Attention Canadian AF-100 Enthusiasts

I got an update from my dealer.

I was in the "neighbourhood" (they're down the street from the Ferrari dealership on Decarie) visiting a client of mine to plan some productions and, since Inter-Cité was around the corner I thought I'd show up and meet the fellow who took my order.

They were playing with the demo AF100 and boy it's a beauty. It was hooked up to a 17" Panasonic production monitor via HD-SDI. While I wasn't "peeking" too much here's what I gathered. It is, CLEARLY, hear-say from the sales rep. So take several grains of salt and put them on a salt popsicle.

Panasonic Canada, as mentioned on this very thread, does have some cameras. Unlike some of the cameras going out in the States which were shipped factory-direct, Panasonic Canada gets the cameras and does it's own QA before sending them out. So that's where we're at.

One can only hope that this second level of QA means our cameras, with in-Canada warranties, come well checked. Lord knows we'll all do a third level of checks once they arrive! Hopefully within a week...

As for the green tint issue that's been a hot topic, well compared to the production monitor, I couldn't see a huge difference and certainly nothing that would stop a production from taking place, especially if each "setup" is charted so that editorial/color correction knows what's what to begin with.
 
Thanks for sharing the update petros. So the qa could be the account for the canadian camera delays. Have to sit tight and wait and see.
 
vcfilms said:
Did they give you any indication of a delivery date?
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My dealer (and again this is only what he's told me and I take that with salty salt again) first told me the first week of January in early October when I pre-ordered. Then he said the week of Dec. 20th. That came and went, and then it's pretty much been "any day now" with today's face-to-face "I hope I can get it to you by Friday." They have a demo unit and all I know is that I should be getting the first they receive.

I have quite a few productions to schedule over the next three weeks so we're just going to go with the flow and rent a week in advance for each production. If the AF100 arrives, one lucky client will get a bonus multi-cam shoot until I feel comfortable enough with the AF100 in our workflow to make it our main capture tool.
 
Fair enough, and from the dealers I've talked to, I get the indication they in fact don't know when to expect it.
 
vcfilms said:
Fair enough, and from the dealers I've talked to, I get the indication they in fact don't know when to expect it.
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To me, that seems like a much more reasonable way to put it actually. The way my dealer has gone about it (albeit in a very friendly fashion) gets everyone's hopes up for nothing.
 
vcfilms said:
To be honest, the lack of communication from Panasonic Canada makes me feel like they dont care about Canadian purchasers or businesses. And I dont mean lack of communication on the boards, that's understandable, I mean lack of communication with the retailers and dealers. I try to support local businesses and our economy but if this is the way they operate, I, and I'm sure many others in the future will just buy from the US. It's a shame really.
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I completely agree. Where is David Craig? Where is Cathryn Robertson? They should be fully engaged and participating on these boards. We should be able to contact them directly (a courtesy that Jan has extended to all of us irrespective of nationality).
Working professionals in Vancouver consistently bypass local dealers. Not simply because of pricing (slowly getting better), but because of the quality of customer care and attentiveness to the client's needs.
This is not a reflection of Vancouver's retailers... White's, Vidcom, etc. are great shops, but their hands are tied. Panasonic Canada is just not anywhere near as concerned or pro-active as compared to their US counterparts.
A good many of us buy from BH, Abelcine and Spec-comm, because we know Panasonic has their back and, consequently, we'll be covered.

All written in the spirit of constructive criticism. I trust that I'll be suitable put in my place as we hear directly from Cathryn and David later today...
 
Petros Kolyvas said:
Panasonic Canada, as mentioned on this very thread, does have some cameras. Unlike some of the cameras going out in the States which were shipped factory-direct, Panasonic Canada gets the cameras and does it's own QA before sending them out. So that's where we're at.

One can only hope that this second level of QA means our cameras, with in-Canada warranties, come well checked. Lord knows we'll all do a third level of checks once they arrive! Hopefully within a week…
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If in fact an extra quality check is the hold-up, then it's not such a bad thing… pretty great actually. But we're now in an age where communication and transparency with consumers is fairly key - even though I probably have enough fingers and toes to count everyone in Canada who cares.
 
i just got off the phone with a panasonic canada, talked to David of their broadcast division (im sorry i dont recall his last name or title; sorry David). he was very nice and helpful and provided me with great information. basically, we just have to wait.

