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One of my best sources confirmed that Panasonic delayed the GH2 Europe introduction because of “late tech adjustments“. That’s why the GH2 will be in Stock 2-3 weeks later than expected (original release was planned by mid November, now early December). Those adjustments have to do with the European models only! I didn’t receive any further detail and I am still wondering what those adjustments could be…
I contacted Pixmania and Amazon and received an official answer from Pixmania. They confirmed that they will have the GH2 in Stock by early-mid December.
For our US readers:
Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto are expected to ship the first GH2 cameras next week. I contacted Amazon to ask why they removed the SIlver GH2 preorders but I got no answers.
GH2 preorders:
Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon UK
24 Responses
How great would it be if that late adjustment was the addition of 25p at 24mbit in addition to the 24p option!
Hopefully they implemented 25p for the cinema mode instead of the planned 24p. That’s my best guess what they are doing.
no 25p in Europe = disaster
It is the same info I obtained from my dealer here in Spain, sometime between the 3rd and the 15th of december. They are waiting a first shipment of around 60 cameras and the first one is mine. 🙂
You lucky guy! I had no chance to preorder mine 🙁
The “late tech adjustments“ may be to add the 30 minutes video recording limit to avoid the European camcorder taxes.
a couple of years ago or so, a new tax regulation came into effect in EU countries about treating digital camera that are capable of shooting video (more than 30min clip or so), treat these cams as video camera (read higher tax), so many mfr’s intentionally make the European versions of their cameras with a video clip limit just under limit (29.9 min) so that the price doesn’t get too expensive. The regulation is not new and the GH2 is not Panasonic’s first video camera but the European-specific tech adjustment could be something of this kind. Maybe there are new European taxes on touch-screen, battery power consumption or GPS. Or that the EXIF should be simultaneously included in all EU languages.
It must be the addition of 25p. That is the only thing that would be different between NTSC and PAL cameras that they don’t already have. Even the pre-production GH2 had the 30 minute time limit. It is a law and has Tax implications so there is no way Panasonic just overlooked the 30 minute limit.
Maybe this video had some affect?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgdfzCu6yEw&hd=1
I hope you are correct and PAL countries will get 25p.
Better still, Panasonic should implement the GH2 as a “world camera” including 24p, 25p, 50i & 60i regardless of where it is sold. But more likely that’s a feature they’ll reserve for the more expensive AF100.
I hope you folks in PAL-land get 25p at least! Cheers.
I think Panasonic will provide the “flicker reduction” feature to GH2 like GF2, as opposed to 25p recording.
I don’t care about 25p if it offers 50p instead.
I have just received my Panasonic 100-300mm lens :-). I pre-ordered it as soon as I saw the link to Amazon on this site on 25th October. The best part is that for about a day, the price was £365. What a bargain! Thanks for the heads up.
Congrats! Show us some pics 😉
I also ordered mine an the first day and got it for £365. It’s now listed at £549.98 (Amazon UK). As you say, what a bargain!. It’s out of the box now and the quality is very good – looks and feel lke the 140140 and the 45-200. Still to take a few pics but I’m well satisfied. It looks and feels great on the GH1. No problem with it being too heavy for the body. I’ve just ordered a UV filter to protect the front of the lens – it’s quite a chunk of glass.
Well there is good news and bad news. The good news is that my wife is buying it for me for Christmas. The bad news is that she won’t let me have it ’til then…
whats a nice lens 🙂
Must be 25p. I can’t think of any other “technical” adjustment that only affects European model.
The 30 min is not relevant here because it’s a known thing. There has been no change in regulation (and even if so, the changes are usually communicated to manufacturers long before they come to effect).
Tech Support for Panasonic UK say they are not aware of any delay, there won’t be 255p and the recording time will be limited to under 30 minutes. Bad news all round.
http://www.lumixlifestyle.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=1006&start=0#p6678
That’s too bad, but, good to hear it might not be delayed! I’ve got mine on order and can’t wait to get hold of it!
That thread was from last July – check the date. I really hope they enable 25p, I certainly won’t be buying without it.
nope, adam, you better check the date. july is when the dude joined the forum, but he posted that on nov.22nd. Unfortunately this seems to be a trusted source.
As for the 30 minutes time limt: I requested the European Parliament some months ago to equalize taxes for video and still cameras. Ofcourse this would take a lot of time, but at least the discussion is started and not ended yet.
Ready for the next step: request for duty suspension for hybrid cameras. There seems to be no manufacturing in Europe, so no reason for protection. Stop the 30 minutes recording limit for hybrid cameras!
There are too many idiots making stupid and detrimental decisions at the European Parlaiment and at Panasonic.