Panasonic announce pricing and availability of their GH-1 video Micro Four Thirds camera kit – see here for details.
Availability as kit with Panasonic GH-1 plus Lumix Vario 14-140mm lens – early June 2009 at RRP of $US1499.95 or €1550 (Europe will have choice of red or Champagne gold color while US will only have black at this stage).
It seems RRP for Australia is $A3299 – see here which makes it much more expensive than its G1 camera which is $A1649 for a single kit lens (14-45mm lens) and $A2199 for twin lens kit (14-45mm plus 45-200mm lens). At that price, I don’t think too many will sell in Australia – it’s just ridiculously high even allowing for Australian dollar = $US0.70 and 10% GST (this should make it $A2360 not $A3299!) – but its a unique camera so price may not be so relevant to some.
Perhaps the Australian price may justify a trip to US to buy it there even if we catch the flu over there!
Actual retail prices for the G1 with 14-45mm lens in Australian shops is $A1399 not the RRP $A1649, and the twin lens kit is $A1889 not RRP $A2199, so I would expect the GH-1 to hit the shops at much less than RRP $A3299 but surely, it should be closer to $A2200 if they want to have any chance of selling these.
Comparison Australian pricings are Olympus E620 body $A1169, Olympus 18-180mm lens $A749, Olympus 15-54mm II lens $869, Olympus 50-200mm lens $A1499, E-30 body $A1619, E-3 body $A2099, Nikon D90 body $A1535, Nikon 18-200mm VR lens $A1085.
Panasonic have also announced optional Leica M and Leica R lens adapters for use of these lenses on the Micro Four Thirds cameras.
Panasonic have also announced new Class 10 SDHC memory cards in 4-32Gb sizes and allows 22Mb/sec transfers which will make transferring video files faster.
Hey Gary,
I have to agree with you on the pricing from panasonic australia. It’s very expensive, I think alot of people will be looking to purchase these overseas.
This is a unique camera but it’s not worth $3299.00. This is a very good opportunity missed by panasonic australia…what a shame.
I don’t know why there is pricing so high. There product is well but we can’t use it for its price.
I have a G1 and I like the camera very much. However, I am so frustrated with Panasonic AU it makes me crazy.
When I first bought the camera, backup batteries were simply not in the AU supply chain. I intended using the camera professionally (the 100% viewfinder view and in-camera distortion correction are killer features for my work), but I cannot be without 1 or 2 backup batteries.
After complaining to Panasonic AU, they referred me to an appliance store, who told me they could order the battery for me in 6 weeks for $232 AUD.
That’s insane-it’s 17 percent of the retail priced of an already over-priced camera..
Now, Panasonic AU appears to have them in the supply chain for $199 AUD-and they have just released a G-1 firmware update that will block use of non-Panasonic batteries.
At this point I am ready to sell the camera. Just how stupid does Panasonic AU think we are? This battery is $64 USD on Amazon–but Panasonic blocks them from shipping to AU.
Sigh…..