a small independant told me that the HMC 150 would not be sold by small retailers in Canada and reserved for the big retailers Vistek and Henry's in Ontario etc.
So right now the price I paid for the camera at the current rate of exchange for American dollars would be $3,290.00.
My dealer also said due to our falling dollar prices would be going up quickly and that Sony Canada had already increased its prices by 8% at the wholesale level. This is why I prepaid for my camera .
I changed my mind about buying an HPX170 a few weeks ago, thanks mostly to reviews here by Barry and comments from other awesome folks who make up DVXUser.
Hope this is of some use to folks.
Brian


I paid CDN $3850.00 for mine (with delivery expected first week of November), which at today's rate works out to USD $3175.00. Needless to say, given the exchange rates, I was really happy with the deal. It was not at Vistek... But a smaller, reputable dealer located near Toronto.

I made the decision to buy this cam after using a HVX200 for several years, and while also shooting with a Panasonic SD3 at the same time. AVCHD competes quite well with DVCPRO HD (from an HVX) in situations that are well lit. My disapointment was that the SD3 turned to mush in low light. Now with 1/3-inch CCDs and light sensitivity like a DVX, I am sure the HMC150 will perform to my needs nicely even if I use the 13 mbps mode... At 21 mbps, I expect to be even more impressed. I also am considering that AVCHD is full raster HD. Those extra recorded pixels definitely make a difference--I see it in the AVCHD 13 mbps footage I shoot now with a $800 camcorder (the SD3).

I plan to continue using the HVX, but I think over time, the HMC150 will become the preffered tool for shooting the various projects I am involved in.

PV

[kidstick]

I paid CDN $3850.00 for mine (with delivery expected first week of November), which at today's rate works out to USD $3175.00.

PV


Hi Paul,
Can you tell me the name of the store where you bought the camera
Thx
Vincent

[PJ Sullivan]

You need to "Add to cart for lower price." MacMall is the better deal anyway.
Depends what state you live in..... its the allin cost with taxes that matter.

[impressive creations]

Sorry to just be getting back to you.. Yeah, Full COmpass. Call Ryan Davis.. BEst deal. I just got my batteries and actually shot my first big event today with the cam and it went really well. Just hooked my cam to my HDTV with a HDMI cable and sat back and enjoyed a very beautiful colorful picture with no noise or pixel -iz-ation ;-) at all. WOW!!

I am so used to looking at my 100B footage on my HDTV and its not very crisp at all. The HMC, well, all I can say is I am super stoked.... Sold my Gl2 and some other stuff for it.. Still have my 100B.. Thinking of selling that too. 60 hours. 4 big batteries... Hummmmm

Yeeee haaaa for the HMC... Tried the DRS settings too. Actually worked pretty good.

[BobDiaz]

You need to "Add to cart for lower price." MacMall is the better deal anyway.

Not for me, I live in LA, California where the sales tax is 8.25%!!!

Thus, $3,319.99 would have a sales tax of: $273.90 (OUCH)!!!


Bob Diaz

[Rob Myers]

In Australia we're still waiting to get the first batch... I was told I'd have my two cameras by mid to late October and I'm still waiting :(

Hi Evro,

The SECOND batch arrived late Oct. We are just finishing the lens wobble mod and they will be sent out. We thought we should mod them before they went out instead of asking you to return it to mod. Sorry for the delay.

[Evro]

Oh wow that first batch must have gone rather quickly! It's great know that the lens issue is being sorted out.

Rob do you think we'll get our units this week? We've been one camera down for the last three weeks due to intermittent battery charger problems (Anton Bauer are so darn expensive to replace) and forced to run mostly on mains power; getting these new cams before our weekend gigs would save us a bit of stress.

At the end of the day I guess we just want a realistic delivery date as opposed to "they'll be here in a week or two" since the start of October ;)

I do appreciate the update Rob because the good folks at DVT seem to be ignoring my emails.

Thanks again :)

[Everts]

Hi Evro,

The SECOND batch arrived late Oct. We are just finishing the lens wobble mod and they will be sent out. We thought we should mod them before they went out instead of asking you to return it to mod. Sorry for the delay.

Hi Rob are you talking about the wobble for the hcm -150 or the hpx - 170 ?

[Spec-Comm]

I just checked MacMall with Panasonic's Dealer Locator and they aren't coming up. All authorized Dealers are required to list the AG-HMC150 cameras at $3495. If it's lower than it may be a gray market camera. B&H is offering a lower price with a "Click here for a lower cost" which follows the rules.

$0.02

Andrew Hoffman

[Jim Simon]

Imagine if come Nov 13, Red announced that they were going to cancel the Scarlet. I guarantee you that Panasonic would sell more cameras in the 6 months that follow

I'm actually one of those people trying to decide between a Panny 170 or the Red Scarlet for an HD upgrade some time in '09, so that statement is very true for me.

[shreddog]

Paid $3399.00 at B&H today. A savings of just the cdn taxes by the time I sneak into canada and a lot for exchange rate. I live right on the border and have a US mailbox. comes in quite handy. I considered macmall but did some research on the place and found them to be possible scammers.

[Barry_Green]

Thus, $3,319.99 would have a sales tax of: $273.90 (OUCH)!!!
Remember that California has a tax break for production equipment so you should be able to slash that tax down to maybe $90 or so.

