Panasonic must be loving this!

[Flintstone]

I don't know if the initial leak was intentional or unintentional, but the results should prove to be a boon to Panasonic. *I mean, people are raving about it already, and no official release has been anouced yet. *This is a great marketing strategy: creating anticipation. *I know this is not new in marketing circles, but it's still impressive. *I happened to talk to a Sony rep this week about the new upcoming HDX and it's confirmed features only, and I saw a glint of worry in his eyes.

I think the near future will be interresting, and Pany knows it very well. *The calm before the storm...

[xander76]

They're only loving it if people are keeping their expectations in line with what will actually be delivered. If people are getting excited for a 3 2/3" CCD, 1080p60 camera that records to 128GB cards with interchangeable lenses for 2000 dollars, then Panasonic is definitely not happy.

Pre-announcing a product can be a double edged sword. On the one hand, it builds buzz and makes consumers delay purchases of your competitor's product so that they can see what you have. On the other hand, it can cause rampant speculation that leads to disappointment when the actual specs of your product are released.

[Sumfun]

If you have a product that will leapfrog your competitors, then you need to pre-announce it. If the pre-announcement caused some potential Sony and Canon buyers to think twice, then it's done its work. If it caused them to delay their purchase or switch to Panasonic, then all the better. Some pre-announcements can even cause your competitors to change their roadmap.

I think Jan has been very careful with what she has said, and most people on this website have been very realistic with expectations. But even if some people have unrealistic expectations and are disappointed by the product announcement, I don't think that you will necessarily lose them as customers. In the end, they will have to weigh the merits of the HDX versus other cameras on the market just like everyone else.

[Tzedekh]

3 2/3" CCD, 1080p60 camera that records to 128GB cards with interchangeable lenses for 2000 dollars.
Oh my God! Wait . . . no, you're say the camera won't have those specs. Thanks a lot. Now three 1/3'' CCDs, 4- to 16-GB P2 cards, (most likely) 720p24, and fixed zoom for under $10,000 suddenly doesn't excite me anymore. Crap.

[Barry_Green]

Well, keep in mind that we don't know what the CCD size will be (or how many of them there will be). That hasn't been announced.

Reasonable speculation would be that it would be three 1/3" CCDs, since they've said repeatedly it's designed to go after the Z1... but hey, you never know, we may be in for surprises, or we may get exactly that.

[Kidster]

The difference I see in the "waiting" period between Sony's FX1 & Z1 and the HDX100 is that there isn't really any negatives being passed around the internet about the HDX100. Remember all the speculation about the short comings of HDV and Sony's cineframe modes. Even the audio was being second guessed before it was released. The reason were hearing all positives about the HDX100 (except for unsure pricing of the P2 cards) is that Panasonic did such a wonderful job engineering their top of the line camera's ie....DVX, SDX and Varicam. With all the hard work and research and development that Panasonic has put in over the last 5 or so years is paying off in a big way. All I can say is, what a great company!