What is a Panasonic AG-AF105A?

G

greytail

Well-known member
Found this camera on line at lower price than normal. Does the 5A mean it was bought in Japan and does not carry a US warranty?
 
Most likely its gray market. No warranty, no battery, no charger, probably doesn't even come with the top or side handles. Stay away.
 
I thought the AF105 designation was simply a sales region number ( I can't remember which number is for Europe and which is for Asia ), and the A designation is simply the new "improved" AF1xx camera that has 1080 60p recording and uses an 8-bit plus color depth to reduce image banding compared to the original camera. ( I notice there's a 105A camera on Amazon for $3,200 )
 
Barry_Green said:
Yes, the 105 means it's Japan, and 105A means it's the Japanese market version of the AF100A.
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Are the menus in Japanese or English? The AF105A is selling for $2524 on Amazon - perhaps this is the result of the devaluation of the yen. Very tempting, indeed.
 
It is, as stated above, the same exact camera as the AF100A. All that differs is the serial number and model number. It is indeed most likely gray market. I pulled the trigger on one and it came factory sealed with everything included (battery, charger, manual, cd, handle, mic holder etc.) though there were some dealers i called while shopping around that did not offer those things so be sure to call the dealer, if possible, to find out what is included. Also don't be a afraid to haggle. They'll often throw in a free third party warranty and extras if you can talk to an actual rep over the phone. Ryther in Jersey City is pretty good about their gray market products.
 
The menus are in both Japanese and English, your choice via a menu selection -- nothing to be wary of there. The issues are lack of US warranty and dealer support.
 
John B. said:
The menus are in both Japanese and English, your choice via a menu selection -- nothing to be wary of there. The issues are lack of US warranty and dealer support.
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I have a new AF105A from Ryther. It came factory sealed with all the extras (battery, manual, etc...) and came with a third party warranty. Works perfectly. For under $3K I had to roll the dice and I'm glad I did. It's already paid for itself.
 
So is the issue only that Panasonic USA will not do any warranty servicing on the AF105A? Or that they will not service it period, even on an out of warranty basis?

A person told me that Panasonic USA has increased the warranty period for the AF100A to 5 years. However, I cannot find any info on that on the Panasonic USA website. Does anyone know if there is any truth to the warranty being extended longer in the USA?

Barry: How does one find a list of the DVXUser sponsors? Is there a link that you can provide to sponsor info?
 
Last I knew, Panasonic USA would service an out of market product like an AF105A, but they will charge for those services. If you want warranty service on an AF105A, you'd have to send it to Japan for that work. But I have heard that some territories will refuse to work on out-of-market products at all. I don't think that's the status with Panasonic USA, but they may have changed their policy since the last time I checked. You may want to call them and verify before entertaining buying an out-of-market ("gray market") product.

I know nothing of 5-year warranty on the AF100A. The P2HD products have a five-year warranty. The AVCCAM products have a 3-year warranty (unless they've changed something recently and I just didn't know about it!) In both cases you get one year warranty by buying the product, and you get extended warranty coverage by registering your camcorder on the PASS site.
 
Barry_Green said:
I know nothing of 5-year warranty on the AF100A. The P2HD products have a five-year warranty. The AVCCAM products have a 3-year warranty (unless they've changed something recently and I just didn't know about it!)
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I was told this by a salesman at our local Panasonic Pro Video dealer here in Oregon. He told me that the only promotion that Panasonic has currently going on the AF100A is that they are now offering a 5 year warranty on it. Their price for the AF100A was $3,995

I just called Panasonic Pro Video Support, and they confirmed that they will indeed service grey market cameras on an out of warranty basis.

I honestly have not seen many complaints by folks on any online forums using Panasonic Pro Video regarding their camcorders breaking down and needing service. Such reports seem rare, and point to the Panasonic camcorders being well built and reliable.

Maybe it would be worth it for me to gamble on one of these out of market camcorders. A 38% discount is a significant amount of change.
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Or you could buy one from Texas Media Systems and get a genuine USA unit, with a warranty, all the goodies, and my book, for $2995... they have some b-stock units they're selling at that price.
 
Barry_Green said:
Or you could buy one from Texas Media Systems and get a genuine USA unit, with a warranty, all the goodies, and my book, for $2995... they have some b-stock units they're selling at that price.
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I checked on their offer and apparently this B-stock was used at a trade show. However, only a 90 day warranty is being offered with them, according to their website.

However, the price at Ryther Camera just shot up!! It was only $2,500 a few hours ago, and is now being listed at $3,500, which is more than what Texas Media is offering. I wonder, is someone from Panasonic USA is monitoring this forum? I wonder if they got a nasty call from Panasonic? LOL

Do you think that your book would definitely be included in the B-stock at Texas Media? If so, that would be a plus, as it would otherwise cost me another $80 to get your book if I got a AF105A.
 
I would expect it to be included in the b-stock unit, but I'm not 1,000% certain.

Also, I checked on the 5-year warranty, and that is only available to educational institutions, it's a special promotion for schools. For the general public it's the same 3 years it's always been.
 
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