Is Panasonic trying to tell me something?

roxics

roxics

Veteran
February 4th I bought a GH1 directly from Panasonic. They charged my card and I got my camera. Then they charged my card again for the price of the camera and sent me another lens. Never got the lens because I called and they fixed the order, refunded my card and cancelled the shipment.

Just tonight I was about the pull the trigger on two Canon 60D kits, with just enough money set aside in that account to cover both. Literally on my way to the store my bank app sends me a message telling me that Panasonic has charged my account $397.50. What?!!!! So I get on the horn with Panasonic and they are going to look into it and get back to me within 24-48 hours. Meanwhile $400 of my money is going to be tied up till probably early next week. Now I have to hold off on the two Canon cameras.

Maybe Panasonic is trying to tell me I should just buy another GH1, as much as I hate this camera. lol
 
I love it, please keep telling me about how Panny just keeps giving you stuff, or at least attempting to, while I got hosed on 3 cameras from PD. I've since spent $2k on a GH13 and a pair of gh1's in order to end up back at my $1120 3 gh1 initial investment from PD. Please continue :)
 
I wouldn't bother with an unhackable gh1 either. without the hack, it's a pretty crappy camera. Especially the mudddddddddd
 
Svart said:
If you hate it, why do you still have it?
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It's up on craigslist right now. It's not a horrible camera. The video is pretty slick except for the mud in wide high detail shots. So the word hate is probably overstating it. I just don't like its small size, lack of decent fast AF lenses for still use and low resolution LCD compared to the Canons and Nikon D7000.
It doesn't help that I traded in a D7000 for this GH1. While it was a lot cheaper, I went from a larger weather sealed body with big buttons, knobs and sharp fast AF glass to something that feels just slightly larger than a point and shoot camera, a shutter that sounds like a toy and pretty bad low light capability compared to the Nikon. I just haven't been happy since. I should have kept the Nikon even though it was a lot more expensive. Then again if Panasonic keeps randomly charging me $400, the Nikon may end up cheaper. lol
 
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OP: what's the point of this post? Whether you are trying to ***** about the camera or Panny in general - vent elsewhere, like in the toilet, and don't forget to flush.
 
slyn4ice said:
OP: what's the point of this post? Whether you are trying to ***** about the camera or Panny in general - vent elsewhere, like in the toilet, and don't forget to flush.
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Just sharing the story. Are we not allowed to do that? What's wrong with venting here?
 
So much snippyness on the forums lately. Good luck with the money issue. Panasonic is quite the mess it would seem.
 
roxics, as someone who has dealt with Panasonic's comically bumbling customer service and fulfillment deficiencies, I can relate. A lot of people here can. And in regards to the rude poster who should heed his/her own advice, I think you'll find that there are quite a few people on forums such as this who are incapable of distinguishing a monetary investment from an emotional one. Personally, I think a sub $1000 camera that will be outdated soon enough is ridiculous to get so worked up about. Plus, I doubt anyone would say anything like that to your face upon just meeting you. Take that for what it is--cowardice.
 
Glad you shared it; I would recommend a 60d and gh2, so you can really have a chance to gravitate towards what works best for you. (its a huge leap from unhacked gh1 to gh2)
 
Mike - sorry to hear that the GH1 didn't work out for you. And sorry to hear that Panasonic Direct is such a problem. PD customer service notwithstanding -- if size, big buttons, LCD resolution and the sound of the shutter are your issues, you probably wouldn't like the GH2 either (even though it completely solves the mud issue -- and its low-light performance is superb with decent lenses). Hard as it is for me to say it, if you still want to shoot video with the DSLR form factor, it might be time to go back to the big mirrors.
 
LOL...at least you were informed about what you were/weren't buying.

I still can't forgive Panasonic for the sneaky way they locked the firmware on the last few GH1's. It was my luck to buy one of the first locked ones from Panasonic Australia...then no one here believed me for a couple of weeks. Old news now...but Panasonic's attitude still aggravates me...
 
brunerww said:
Mike - sorry to hear that the GH1 didn't work out for you. And sorry to hear that Panasonic Direct is such a problem. PD customer service notwithstanding -- if size, big buttons, LCD resolution and the sound of the shutter are your issues, you probably wouldn't like the GH2 either (even though it completely solves the mud issue -- and its low-light performance is superb with decent lenses). Hard as it is for me to say it, if you still want to shoot video with the DSLR form factor, it might be time to go back to the big mirrors.
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Yeah, but after thinking about it some more I've had a change or heart. I decided I haven't really given this GH1 a chance. All I've done is hate on it since I've gotten it because it's not a Nikon or Canon. I do have to remember that while it doesn't feel like a Nikon of Canon, I also didn't pay the same price for it that I would a Nikon or Canon. So I decided to keep it and shoot with it for a while. Maybe even see if I can make some money with it. The reality is it will do 90% of what I want a camera to do, just not in the form factor I want it in. Which has been my biggest bias against it so far. But with the price difference I'll live with that for now.

As for mud, yeah it sucks, but it's a $400 camera as far as I'm concerned. So I'll try to work around it. I'll probably pick up a Nikon adapter and another Nikon lens. I'm just not so keen on the idea of investing in native 4/3 glass because I feel like eventually I'm going to pick up a Nikon or Canon. Just not sure when.
 
Yeah, PD is a pain sometimes but I think $630 for a GH2 body and $375 for GH1 w/14-42mm was a great deal.
 
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