Where to buy the HVX: a small guide.

what is the deal with the shortage of hvx's around? And the shortage of P2 cards. I find this disconcerting when considering getting married to a camera.

I have seriously considered getting another camera and/or "grey market".

And to the grey debate, currently I am checking about as I know a successful shooter that has had two grey market experiences that were favorable and endorsed by him.

Having a 1 year warranty is great but how many factory sealed cameras get returned..really...and how much would it cost if one needed a repair? I even passed up on a warranty once on my sony deck because they were going to take forever to fix it in the middle of posting my feature and the $280 local fix was worth every penny. As opposed to shipping the deck back east and being told it may be fixed in 8 weeks!

Furthermore: The rebate by panny-america currently is nice but not stuff that I would be buying no matter what...like a P2 card or a discount on any other gear.

This site is great and I respect very much the sponsors of it and of buying local and supporting good folks. And to be honest buying grey is more annoying because so many of them are weasels and I hate supporting weasels with my money.

But...I am also a businessman and I am not so scared of terms like "grey market" or threats of chinese manuals or no warranty if I am able to get product when I need it and for a great price.

Furthermore, if an honest person put together a "grey" sales center I would think they could make a mint and undercut the local monopoly(?) and likely very easily insure the cameras themselves like all the big electronics stores do in selling extended warranties on their products...

I realize people have to protect their industry but as a consumer we don't want to be pegged to higher prices in America for the same stuff. Why are we paying more in America for the same thing? I should think we would buy more product than any other country and therefore deserve some better deals on the product.

Greenspan preached the free-world-market economy as proven to be better responsive when not propped up or manipulated. How many more people would be buying hvx's if the price was the same as it is in singapore or india? And then how many more side products like P2's? Etc would be sold?


I look forward to your insights on these questions.
 
I agree with most of what you have said. The problem I had when trying to get a good deal in grey market, is that the camera shops(and I use the term loosely) won't sell you the camera unless you buy an extra $1000 dollars worth of plastic filters, cheap tripod, camera bag, etc. etc. If you say you just want the camera, they usually just hang up, or tell you that it will take a really long time to get the camera. If your buddy has 2 grey market cameras, and had a good experience, he should post here where he got them, and who he talked to. I'd love to see a thread of nothing but posts about good experiences with grey market purchases, without comments from others debating the ethics of it. I bought my camera from Spec-Comm, and got a very competitive price, probably the lowest of all the authorized dealers. Camera was at my house the next day, and came with extra battery. No hassles, and they speak english.
 
Could it be...??

Could it be...??

huge1 said:
what is the deal with the shortage of hvx's around?
Click to expand...

Could it be a Panasonic strategy to steer buyers to the new HPX-500? The 500 appears to be a totally awesome product and is presumably is more profitable for Panasonic.

Meanwhile, when the RED ONE camera becomes widely available, the comparably priced HPX-500 will be a difficult sell in the HVX User community. I imagine, however, the 500 will continue to sell well in the ENG market.

- Jim O.


P.S. This is my first post. I'm a big fan of the HVX, Jan, Barry, Graeme, Jarred, etc.
(Thanks to all of you!)
 
Jim_O. said:
Could it be a Panasonic strategy to steer buyers to the new HPX-500? The 500 appears to be a totally awesome product and is presumably is more profitable for Panasonic.
Click to expand...
I seriously doubt that, it's a totally different price range and totally different level.
 
I got my HVX200 from Julian Diaz at AVS. He was super helpful and they had one in stock and he is also getting me some 16GB p2 cards later this month.

The HVX was $4810.00 with $30 shipping to GA. It came in 2 days and is an American Warranty one.

They have 16GB cards for $857.00. They have a boatload coming in the end of the month.

AVS also sent me a wireless mic that was a good deal too.

To get the good price tell Julian you are a DVXuser.com member.



I also called Shawn Tallard at fullcompass. He is cool, but they had none in stock and they wanted more $ too.
 
