BMPCC promotion must be working

[Jim Andrada]

I ordered one yesterday and B&H is quoting 4 to 6 week delivery. I already have a 12.5mm C-mount lens and 4/3 adapter that should work on it.

[Craig Chartier]

I'm wondering if they will honor the pricing or cancel your order after the end of next month? special was only good until end of August, and I read a listing from the USA importer, that someone sent to me, that the stock levels reserved for the special have already been distributed. However, the deal went so well that they may extend or at least fulfill paid orders I guess.

[Garrett Low]

I ordered mine on Monday and it said 2 to 4 week then. I was a few hours late of ordering it the Friday before when it was still in stock. I sure hope they honor the price since I also ordered a Metabones adapter and IndiPRO Tools Power Grid adapter which were delivered today. Looking to get the Tamron 11-16 f2.8 to use with it. I was on a project that was using a BMPCC with Canon Glass. Nice combination.

[Jim Andrada]

I actually have two on order and I'm a little unsure whether they'll actually materialize or not. On the other hand, B&H must have a lot of orders by now and they know if they don't deliver at the special price most of the orders will evaporate.They certainly don't want that to happen so I would expect they and other high volume outfits will put pressure on BM to honor the price for a while yet.

[Craig Chartier]

I would guess that B&H and all the others are ok with Black Magic "running out " of half off cameras.
Why would they want the deal to keep going on? they make 50% less for the same amount of manpower spent selling the camera.

Black Magic pulled the deal, not the resellers, It seemed like a nice marketing tool that was successful according to whomever is responsible for launching the campaign. Mainly a headache for all those resellers still getting calls asking," when are you getting more of those half off cameras in stock?"

[Jim Andrada]

I think they'd all be OK with BM running out of half-off cameras IF all the orders for the half-off cameras turned into orders for regular price cameras.

When in fact I suspect almost all of them will turn into canceled orders and a lot of people will be mad at B&H/BM, etc so I think they have more to lose if the cameras run out than otherwise.

To say nothing of all the returns of stuff that people who expected to get a camera ordered (and got) to go with the camera they aren't going to get. Such as memory cards, rigs, m 4/3 adapters, etc etc.

And since it might be six or more weeks before folks know if they'll get the camera or not, some of the accessories will technically be beyond the 30 day return period. Big customer relations fail!

I think it's more likely that they would announce an early end to the promotion based on supply running low and not accept orders for half-off cameras they know they can't deliver.

At least I hope so!!!! And I'm not ordering any accessories until I see something that says "shipped".

By the way, rather than speculate about it I asked B&H to clarify whether or not I can expect to get the cameras I ordered.

I'll post their response when I get it.

[Jim Andrada]

Good news from the horse's mouth.

B&H said they will honor the sale price. So it seems you can order with confidence as long as you place it while they show the sale price.

_________________Forwarded e-mail from B&H________________________

Hello James Andrada, my name is Gabe M:

Thank you for contacting the Customer Service Department at B&H Photo Video and Pro Audio.

You are correct in that currently we cannot really offer you an estimated time of arrival, due to the overwhelming demand for this model. However, we will definitely honor the current price on it, once it'll be available. In light of that, we could add accessories to your order, if you wish to do that.

Please let us know if you require any further assistance.

Thank you, we appreciate your business.


Gabe M
B&H Photo Video and Pro Audio
The Professional's Source.
E-Mail Customer Service Department

[Mattias Burling]

I guess its different in different countrys but over here its easy, The camera is still listed half of. If I order one then thats the price I will pay. If BM cant deliver more cheap cameras then the store have to take the money out of their own pocket or its false advertising.

[Jim Andrada]

Hi Mattias

I think in the US it's very similar but I think there's always the possibility to have the order canceled if (for example) there is no more supply of the product so it becomes impossible for the store to deliver it to you. In which case they would have to refund any deposit etc.

On the web site they clearly said that there were a limited number of cameras available at the sale price. I think if they reach a point where they have no more available at the price then they would change the price on the site and not accept any more orders at the sale price. Basically that is what i wanted to confirm.

More importantly, though, B&H is a MAJOR seller of BM products and if BM were to not provide them with cameras they would be creating a major problem with what may possibly be their biggest single sales channel, and it would be very stupid of BM to do this.

[Mattias Burling]

I think you are right.

[Ben Denham]

The response I got from my local camera seller was that Blackmagic (not the retailers themselves) has committed to filling all orders that have been placed for the discounted camera.

Whether or not Blackmagic is making much money on these sales I think this is still a really smart business move. Blackmagic want people to buy into the super 16 format and invest in lenses, speedboosters and other super 16 specific gear. The more people they get to buy to all that stuff they larger the potential sales for future super 16 pocket cameras.

[Jim Andrada]

Not surprising - it's sort of what I expected. BM and the retailers are in it together.

I suspect nobody is losing money at the new price.

[Craig Seeman]

Related to what Ben said, the wider the user base, the more likely third party developers will create hardware tools specific to the BMPCC. This can lead to greater variety and lower cost peripherals which, in turn, can increase camera sales.

[Phil Goetz]

It sure was fun though. The US distributor received 9800 orders in two hours and then had 20 cameras TOTAL to send to resellers. We got a handful. It was fun talking to clients and managing expectations. I think this camera is GREAT for introducing a new generation to Micro Four Thirds. In 2010 the Panasonic AG-AF100 introduced me to to Micro Four Thirds and all the adapters possible under the sun and now folks are doing that writ large with the BMPCC. Bravo.

[Jim Andrada]

Ah yes, the management of expectations. Been there, done that. In some ways a good problem to have, but some people's expectations are harder to manage than others.