Store representatives who have no idea...AT ALL!
 

Hello fellow DV-ers. I have this little story i'd like to share with you :)

Not very long ago I visited a certain pro-av shop in Holland while I was looking for a replacement for my Sony FX1. Since I'm not being (and not want to be) the avarage un-knowing consumer, I usually do some research before I shop (and potentially buy)

Anyway, I get to talk with this Panasonic representative. He tells me why Panasonic camcorders are so great (as to be expected) and why the P2 system is so much better (than tape) Being used to capture my 1 hour tapes as one big file I then ask him how the P2 cards would handle this because of the 4gb file limit of FAT32

Now the 'funny' thing starts: This guy just tells me there is no filesize limit on FAT32 and that the 4gb limit is something from the days of windows 95 and FAT16... I have to actually make him record 15 minutes and see for himself after which he responds "That's weird indeed..." "So, how do I record 50 minutes non-stop", I ask him? He promises to "look into this specific issue"

At this point I want to know how deep this rabbit hole goes. I mean, were talking about a specialized professional AV retailer with a dedicated Panasonic representative walking around. The shop is even a Sony Certified dealer too!

Anyway, I tell this guy: What about that Sony EX camcorder? I heard that one is pretty good too! He responds by saying the colours are better on the Panasonic. Period. Really, no further explanation! He doesn't even mention the AVC Intra 10 bit v/s the Long GOP Mpeg2 of the EX and probably didn't even think about the rolling shutter fenomenon on CMOS sensors. After a few moments he does enlightingly add: "The Sony might look better, but in the end it's really the Panasonic that has just a better image".

Next thing what happens is his boss (or collegue, didn't remember...) stepping into the conversation. I pass him the quote from the first guy who said Panasonic had better image quality. He explains like this: "The Panasonic records in full images and the the Sony EX series does not". I say to him "Aha, you mean the Panasonic uses frames and the Sony EX records only half the fields" (I tend to make this sound like I don't understand it fully yet, giving him one more chance to correct himself) Unfortunately he agrees to my conclusion.

Has anyone else fallen victim to such iodicy? For some reason I tend agree more and more that spending 25 minutes on a forum like this gives you 10 times more information that is at least 10 times more accurate. That would be a 100% win eh? Not to mention the online prices for such camera's were are about 17% lower! That's almost like having it VAT free!

Happens all the time.. all over the world. If you want a real laugh, try going into a luxury automotive dealer. My experience with my first Range Rover was so poor, I never went back. Oddly, my Porsche dealer prides itself on having very knowledgeable staff. Even sending the long term guys over to Stuttgart, and to driving events all over the US to become familiar with the newest models.

I actually ran into a fine gentleman a month or two ago at a large electronics retailer. He shocked me he was so knowledgeable about the cameras, and they actually had the 5D and 7D in stock. And he knew what they would do.

So sometimes you get great surprises, but most often, it's just what you experienced.