HPX 170 PAL upgrade

Yes, I have seen some posts from South Africa and a few other countries expressing the same annoyance. We demand equal treatment as our buddies in Europe. Sony does it, Panasonic should as well.

Dan
 
Everyone should. It's a global economy, a global marketplace, our tools should be globally useable.

Sony doesn't do it for everything though; they did it for the Z1 but then they took it away for the V1. They do it for the EX1 and up, Panasonic does it for the 500 and up, but yes it'd be nice if it extended downwards in the range too, especially because we know it's possible on as low as a 150.
 
The main reason I would like to stick with the 170(1) is that it can shoot SD and HD which the EX-1 doesn't do and I will need to deliver most of what I will shoot this year in SD but in both PAL and NTSC (which the 170 doesn't do in Canada anyway). Now I'm trying to find a solution for buying the camera from a dealer in the UK, but they aren't responding to my emails.

Anyone have any experience with importing the camera from Europe or the UK to Canada? I'm wondering what if any duties I will have to pay over and above Canadian taxes. This is so stupid - that I can't just buy the damn thing here, as Barry said--very frustrating.
 
Well, I ended up ordering a 171 from mitcorp in the UK - and it just arrived today. I got the package deal which included 2 32Gb P2 cards for 3799 GBP. In Canadian dollars, including the shipping and all taxes, it was about $7500 (about 6070 USD) which is a great deal. I was testing it out today and all seems fine - so I'm a happy camper. My first shoot is in Australia at the end of March, so I have some time to experiment with the camera for a few weeks thankfully. Thanks to all who contributed to this post.
 
I just saw that there is a firmware update for the 170. So, it makes me wonder (& I am going to contact Panasonic to find out) if I now have to send the camera in to Panasonic to have them perform this firmware upgrade. Will it wipe out my PAL settings?

Part of the problems of having this upgrade done to the camera.
 
HPX PAL 170 Upgrade

HPX PAL 170 Upgrade

Hi CW,

How long did it take for Panasonic to upgrade your camera. I am living in Cambodia and have an HPX 170 and would like it to shoot PAL. I might have to take care of it when i fly back or maybe they can do it in Asia somewhere.

Thanks,
Todd
 
It was really fast. Just a couple of days. I sent it in as I was going out of town on work & it was back when I returned.

I did a bunch of tests back in the fall in ways to "fake" PAL footage with the camera, when there was no definite timeline for the PAL upgrade and I needed to shoot PAL.

Take a look at this thread:

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=145744

I ended up using an EX1 for that shoot...
 
Sounds great, thanks! I will try that. Overall, were you pleased with the results of this process? Out of curiosity in which city is the place you sent your HPX to?

Thanks!
 
CW-35 said:
I just saw that there is a firmware update for the 170. So, it makes me wonder (& I am going to contact Panasonic to find out) if I now have to send the camera in to Panasonic to have them perform this firmware upgrade. Will it wipe out my PAL settings?

Part of the problems of having this upgrade done to the camera.
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Did it wipe the PAL settings?
 
I have not run the update and I am not sure if I can since I am on Mac with the latest OS.

But, I did contact Panasonic and they did say that this update would not wipe the PAL upgrade and that it was safe for me to do it.
 
I just inquired with Jan about the PAL upgrade for the HPX170 and she gave me the same excuse about cameras that were purchased in Canada - they can't be serviced unless they're from the US...

This is totally inexcusable from Panasonic!

I purchased my camera in North America (in Canada) and registered it through Panasonic North America (in the US). Why can't North American customers from Canada get their cameras serviced for the PAL upgrade??

This is an unfair business practice from Panasonic considering that European customers get a superior camera with the PAL/NTSC option and better resolution while North American customers get stuck with a gimped camera at the same price(!)


I like Panasonic products but this is a definate deal breaker for their professional customers, production companies and producers that travel often to Europe - they should be informed of this prior to purchase!
 
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Ehrik said:
II purchased my camera in North America (in Canada) and registered it through Panasonic North America (in the US). Why can't North American customers from Canada get their cameras serviced for the PAL upgrade??
Click to expand...
The upgrade is performed on US cameras, by the US service center. If you want a Canadian camera upgraded, you'd have to take that up with Panasonic Canada.

The simple fact is that Panasonic USA is supplying a service to their customers. They don't owe that service to Panasonic Canada customers, or Panasonic Latin America customers, or any other division. There's a Panasonic Canada, and that's who you bought your camera from, and that's who made the profit when you bought, and that's who would be servicing your camera. So if you want the service you'd have to discuss that with Canada.

This is an unfair business practice from Panasonic considering that European customers get a superior camera with the PAL/NTSC option and better resolution while North American customers get stuck with a gimped camera at the same price(!)
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It's not the same price, the European camera was substantially more expensive. Whether it still is or not, I don't know, but at the time it was introduced that was the reason we were told -- the Europeans got the switchability, but their cameras cost much more.
 
Understood, but my point is that there is no USA or Canada specific model - they're the same HPX-170P. US and Canada are under the same North American Panasonic network - Look at the Panasonic International Website and you'll see what I mean.

Furthermore, the Panasonic «Customer Acknowledgement of conditions for AG-HPX-170P Optional Upgrade» form mentions absolutely nothing about conditional US models only.

Much more? An HPX171 w/ 32GB card with bag costs 4000 euro (5315 usd) and an HPX170 w/ 16GB card is 4895 usd - they're just about identical if you bump up the 16GB P2 card to a 32GB.

Sorry, there is no excuse for preferential treatment within the Panasonic North America network.
 
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