'Early December' - that's the official word from Panny Australia as to it's release down under.
Just in time for Christmas but it's a toss up between this and the Panasonic HS2 DVD recorder with HDD... :-)

That's very late. Japan got it July 1st, I think; and Europe got it around October 1st. I guess Pana wants to get rid of the MX350s first.

At least Down-Under's getting them, unlike us poor slobs in North America. You know the old saying, better late then never. (Anyways, by the time I have enough US cash saved, there'll probably have been a couple MX5 price drops.)

Does anyone know of a company in Europe that will sell an mx500 to a customer in the US? I've sent several emails to various UK based camera companies and none of them has responded.

Thanks in advance

P.S. Doesn't have to be based in England, anywhere in the
EU is fine.

Joe C.

I'll email someone I know in The Neitherlands, to ask about this. But it is PAL in Europe. Why not order from Australia next month? Probably cheaper. I recommend this place:

www.cameraaction.com.au

Thanks, Frank, if you think Oz will be cheaper, I can wait a month.

But any info in the mean time will be appreciated.

I'll do that. Keep in mind that if you go to your bank, and get an Australian money order (from US Dollars to Australian Dollors), you save in the conversion, when compared with buying (in US Dollars) to a currency that's priced higher than the US Dollar (such as British Pounds). Also, Camera Action prices these cams fairly, and are set-up for export. That's where I bought my MX cams from. I have nothing but good to say about them. (They even have an online conversion set-up). But the best way is sending them a M.O, one that's converted at your bank. Currency exchange is a funny thing....

If you're really nice to me, i'll go check out these cameras in person when they come out.

Their front end store is about a 10 minute drive from here.


kermie

Thanks Kermie. I'll be sure to be real nice. It would be great to have some Pana MX5 feedback from you! (I'm considering the PAL version as well.)

Gee Kermie, what constitutes being nice? hehehe.

Coke and a smile :)


kermie

Sorry, I don't touch nothing stronger than mj. hehehe
Sorry, a little South Florida humor.

Kermie, do you know of any camera stores that handle the
JVC -DV301E (Pal version of the dv300). And sell/ship to the states?
It seems that cameraaction.com only handles consumer.

I know of 1 place in person that can get them.

Their webset is http://www.tasmanav.com.au but they list prices on the web, you would have to email them.

kermie

about Tasman AV.
I sent them email and was initially contacted by a Grant Miller, who promised me a quote within a few hours.
that was 2 days ago. I sent another email asking how it
was going, no reply. BTW, my initial email spelled out what I
wanted, his email asked me if I wanted a PAL or NTSC camera. I said a PAL JVC GY-DY301E. Wondered if he was paying attention at all.

Do you know of anyone else I could contact who would follow through with an actual quote? sorry to bug you.

I had this same problem with pro-tape here in the states.

Yeah,

I have found tasmanav to be very lazy with following up quotes. I guess that is why they are also the cheapest :-/.


it is worth emailing these people.

http://www.michaels.com.au

http://www.teds.com.au

http://www.cameraaction.com.au

http://www.dirtcheapcameras.com.au

http://www.jvcpro-australia.com

One of these places must give you some joy. I am going into tasmanav first thing monday here, so i will nag the manager to return your email as well, and get the quote myself on it.

kermie

I highly recommend:

http://www.cameraaction.com.au

Their prices are very good, and so is their service. But I'm sure you'll always find someone cheaper---just be careful who you deal with.

Some places in Australia may quote you a cheap price but then they try and recoup some by charging you taxes! (There should be no taxes if the cam is an export.)

Okay frank, but the price they have on the mx350 is nearly
2100.00 US. That is sort of high as far as I can tell. I'm just trying to get plenty of options to determine the best price. I agree with you though, integrity and service are more important than the lowest price.

Jojo,

First: don't deal in US dollars.

Second: e-mail them for the price in Australian Dollars.

Third: go to your US bank and ask how much a Austalian M.O. for that amount will cost in US Dollars. (You will find that doing it this way is a lot cheaper).

Fourth: send the Australian M.O. to them.

Fifth: give them your CC details for the FEDEX shipping charge.

thanks I'll remember that for any OZ dealer I do business with.

Currency exchange is a funny thing....

Because I was buying AU Dollars with Canadian Dollars, (the Canadian Dollar is higher), I got to save a bundle.

Now if I had to convert from Canadian to US, I'd be losing a bundle. But for Americans buying this way in Canada or Australia, it'll be a steal.

If you actually bring US Dollars to Canada or Australia, and have it converted at a bank (in Canada or Australia; to Canadian or Austalian Dollars), you will even get a better rate of exchange.

According to Allan Rejoso the MX500EN could be available directly from Japan as early as next week. Be interesting how the prices compare to Aussie resellers.

Really? That's good news, and yes, the price should be a lot cheaper---like maybe $500 US or even more (from the best Aussie price). Let's wait and see. Perhaps Tim will look into this PAL version from Japan for us. Personally, I'm again rethinking whether I should buy PAL again, instead of NTSC. I posted over at the NLE forum about Vegas Video, and it seems this great program also converts between PAL and NTSC (that's a good thing).

The price is terrible. Laox is going to sell the MX500EN for Yen190,000. It will be available within November.

Regards

OHh..., terrible, eh? Okay. Back to Australia, then. It seems like Japanese Domestics are the cheapest on the planet, and everything else made for export doubles or triples! (Triple in the US for some Pana USA models, like with the older AG-EZ1 and AG-EZ30.) At least with me, I don't buy things which are a rip. Best bang for the buck..., that's the way to go. Tim's MX5000 price ($1650 total), is still the best bang for the buck for North Americans. We just have to get used to the Japanese menus.

I wonder when Pana will get their BIG head screwed on straight. (I've given up on JVsee USA. That's been a lost cause for 3 years now, in my opinion.) Thank God that Canon actually improved their already great GL1 with their GL2. For the size of it, you can actually hold it: "Look Ma, one hand!" I can't say the same thing about the TRV950! (If you can't hold a hand-held, why call it a hand-held?)

MX 500 is now on the selves at Camera Action and other Melbourne stores (see other post)
Ticket price is a low $3795 which I expect could be haggled down to a street price of around $3400 (less overseas as there should be no GST component).
That's a good deal lower than the MX300 - the original RRP of the MX300 was $4600 although I did manage to do a great deal with Camera House for $3570 but I think that was a 'one off' error somehow.. :-)

BUT the MX500 is currently around $1000 less than the Sony TRV950 down under - I know which cam I would rather have evn if the prices were equal!

All prices Australian Dollars...