[shoplink 29935 ebay]
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The camera that I suspect uses the same E-M5 sensor (LOL) just got a super price drop. It’s now sold for $599 by [shoplink 29935 ebay]Adorama on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. That’s $100 less than you can find it on Amazon (Click here).
If you were wondering how good the camera sells in Japan just look at the graph posted by Kakaku (Click here). The camera easily beats the direct competition like the [shoplink 26379 ebay]Sony NEX-5n[/shoplink] or [shoplink 23568]Olympus E-P3[/shoplink].
And Nauticam (Click here) just announced the new housing for the GX1.
More USA deals:
E-PL2 with kit lens for $399 at Amazon (Click here).
E-PL1 with kit lens for $289 at Amazon (Click here).
E-P2 body for $249 at Amazon (Click here).
30 Responses
What’s purpose of lens release button for a UW-case like this? Resetting focus point?
A release button is sort of optional. It would let you change the lens at the same time if you changed the port without taking the camera out of the housing. It’s a mechanical operation so I don’t think it could have a 2nd function.
In all honesty I think it might prove to be a slight liability as you could idly fiddle with it during a dive and then risk having an unseated lens for the rest of it 🙂
Rob
I’ve never used a UW-case, so i don’t actually know how they look like. But, changing a lens under water it wouldn’t be much of a sealed case right? and, either way you will have to open the case in order to get to the lens. Or is the lens barrel for UW-case removeable?
The reason why I said resetting focus point is (at least for Panasonic cameras) when you press the lens release button without turning the lens, the camera will reset the focus to infinity. A great tips for starshooting, since there are no focus scale on regular panasonic lenses.
Interesting! Never tried it from that angle… seems to do the same kind of reset on my E-PL3. Is it accurately set to infinity or just the ‘far’ end of focus travel which is normally beyond infinity?
Changing lenses underwater is not an option for these cameras… unless you want to buy a new one 🙂
Rob
Yes exactly my thought, that’s why I don’t see the point of having that button.
Hm, never done any further mesurements with the exact focus distans actually.
?
Probably to change your lens underwater.
In France, in ImagesSHOP, it’s available for 500E body only 😉
It will be mine 😀 soon…soon….
Why is it so much more expensive in Europe? VAT?
VAT, yes but not only.
VAT, for the time being, is 19.6%, and will be about 21% in few months (I mean in France).
But we always faced some weird US Dollars to Euros conversion.
For every device, the cost in US$ is the one in Euros, 600$ become 600E.
With a change rate of 1.36$ for 1 Euros, it makes a huge price difference…
So I’m quite happy to see the GX1 at only 500E and not 599E or even more 😉
I will buy something like this when a version with an integrated EVF (not the G3 and such) is available. Too pricey for what it is.:(
Nice camera. Too bad the video capability is crap. Panasonic seems to have decided to reserve great video performance for the GH series.
Wow, that was quick.
Not surprised at all. This is why I was quite shocked when one Panasonic guy was claiming that this was a “special camera” and was priced right, when it debuted. I would expect the price to drop much further, very soon.
It still is very expensive for what it has. The optional EVF is not cheap either.
Panasonic should make a GXR with an integrated EVF and at least a tilt LCD.
I hope they keep the swivel LCD on the GH-3 and not make it tilt..
I actually love my GX1. I bought one as soon as I could get my hands on one..( I was able to buy a LVF2 3 weeks before and had to wait to get the camera). I only shoot stills and at the time (last December), of the camera release I thought the price was justified as it was compact, all metal body and offered a lot of up-to-date features. Pany got a lot right with that camera and I really like the form factor. The MFT Camera landscape has changed considerably. With the release of the OM for $900, that is the same price as the GX1 with LVF2 until today. ..The Olympus is definitely designed for still photographers and with all of those great features the Pany is going to have to go down in price.
I debated about buying the OM which is an incredible camera …but I have decided to hold on to my GX1 and G3 as this image quality is the same…and wait to see the new Pany releases and the Canon mirrorless slated to be announced at the end of the summer…that should be interesting.
I think it’s a justifiable price too.
But the local subsidiary keep insisting on selling it only with kit lens which is too troublesome to re-sell and raised the price beyond acceptable.
boomer
I had my GX1 for a week now and thinking about returning it. Utterly dissapointed (had many cameras before).
For first, it underexposes most of the time so you need to fiddle with EC most of the time. Worse is, sometimes (sunny day outside like yesterday) it overexposes and matrix evaluation isn’t working as it should.
The biggest problem for me though (apart from unusable screen) is the metering of white balance. No matter how hard I played with it, it couldn’t hit skin tones right indoors (incadescent lighting WB is well off) with considerable magenta cast – which is present most of the time.
