FX1 Out of Stock at B & H (merged with Z1 thread)

[Jacob Mason]

Shane,
I'm afraid your friend was misinformed on the Apple issue.
Apple didn't relist the FX1 at the SRV of $2,999, they completely removed the camera, along with other Sony video cameras from their site and claimed they ran out of stock.
The camera still remains absent from the apple store page to this day.
And as for the FX1 reaching "end-of-life" cycle, I was informed a couple of months ago via Sony that the camera is no longer in production.
Perhaps I spoke with the wrong person, or maybe Sony changed their mind, but recent revelations would indicate that it has in fact ceased production and the reported limited quantities would only reinforce this claim.

[Douglas R. Bruce]

I took the quotation about the FX1 not selling well from this post.

"FX1 out of stock at B & H"... thread number 75 by Shane Coburn. He states that.........

I spoke with Ryan at EVS this morning (EVS is also out of stock), and he said that he didn't know anything about the FX1 being discontinued. He said the reason they don't list it on their site, and have stopped carrying it, is because it wasn't selling. He went on to say that they even had a couple of returns on the camera from people who didn't like it;


As he has spoken to a person in the sales dept. of a reseller in the USA - I thought that it was reasonable to quote from his statement.
Please direct any questions about the truth in this to "Ryan at EVS"......

Sorry I confused you all by not making it clearer from the start where I had found the information.

[Douglas R. Bruce]

ooops.... I was a bit slow in replying....seems like while I was waking up others have already replied as to the source of the "not selling well" rumour.

I know that both cameras are very active and selling well over here.
The Japanese police have installed a lot of the FX1 and Z1 cameras in their patrol cars. They like the clarity of the licence number plates on the footage. makes it easy to identify the cars.

[Douglas R. Bruce]

In the midst of all the rumours let me throw in a new approach to the question that covers most Japanese products.

In Japan most people speak Japanese. Their spoken English is very limited.

I quite often get information in broken English that I find hard to believe....when my Japanese wife puts the question to the person again and he/she answers in Japanese the facts come out different.

The information I get here is in Japanese and is interpreted by my wife - who is an English teacher.
I tend to believe this information, rather than information from a native english speaker who has been informed by a less than perfect english speaking Japanese.

This "language barrier" and all its possible misunderstandings is probably the root of many of the rumours that circulate concerning japanese products.

I also know that company representatives over here in Japan will avoid giving all the facts if they think it is bad for their company...... but they won't lie if you ask them a direct question.

An example I have from last year:
I had been invited by Sony (via my dealer) on a tour of their factory in Kumamoto and see the new Bravia production line.
I asked one of the staff, "So the Bravia TV is made completely here in Kumamoto?"
He said, "NO! We have many components from Samsung in the TVs. We have a very good co-operation with the Samsung Comapny in Korea"

The bottom line is when asking questions and getting answers and 2 or more languages are involved - be careful of conclusions.

[Tom Hardwick]

EVS had had a couple of returns of the FX1 because 'people didn't like it?' What sort of people are these? Do they order one not knowing anything about the camera other than the price and they like the pretty thumbnail picture they've seen? Are they surprised at its size? Did they think the FX1 was a television perhaps? Did they buy a Canon Optura while they waited for the postman?

Do stores have to refund on things like this - and what happens to the returns? Do hapless, genuine customers get a pre-fondled unit passed off as new?

tom.

[Shane Coburn]

Originally Posted by Tom Hardwick

EVS had had a couple of returns of the FX1 because 'people didn't like it?' What sort of people are these? Do they order one not knowing anything about the camera other than the price and they like the pretty thumbnail picture they've seen? Are they surprised at its size? Did they think the FX1 was a television perhaps? Did they buy a Canon Optura while they waited for the postman?

Do stores have to refund on things like this - and what happens to the returns? Do hapless, genuine customers get a pre-fondled unit passed off as new?

tom.

Your queries are precisely why I didn't buy his story. It just didn't make any sense. Just the same, I thought it even more curious that a sales person would actually go to such trouble to support a story like this.

When I asked him why the FX1 wasn't selling, he said that it was because it didn't generate timecode, did not have XLR inputs, and could not shoot in PAL. He said that "professionals" demanded a real camera with these options. Now, I'm not a full-time video professional, but I've been making money shooting things with a GL1 and VX2000 for a couple of years now, and neither of these cameras shoot PAL or have XLRs. Furthermore, one can always get an XLR attachment for the FX1. I can see the timecode argument, but I don't personally demand it in a camera, and I know there are plenty of other people that don't either.

Now before I go on, I'd just like to say that what follows is my opinion. Please don't reference me like I know what the hell I am talking about...
Based on what has been shared on this board, and the other outside information I have gathered, I would perceive that Sony is indeed inclined to discontinue the FX1 and try to distance it more from the Z1. If the majority of semi-professionals are quick to buy and recommend the FX1 over the Z1, and the Z1, being a professional camera, needs to stay in the line for three years or so, than Sony is certainly losing money in the professional HD category -- and will continue to do so. If their "pro" customers aren't buying their pro camera, and are instead opting for a model priced $1500 less, than they need to do some reshuffling. In this way, I don't expect to see an improved version ala FX2, but rather, a) a camera with less features and a lower price-point, or b) nothing between the A1 and Z1.