[Kholi]

Paid $3399.00 at B&H today. A savings of just the cdn taxes by the time I sneak into canada and a lot for exchange rate. I live right on the border and have a US mailbox. comes in quite handy. I considered macmall but did some research on the place and found them to be possible scammers.

I can't tell you if MacMall is selling grey market cameras but they are definitely not scammers. They have a storefront in Santa Monica that stays busy, I've shopped there more than I can count on both hands and feet and they sell legit items.

They did have the Sony V1U and Canon XHA1, I have no idea if these were grey market items though.

[BobDiaz]

I can't tell you if MacMall is selling grey market cameras but they are definitely not scammers. They have a storefront in Santa Monica that stays busy, I've shopped there more than I can count on both hands and feet and they sell legit items.

They did have the Sony V1U and Canon XHA1, I have no idea if these were grey market items though.

The Torrance MacMall is less than 5 miles from my house.

They are NOT a questionable store or scammers; they ARE a respectable business I purchase a lot of stuff from them.

It would be nice to know if they are a Panasonic Dealer or not. Were they just added or how do they get the camera????

Bob Diaz

[carbon3c]

Paid $3399.00 at B&H today. A savings of just the cdn taxes by the time I sneak into canada and a lot for exchange rate. I live right on the border and have a US mailbox. comes in quite handy. I considered macmall but did some research on the place and found them to be possible scammers.

MacMall has been around since 1987 and publicly traded on NASDAQ. I used to buy from them all the time in the 90s when I used a Mac. I don't use Macs now (for me it's all about applications, not the OS), but rarely I will buy other computer equipment from them when they have the best price. Definitely not scammers, but maybe they are not authorized Panasonic dealers.

EDIT: You could always call Panasonic and ask if MacMall is an authorized dealer.

[Spec-Comm]

Gray Market doesn't mean scammer. It means that they aren't an authorized dealer and then buy a camera from a dealer. Generally, if the price is that low, they are getting them outside the country. Not always the case though. I'm sure that they are a great store.

Andrew Hoffman

[Justyn]

That's the truth on people selling gear. Personally I'm going to wait till the beginning of December and hope to buy a used low mileage camera from a person with buyer's remorse and or lack of gigs. I think there will be an abundance of gear going onto the maket so it's a good time if you are buying.. same thing with the housing market.. good to have cash in a down economy and you'll get people competing for sure...

[Captain Pierce]

Just for the record, it's not that difficult to get your hands on a genuine American-market HMC150 (or DVX/HVX/etc.) for resale even if you're not an authorized reseller. I can think of three places I could get one right off the top of my head, and probably more if I dug a little. Also just for the record, I typically don't, because I feel a person is better off buying direct from an authorized reseller (and they're almost certainly going to get a better price if they do). But the option is there.

[tallrd]

we are down to 7 in stock as of today, and we are indeed an authorized reseller as well. You are welcome to pm me for more info.

Happy voting!!

[VideoMaker]

I bought mine from Shawn at Full Compass. I placed my order with him late in the day and asked if he could please try to ship that afternoon so I would have it by my desired date. He said he would try but couldn't promise because I was a first time customer (they have to do additional verification) and it was so late in the day. He called back to say he got it out to me that same day. Then, on the day it arrived he called to be sure it had in fact arrived and that I was happy with it. Outstanding customer service, and their price beat anyone else I talked to.

Jerry


we are down to 7 in stock as of today, and we are
indeed an authorized reseller as well. You are welcome to pm me for more info.

Happy voting!!

[Mike Harvey]

...Then, on the day it arrived he called to be sure it had in fact arrived and that I was happy with it. Outstanding customer service, and their price beat anyone else I talked to...

Which reminds me, I forgot to return Shawn's similar call from Friday.

Yes, it did arrive... yes, I am very happy with the HMC... and yes, I got the email saying the batteries had shipped w/tracking info. It was a pleasure to do business with you Shawn :beer:

[BrianMurphy]

Paid $3399.00 at B&H today. A savings of just the cdn taxes by the time I sneak into canada and a lot for exchange rate. I live right on the border and have a US mailbox. comes in quite handy. I considered macmall but did some research on the place and found them to be possible scammers.

I just did a currency exchange check and unless you got an excellent rate from BH you save about $50 dollars over the Cdn. price.IF you are using your camera for television production in Ontario you can use a tax exemption form and save the provincial tax. IF you are in another provice other than Ontario you can order it shipped and save the provincial tax. You can`t avoid the GST, It just seems like alot of work to save a hundred buck and also will force you to have to return to the USA if there any warranty issues.
my 2 cents

[Rob Myers]

Hi Rob are you talking about the wobble for the hcm -150 or the hpx - 170 ?

We are fixing both.

[Rob Myers]

Oh wow that first batch must have gone rather quickly! It's great know that the lens issue is being sorted out.

Rob do you think we'll get our units this week? We've been one camera down for the last three weeks due to intermittent battery charger problems (Anton Bauer are so darn expensive to replace) and forced to run mostly on mains power; getting these new cams before our weekend gigs would save us a bit of stress.

At the end of the day I guess we just want a realistic delivery date as opposed to "they'll be here in a week or two" since the start of October ;)

I do appreciate the update Rob because the good folks at DVT seem to be ignoring my emails.

Thanks again :)

Hi Evro,

We have been shipping un fixed ones to Dealers that have requested. The wobble has not been an issue for many... The fixed ones will be ready to go out mid next week. DVT can get you one sooner and we can mod it later if you wish.

[tallrd]

thanks for the kind words guys.