GH1 Availability?

124151155

124151155

Member
Hey,
My dad is in USA at the moment and I was hoping he could bring back a GH1... but it seems (according to camera store websites) that they are not available at the moment... none in stock, back listed, etc.
I just wanted to know if anybody knew anywhere where the camera is available? He is in San Jose, California and I think he returns home via San Fransisco airport, so he may be able to pick one up there.
If anybody can let me know of any camera stores in California (San Jose in particular) that stock the GH1, that would be great. (I only know of Wolf Camera which have no word of it on their website, I'll call them when the time zones are favourable for both sides...)

Thanks
-Tim
 
Hi Tim, where are you from? Because US is one of the places where the GH1 is in very short supply. You might actually have better luck from your own country or in a neighbouring country.
 
I'm in Australia. I've tried all the neighbouring countries but I'm yet to find one.
The GH1 costs about $3,200 AUD here, which is about twice the price in the USA. That's why I was hoping to get one overseas. As far as I know they have not been stocked in Australia. I've seen them advertised in catalogs but not on the shelf... =(
I guess I'll get one next time. Thanks guys.
 
You are probably better off by getting a PAL model from Hong Kong than a NTSC one from USA as the latter will not be such a good match for your television system and 50 Hz electric frequency.
 
As far as I know they have not been stocked in Australia. I've seen them advertised in catalogs but not on the shelf..
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Have you tried phoning your local Ted's or Digital Camera Warehouse? I got mine several weeks ago simply by phoning Ted's and picked it up that afternoon - but you're right, the price is a bit daunting!
 
Ted's didn't have it, There a small place called Kirk's near me and they said they don't stock Panasonics because they are too expensive (waste of their money if it doesn't sell).
I won't pay the full price in AUD for the camera if I can get it for half the price overseas.

In terms of PAL/NTSC, I highly doubt I will be attaching my camera straight to the TV to play videos very often, I'd be a lot more likely to edit them and use digital movie files (mpeg, mov etc) or transfer them to DVDs... AFAIK the charger uses a two pin cable and supports voltages worldwide so I can just replace the packaged power cable...

I'll look into buying from Hong Kong however. I have heard that GH1s from Japan are only in the Japanese language... is this so? Is there a similar drawback with GH1s from Hong Kong?

Thanks.
 
i have seen it listed on digital camera warehouse and they have a shop front in Melb. It's the cheapest I've seen in Australia so far at $2799AUD. whether or not they have it in stock is another story.

http://www.digitalcamerawarehouse.com.au/prod6098.htm

If you buy from the US it works out to be $1900AUD or so right? would you have to pay customs tax on that when you bring it back in say another $200AUD. Don't forget to ask for the international warranty card so you have some support back here.

Does anyone know if HK gets red ones? I want a red one so bad!!..ha As for language i think its either japanese or everyone else so id say hk would be multi-language.

And getting either ntsc or pal is only worthwhile if you only plan to play back on tv correct? I don't think anyone does that anymore. Pal maybe good to get a clean step down from 50 to 25..thats the only good think i see about pal. This is coming from a complete idiot like myself...ha theres a high chance that i may be wrong.
 
Hmm, $2800 is a much nicer than $3200 and $3000 quotes elsewhere. As for customs tax, throw away the box and pretend you had the camera all along. The chances of being picked up for not declaring it are pretty low, and ofcourse your excuse for having the manuals is that you either bought it recently or you are borrowing it and don't know how to use it =P

I'll have a look at digital camera warehouse. Thanks!

and btw, yes. $1,500USD is $1,834.976 at the moment =)
 
124151155 said:
AFAIK the charger uses a two pin cable and supports voltages worldwide so I can just replace the packaged power cable...
Click to expand...
The problem isn't charging the battery. The problem is that lights, like fluorescents and sodium street lights at 50Hz can, due to interference with 30 / 60 fps, cause a shimmering flicker in your shots. It can be avoided but your choice of shutter speeds gets more limited. Then there is also the hassle with pulldown removal from the 1080/24p in a 60i stream which isn't a issue with the 1080/25p in a 50i stream.

I'll look into buying from Hong Kong however. I have heard that GH1s from Japan are only in the Japanese language... is this so? Is there a similar drawback with GH1s from Hong Kong?
Click to expand...
GH1s sold in Japan have only japanese menus. The Hong Kong cameras have english - one member here, jshaw, have had one brought to UK from Hong Kong.
 
I am in the US and was recently shipped a PAL model. I sent it back to the merchant, who is supposed to be sending me a NTSC model. If the second one comes and it's PAL as well, and it sounds like PAL is what you need, than perhaps I could ship it to you? How often does your Dad come to the US? I can't sit on $1500 for very long!
 
Bit of a silly question, but have you tried Singapore? I ask because we have them in stores and you can easily walk into just about any camera store and test it out. The version is also PAL, like HK, without any 30 min limits on video recording.
 
yslee...how much are they going for in singapore? i tried googling singapore based online stores and had no luck. would it be cheaper in malaysia also? and are you able to get a red one? i'm so set on a red one..ha

my mates dad is coming from singapore..maybe i should get him to get it if its a good price...then again anything outside australia is a good price.
 
I've not seen the red one. Singapore, being the small country it is, has a near non-existent online shopping environment, especially for expensive items like cameras. Easier to just go down to the retail store and try the demo sets.

The GH1 costs ~S$2200 currently.
 
thanks. $2200 SGD works out to be approx $1850AUD....man that's darn good. I always said if it was around 2kAUD here I wouldn't blink an eye lid buying one. 3k is the reason why I'm on the fence on whether I should get a 5dmk2 instead.
 
I can currently get hold of a small stock of GH1's in Taiwan via my girlfriend.

If anybody is interested please PM me and I'll do my best to deliver it to you wherever you are in the world.
 
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