panasonic canada, or panasonic in general did not leave canada to the last shipments, though they may have not gotten as many units as the US. though he said the first batch for canada was sent out, and they are awaiting their second batch any day now. so more cameras are coming this janurary; they are all sold mind you so if youve pre ordered your camera is coming. he said that the factor was low chips to go around for production cameras, so as the chips came in cameras went out (of the japan factory i would presume). it is still a wait a see, every day now though, but it is good to know that they are coming pretty soon. this phone call restored my vision of panasonic and i am glad for their support. it was a pleasant conversation with some sort of closure for the wait time. hope this helps the canadian buyers, i think we are looking mid january for pre order cameras.
 
danielc said:
i just got off the phone with a panasonic canada, talked to David of their broadcast division (im sorry i dont recall his last name or title; sorry David). he was very nice and helpful and provided me with great information. basically, we just have to wait.

panasonic canada, or panasonic in general did not leave canada to the last shipments, though they may have not gotten as many units as the US. though he said the first batch for canada was sent out, and they are awaiting their second batch any day now. so more cameras are coming this janurary; they are all sold mind you so if youve pre ordered your camera is coming. he said that the factor was low chips to go around for production cameras, so as the chips came in cameras went out (of the japan factory i would presume). it is still a wait a see, every day now though, but it is good to know that they are coming pretty soon. this phone call restored my vision of panasonic and i am glad for their support. it was a pleasant conversation with some sort of closure for the wait time. hope this helps the canadian buyers, i think we are looking mid january for pre order cameras.
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It's still a little sad to find out that people who ordered way way after some of us got their cameras first. But that's life and not worth crying over as there are far more important to spend one's time on...

Thanks a million for the update.
 
Well I took it upon myself to call Panasonic Canada's Broadcast division myself today.

While the woman was very very friendly, she has no information. Apparently they don't have any stock. Not one. Nothing in QA, nothing like that. The few they had were sent out. According to her, everything is going to the US and as has been mentioned here before we probably won't have cameras until January or February. She said we probably wouldn't have to wait until March, which tells me even that is a possibility.

She also used the "any day now" line my dealer's been using, but with the caveat that she can't tell me where in line our dealer was/is.

Why did we pre-order again?
 
The really funny thing, is that if we look at the original post from this thread, it was probably closer to the truth than any of us wanted to believe.

A shame really.
 
Petros Kolyvas said:
The really funny thing, is that if we look at the original post from this thread, it was probably closer to the truth than any of us wanted to believe.

A shame really.
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I wanted to order from a local dealer to help keep the network strong, so that they would be here in the future when I need them… didn't work out.
 
Wow this is aweful information. It still doesnt make sense to me why no cameras have arrived yet. Its funny cause of the different information we keep getting. Last time i called i was told more cameras were on their way to canada, not that they had none. This whole experience has not been a pleasant one for me with panasonic.
 
We got ours in Vancouver and it is awesome. It's got its up and downs, but more than anything, I'm having so much fun with it. It's a straight up fun camera.
 
heavyG said:
I wanted to order from a local dealer to help keep the network strong, so that they would be here in the future when I need them… didn't work out.
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Same here - I too wanted to buy local.

If I hear of one available from the US though, I'll simply order the one (free book from Barry to boot!) and either cancel my order here or get it (when it finally arrives) and just sell it to someone else.
 
danielc said:
Wow this is aweful information. It still doesnt make sense to me why no cameras have arrived yet. Its funny cause of the different information we keep getting. Last time i called i was told more cameras were on their way to canada, not that they had none. This whole experience has not been a pleasant one for me with panasonic.
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Certainly feeling the same way. I do have to remind myself that the folks at the other end of the phone are only the messengers and there's no need to give them any grief. I do get the feeling that if most of them could help us, in any way, they would; they're just not receiving cameras so it's out of their hands.
 
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More anecdotal news.

Before that: sorry for flooding the thread, but I'm sharing what I have.

I sent a note to my dealer asking if they could get on Panasonic Canada's rear end. I re-iterated to the sales rep what had been told to me and expressed some concerns. He called within a minute, quite upset (not at me) that I had been told as much. While he was sorry it didn't arrive last week he claimed an internal Panasonic website indicated they would be receiving a partial shipment this Friday on January 14th (maybe it ships out that day - not 100% clear there). He said the second shipment to fulfill all the pre-orders (for them at least) was scheduled to arrive the 28th.

He also said he would take what I told him and contact his sales rep and get back to me - hopefully to find out what's going on. So many middle men here it's hard to know what's up.

I know all I'm doing is confusing the matter, but having someone local to talk to is nice.

Also he has indicated if the camera is very delayed they will do their best to make sure we can make our scheduled productions and still get into the AF100 boat. So, fair enough, it will work out and life's too short to worry (too much ;) )

On a positive note we've been booked solid until the end of March so I hope everyone is having a busy, prosperous, creative New Year despite Panasonic Canada's fumbles!
 
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