29min record limit on Cameras in the EU

Paul R Johnson · August 23rd, 2015, 02:29 AM

This has never been about the price. It's about marketing. Marketing specific to a country or region. In the countries where the duty doesn't apply, their sales don't perk up because of a measly 5% but it puts a choke on the dealers margins, so they don't push the products. Advertising concentrates on stills performance, and some dealers switch their emphasis to alternate products. I was selling video kit in the late 70s and despite people wanting to record off air programmes on their mega expensive camera systems, they didn't have that facility for the same reason we're talking now, 30 years later. Back then, the Germans could engage record, and we tried to import a few from there. The UK arm refused to supply parts for it. I bought a big format mixer from Germany ten years ago, and Yamaha did the same thing. Refused to have anything to do with it because it didn't fit their UK distribution policy. The duty is a smokescreen. For whatever reason, the manufacturers simply don't wish to promote them here, and use the duty as an excuse. I don't understand it. Many people would pay a hundred quid for a continuous record facility, but resort to risky hacking which the manufacturers know puts many people off. It's just marketing policies, nothing else.

August 23rd, 2015, 02:29 AM	#31
Paul R Johnson Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Lowestoft - UK Posts: 4,045	Re: 29min record limit on Cameras in the EU This has never been about the price. It's about marketing. Marketing specific to a country or region. In the countries where the duty doesn't apply, their sales don't perk up because of a measly 5% but it puts a choke on the dealers margins, so they don't push the products. Advertising concentrates on stills performance, and some dealers switch their emphasis to alternate products. I was selling video kit in the late 70s and despite people wanting to record off air programmes on their mega expensive camera systems, they didn't have that facility for the same reason we're talking now, 30 years later. Back then, the Germans could engage record, and we tried to import a few from there. The UK arm refused to supply parts for it. I bought a big format mixer from Germany ten years ago, and Yamaha did the same thing. Refused to have anything to do with it because it didn't fit their UK distribution policy. The duty is a smokescreen. For whatever reason, the manufacturers simply don't wish to promote them here, and use the duty as an excuse. I don't understand it. Many people would pay a hundred quid for a continuous record facility, but resort to risky hacking which the manufacturers know puts many people off. It's just marketing policies, nothing else.