[Shane Coburn]

Originally Posted by Jacob Mason

Shane,
I'm afraid your friend was misinformed on the Apple issue.
Apple didn't relist the FX1 at the SRV of $2,999, they completely removed the camera, along with other Sony video cameras from their site and claimed they ran out of stock.
The camera still remains absent from the apple store page to this day.

Yes, I saw that the camera is no longer available on the Apple site. I wonder if he was confused about something...maybe another web store.

Originally Posted by Jacob Mason

And as for the FX1 reaching "end-of-life" cycle, I was informed a couple of months ago via Sony that the camera is no longer in production.
Perhaps I spoke with the wrong person, or maybe Sony changed their mind, but recent revelations would indicate that it has in fact ceased production and the reported limited quantities would only reinforce this claim.

Seems that we all have a friend at Sony...haha. Care to elaborate on the details of the conversation with your contact?

[Bob Zimmerman]

What would be wrong if Sony updates the FX1? I hope they do.

I hope to get a new camera this summer and I'd like to see some updates on what we can probably call the first wave of HDV cameras. Z1, FX1, whatever that JVC was, HVX, etc. The are all good, but I'm sure you can all say, I wish it had this or it did this or didn't do that.

Someone even posted on another board that Panasonic is coming out with a 16:9 DVX non HD. Lot's of talk but something will come out sooner or later.

If a camera is not selling they will improve it, repackage it.

[Jacob Mason]

Originally Posted by Shane Coburn

Care to elaborate on the details of the conversation with your contact?

It wasn't really a detailed conversation, it was a simple question concerning the production of the FX1, to which they simply responded saying it was no longer in production. My reasons for asking the questions weren't a part of an inquiry to uncover a successor, rather to ascertain more information wrt the Apple incident.

Originally Posted by Bob Zimmerman

What would be wrong if Sony updates the FX1? I hope they do. ... If a camera is not selling they will improve it, repackage it.

Nothing would be wrong with updating the FX1, in fact it would be widely welcomed.
However, if we follow the rationale you've outlined in your last sentence wrt to a poor selling item and the necessity to improve it and repackage it, then we might as well conclude that if a product is selling well, they'd cripple it, repackage it, and/or probably remove it from the roster entirely. Not too bold of a claim considering it's what they did with the HC1 to the HC3 and appear to be doing with the FX1.
Also, when observing Sony's behavior in the digital camera market, they've reportedly made no plans to provide a successor to the prosumer R1 and instead focus on the DSLR segment which they recently acquired via the Minolta fold and subsequent release of the Alpha100 and a plethora of rebadged lenses.

[Boyd Ostroff]

Guys, this thread has strayed pretty far from reality and is filled with speculation, wishful thinking and conflicting third party accounts from dealers and "friends at Sony."

This is all fine, but it really belongs in our "area 51" forum, so that's where you'll now find it :-)

There was also a lot of overlap between the "FX1 out of stock" and "Buy Z1 now?" threads, with people posting the same responses to both. Therefore I've merged everything together here so the discussion will be easier to follow.

[Shane Coburn]

Originally Posted by Boyd Ostroff

Guys, this thread has strayed pretty far from reality and is filled with speculation, wishful thinking and conflicting third party accounts from dealers and "friends at Sony."

This is all fine, but it really belongs in our "area 51" forum, so that's where you'll now find it :-)

There was also a lot of overlap between the "FX1 out of stock" and "Buy Z1 now?" threads, with people posting the same responses to both. Therefore I've merged everything together here so the discussion will be easier to follow.

Good idea, Boyd. I apologize for being part of the problem there...

[Bob Zimmerman]

I got this e-mail on June 19th:
Thank you for your inquiry for this item:
Sony - SOHDRFX1K - HDR-FX1 HDV Camcorder with Canopus Edius Package

We would like to inform you that this item is now available from bhphotovideo.com.

But it is already out of stock again.

[Shane Coburn]

Originally Posted by Bob Zimmerman

I got this e-mail on June 19th:
Thank you for your inquiry for this item:
Sony - SOHDRFX1K - HDR-FX1 HDV Camcorder with Canopus Edius Package

We would like to inform you that this item is now available from bhphotovideo.com.

But it is already out of stock again.

I purchased it. I went on their site yesterday morning and saw that the FX1 was in stock again, so I called and ordered right away. I was haggling with the guy about the price ($3200), and he said that this was the last one they had in stock. I thought he was just using that as a negotiation tactic, but I guess he was telling the truth. If all went as discussed, I was shipped this camera yesterday and should receive it early-mid next week.

[Bob Zimmerman]

Originally Posted by Shane Coburn

I purchased it. I went on their site yesterday morning and saw that the FX1 was in stock again, so I called and ordered right away. I was haggling with the guy about the price ($3200), and he said that this was the last one they had in stock. I thought he was just using that as a negotiation tactic, but I guess he was telling the truth. If all went as discussed, I was shipped this camera yesterday and should receive it early-mid next week.

Just the FX1? I didn't want the package. But I noticed they were both out of stock.

[Shane Coburn]

Originally Posted by Bob Zimmerman

Just the FX1? I didn't want the package. But I noticed they were both out of stock.

Yeah, just the FX1. I would think that the FX1 and the FX1 Package inventory are one and the same -- pulling for the latter when they have someone who wants to add accessories. I added some accessories, but not from the package. I got an extra battery, carrying case, and .6x Century lens.