Do not buy from SUNSHINE!!! - Gray Market HVX200
It's funny. resellerratings.com user, "Scott_thetford" shares my Sunshine Electronics story verbatim! (Please see his feedback regarding camera cases at resellerratings.com). I'll preface this by saying that my situation may be resolving soon, according to my LATEST phone conversation with Sunshine. Despite numerous phone calls, emails, and messages through eBay, I have not once received a courtesy response from Sunshine, which is why I'm posting this negative feedback now. HERE'S MY STORY: Father's Day Eve, 2007. I call Sunshine Electronic with a question regarding an eBay auction item of theirs -- I want to know if it is a Gray Market Panasonic HVX200 camera (Over seas) or if it is a USA model. The sales rep tells me it is a new-in-box, USA model just like the one I'd buy from any other Panasonic dealer. This pleases me and I hang up. Father's Day, 2007. I purchase the camera over the telephone, via the same eBay auction. In addition, I purchase 3-day shipping to expedite the process and my Credit Card is charged right away. More than three weeks go by and NOTHING! Evidently Sunshine was busy ordering my camera from Japan because when it finally arrived 3 weeks (not 3 days, but WEEKS) later, the box and literature that accompanied the camera was all written in Japanese. ...And Panasonic confirmed for me that it was a gray market serial number. In addition, the case that they shipped me was the wrong one. July 10th 2007 - The Tuesday following the camera's arrival. I left negative feedback for Sunshine on eBay, stating that: 1) it's a gray market camera 2) the wrong case shipped and that Sunshine was going to hold me accountable for their mistake 3) I paid for 3-day shipping and it took 3 weeks. Dan Woods, from Sunshine, called me right away regarding the negative feedback (funny how he cared so much about the negative comments, but cared nothing about getting the exchange right). He explained to me that I should have known the camera was Gray Market because of eBay's "in-store-warranty" listing. Fair enough. Stupid me. But the camera-case exchange, he promised, would be overnighted to me and would arrive by Friday the 13th at latest... and that I'd have a tracking number the next day! Guess what. Today is 7/20/07 and they 1) STILL HAVE NOT REPLIED TO ANY OF MY PHONE MESSAGES OR EMAILS 2) HAVE NOT SENT MY TRACKING NUMBER 3) HAVE NOT SHIPPED MY CASE. So what do I do? Do I contact my Credit Card company? Go through eBay? Take my medication? Somebody, please help me!!!! So I fully trust that in the end I will have received what I paid for and if nothing else, I hope that nobody else gets screwed in the way that I did. If Sunshine were just more forthcoming, I wouldn't mind being patient for over 5+ weeks -- Honesty and a little communication are all I ask...well, that and for my case to arrive before August. Do your research.. You'll see that almost everything negative about Sunshine relates to shipping and customer service. Good prices and Dan's a nice enough guy... I just wish my experience were better. PS-IF YOU LEAVE THEM NEGATIVE FEEDBACK…DON’T WITHDRAW IT UNTIL EVERYTHING IS RESOLVED!!! MANY HAVE FALLEN FOR THIS, MYSELF INCLUDED!!!
 
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Julian Diaz
Account Executive
AUDIO VIDEO SUPPLY
4575 Ruffner Street • San Diego, CA 92111
Phone 858-565-1101 • Fax 858-565-7845
Toll Free 800-284-2288 • www.avsupply.com •
 
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You just call and ask for Julien. Forget the extension thing.

And they said they will be getting more in later this month, I guess I got one of their last ones.:thumbsup:
 
I should reitterate that pricing is negotiable. I try to remain reasonably flexible for my clients. We are expecting more in the next few weeks (estimation) as well. I've decided to start a list for people who wish for me to contact them when these are in stock. Please pm me with your full name, address, phone number if you are interested in getting on the waiting list.
 
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Shawn is a good guy. I bought a some gear from him this week and got free shipping. He is also knowledgeable about the gear, a nice thing in a salesman/account executive.
 
I'm a newbie and am looking at buying the HVX200. I've been online buying tech stuff for quite some time and have never seen this disparity in pricing. There are at least 2 companies selling for $1499... are they legit?

I'm also struggling between the P2 8GB cards and the fs-100... any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks!
 
They're about as legit as the e-mails you get that say you can grow your penis by 3" by taking some herbs. Scams exist in all forms, and if you think you're going to score a $5200 camcorder for $1499, well...
 
Thanks! Although I have no interest in penis growth, I'm definitely glad to avoid a scam. Fortunately, I'm a born skeptic and, if something seems to be too good to be true, it probably is. In any event, I appreciate the confirmation.
 
Does the latest rebate for the anton batt rebate apply if I order from a US authorized dealer but live in Canada?

Also, whats the current legit low price and from whom?
 
Everyone has HVX's back in stock. I have been riding the buying trail for the last 3 weeks and suddenly I am getting the "instock" calls.
 
Since it's a long weekend here I guess I'll have to wait till tuesday for pricing, or is it not a holiday state side?

Still not sure if the rebate will work up here. Might have to have it sent to a realtives address in Arizona. If that doesn't work I might as well by a US model grey market. There's a "Brand New USA Camcorder Factory Sealed in Original Box" for $4278 USD on ebay.
 
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