Just got my HVX an hour ago...

TwistedLincoln

TwistedLincoln

Veteran
I just got my HVX in this morning, and I am very disappointed. It has been sitting on my livingroom floor for an hour now, and no matter what I do, I can't seem to get it to work correctly. I've checked every possible menu option, read the manual cover-to-cover, and still nothing. I'm really upset. Call me crazy, but I really expected this thing to fix me breakfast. I put a picture of some pancakes next to the box, but it just sits there, refusing to comply. I'm getting really hungry. I knew I should have bought a HDV cam...

Seriously, I haven't shot a single frame of footage with the thing yet, but I'm already impressed. It is much more solid than I had expected -- no flimsy parts or anything that looks like it would easily break. Very nice.

Since I've already wasted seven to ten seconds of everyone's lives, I'll take a moment to mention that I bought my HVX on ebay, from a dealer called Enhanced View Services (no relation to the EVS most of us know). They are based out of Miami. I won the camera, a 4gb P2 card, and a Formatt FM500 Matte box all for just under $6300 (including shipping).

At first, I was very leary about buying a grey market camera. Especially since after I won the auction, I got an email from them saying that they needed my phone number before they could ship. Uh-oh. I was sure I would get a phone call explaining that I needed to buy 250 aftermarket batteries, otherwise they would suddenly be out of stock.

Nonetheless, I gave it to them, and paid via Paypal. After the Paypal payment cleared, I sent them an email asking for tracking info. No response. Uh-Oh.

The next morning, I discovered a voicemail message from them, kindly informing me that my unit had shipped. The salesman left his name and call-back number in case I had any questions. Wow. No high-pressure sales tactics. Just a nice call letting me know they were helping me. Okay. Great. But would it get here?

I checked my email, and sure enough, there was a Fedex tracking number. I took the day off today so I could sign for it... and here I am holding the camera!
Grey market dealers and ebay sellers tend to get a bad reputation around here, so I thought I'd take a moment to express my satisfaction. Anyone who can live with a Japanese warranty, but needs the camera right away shouldn't rule them out.

Hmmm...it's a little late for pancakes now. I guess I'll have to go film something instead...
 
So a Japan warranty means if your camera malfunctions, you have to ship it to Japan for repair. I wouldn't be comfortable with that unless I spoke fluent Japanese.

You don't have to go to eBay/grey market for those prices. I learned a lot from reading these boards and shopping around.

Full Compass Systems, an Authorized Panasonic dealer, sells the HVX for $5277. and 4GB P2's for $583. each.

However you get it, enjoy your new camera! :)
 
Not to harp on your parade (congrats on getting an HVX200 btw), but....

My purchase: HVX200 and 2 4GB P2 cards for $6405 shipped from an authorized dealer, plus $334 for Indie Snap! Matte Box = $6739.

Add one more 4GB card to your purchase and you spend ~$6900. So, with no warranty and a higher price, why did you buy it on eBay? I'm confused....
 
Cam-Ra said:
I just got my HVX in this morning, and I am very disappointed. It has been sitting on my livingroom floor for an hour now, and no matter what I do, I can't seem to get it to work correctly. I've checked every possible menu option, read the manual cover-to-cover, and still nothing. I'm really upset. Call me crazy, but I really expected this thing to fix me breakfast. I put a picture of some pancakes next to the box, but it just sits there, refusing to comply. I'm getting really hungry. I knew I should have bought a HDV cam...

.
Click to expand...

Actually the HVX200 CAN fix breakfast and with the latest firmware upgrade it can also make yummy pasta dinners. However this applies only to units purchased from authorized panny dealers. Grey market units typically go into self destruct mode after 72 hours. They're equippped with nuclear warheads and will typically take out about 30 city blocks. Do a "search" and you might me able to find some menu setting to disable the destruct function. Or pm Barry.
 
brianluce said:
Actually the HVX200 CAN fix breakfast and with the latest firmware upgrade it can also make yummy pasta dinners. However this applies only to units purchased from authorized panny dealers. Grey market units typically go into self destruct mode after 72 hours. They're equippped with nuclear warheads and will typically take out about 30 city blocks. Do a "search" and you might me able to find some menu setting to disable the destruct function. Or pm Barry.
Click to expand...

Oh, great brianluce, you've exposed my plan. You see I am secretly a spy for the HDV consortium, and I bought the grey market camera knowing about the warhead, which I planned to use on the HVX Bootcamp. Sadly, Fedex delayed the camera's arrival, so I'll have to switch to plan B. Or should I say NAB...?

To actually answer the question posed above: I bought off of ebay mostly because I didn't feel like calling around to dozens of authorized dealers until I found one that both had it in stock (along with P2), and also had a decent price. I'm sure there were several better deals to be had, but a few hundred dollars was worth saving the aggrivation. Besides, I wanted to pay via check, and Paypal allowed me to wire transfer the funds in three days, rather than having to mail a check and then wait ten days for it to clear.

As for the warranty, I've never had to send a single product back the manufacturer under warranty ever. I've had several things go bad after they were out of warranty, but never during the period. So I'm somewhat betting that my luck will continue. If not, then I guess I'll be using that warhead on myself...
 
Cam-Ra said:
So I'm somewhat betting that my luck will continue. If not, then I guess I'll be using that warhead on myself...
Click to expand...

Don't feel bad. The grey market versions made in Thailand also have a menu setting that turns the camera into an inflatable pleasure doll. But i think you need the heavy duty battery to enjoy it's full functionality. All the "Buy from authorized dealers" fanboys never mention that. But try and disable the bomb first.
 
brianluce said:
But try and disable the bomb first.
Click to expand...

Ok - bomb warning FIRST then pleasure doll tip. That's all I'm saying...

(it's gonna take forever to clean this place up)
 
This seems to be a good thread to shout: Weeeeeee!!!
I got my HVX200 today but dont have any p2 cards:(, but i hope i get my firestore disk in the end of next week. Then i will post something!:)
 
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