But outside I usually need to go +3yellow +1 green, inside +7B +3 magenta despite ppl saying it has ‘blue’ tone as G3. I don’t know if I had the wrong model, but the white balance _never_ got it right. As I said, I had many cameras, Canon for example nailes indoors just by switching to ‘tungsten WB’ while other cameras I used never had magenta-skinned ppl. (I never tried ‘orange ppl NEX’ cameras so I can’t compare).
Now I am about to return the camera, so would like your oppinion for this. Playing with WB and exposure is UNACCEPTABLE, I am used to do it in RAW a little, just to adjust it – but when EVERY picture is wrongly taken by bad camera mettering – it simply pisses you off.
I bought GX1 instead of E-P3 because of indoors/gigs/bar shooting, that for is a (usable) ISO3600 when the 1. white balance is ALLWAYS way off 2. you can _never_ get skin tones right unless all the other colors looks green/blue…
might be the ‘bad’ 14-42 X-lens I’ve been using, but I used other lenses on other cameras, and they introduced a little cast (like blue on E-P3) such insignificant it simply doesn’t matter. Hera I needed to go +8 in blue channel and -3 in magenta to correct camera mettering in one situtation, different in each other!
“unusable screen”.
I have the LVF2. I cannot use a camera without a viewfinder. I find “ALL” cameras to be useless in bright sunlight without a view finder. …and I do mean useless.
that is not true at all – my older canon G10 is perfectly usable in even the brightest sunlight…but GX1 has dimm screen with horrible viewing angles even in dark rooms.
If I need a viewfinder, there’s either optical one on trusty 5dmkII or GH2 my video gig goer.
you have to understand the gx1 falls into ‘pocketable’ category, I did take it with 14-42x lens out yesterday because I was on holiday – I didn’t go to work shooting, I went to have some rest by the sea & shooting few interesting things…
maybe you haven’t used compact camera in the past, I did, and have done zillion of photos simply NOT POSSIBLE if I would need to bend and look via viewinder, no matter how adjustable
That EPL2 is a $200 price drop. I’d been surprised that Olympus had been holding pretty firm on the pricing for it for so long. Maybe they’ve finally almost run out of EPL1 models. Admin, I heard there’s going to be a cheaper OMD model before years end.
+7B -3Magenta – correction
don’t get me wrong, an excellent camera in many parts but I am used to camera nailing the exposure right (Canon user) 90% of the time – when I want to fiddle with it I am using DSLRs not ‘powershots’ like cameras – which needs to work out of the box.
I love Canon but I’m not fanboy, I returned G1X as well as I laughed (compared to my previous 43 cameras) from it – is still a compact dressed seriously. Shoots slowly, focuses slowly if at all at night, has terribly slow lens (5.0 most of the time, 5.6 too quick) and auto-ISO is limited to 1600 and not really working well with optical stabilization (you get blurry pictures in well lit undeground at night).
But on the other hand, I HAD NEVER problem with white balance (unless in video mode) or exposure – everything a spot on – like I was used to. Indoors? EXCELLENT with a little expected correction. Display? OUT OF THIS WORLD for framing….
so I gave GX1 a try, worst display in universe and 99% pictures aren’t reflecting a world – dissapointed, so here ends my rant
still looking for P&S all-time carry camera where I don’t need to spend my youth in LR to correct every picture…
Take a look at the Amazon sales on the right. Nex 5n is the #1. Now look at the graph in the article. Nex 5n is a dead seller. Nikon 1 series shows well in Japan but has no foot in the door in the US.
Maybe the US market is confused with to many ‘experts’. You know the ones that gaze at charts all day and know more than you as you only take pictures to look at.
Do you actually take pictures, there Jimbo, or do you just posture yourself around on the internet, calling people names and trying to sound like you take pictures and know something. There are a lot of posers on the Internet. You a poser there Jimbo? Huh?
im a little confused why, or what, you posted here? i think m43 people like the balance of the size, performance, and lens selection more than the nex and 1-series. what system is selling better has nothing to do with that.
frankly the nex size (body to lens ratio) and nikon 1 lens lineup puzzles me.
If you read the comment and then refer to the link about the GX1 in the Japanese market you will see what I am on about, but you have to go to the link. The sales are totally different to the US market. I made no comment on any of the cameras just on observation of the sales difference.
Again go back to the link at Kakaku as posted by admin.
GX1 is currently the highest sales volume of any mirrorless model ranked #6 among DSLRs and ahead of NEX7, Nikon IJ, NEX5, and EPL2 in Japan. The lower GX1 sales in US maybe be from supply but even then one GX1 model is ranked #9 on Amazon in the US.
The $100 reduction is what would be normally be expected in competition with the EM-5.
Price drop for Canada coming too?
Can we expect a similar drop in the Pen line now that the OMD is arriving shortly?
Looks like I may get a GX1 end of summer!
“easily beats the direct competition like the Sony NEX-5n”
In what way?