Adam, this post:
Japanese announcement of Panasonic GH1 and lenses - 1001 Noisy Cameras
seems to imply that they're already producing 5000 GH1 kits per month, and it links to a Panasonic Japan press release that specifies April 24th as the release date.

Nice find! I just try to be a little pessimistic so I can be pleasantly surprised.

So that means that with the next iteration of the Digital Rebel, Canon will add 1080p at 25fps, making the PAL crowd happy. The following version will have 1080p at 30fps, and then the version after that will be 1080p at 35fps, and once again, no one will be happy.

I still have my eyes set on this. I grew impatient for a small camcorder, so I purchased the Canon HF S100 for now. I wanted something super small, something I can hand off to other people to shoot, easier to focus with greater depth of field (I know, ya never hear of that being a preference), better low light with built-in faster f-stop (1.8), and I believe the rolling shutter is better than the GH1.

So I started to feel like the GH1 will be my new "precious", photography/cinema rig base that I am intimate and serious with. While the Canon HF S100 is more carefree/party/low-light/user-friendly vibe.

I may find myself with a bunch of cameras here - HVX200 (with RedRock M2), Canon HF S100, Sony DSC-R1, Panasonic GH1, and a bunch of Nikon glass - can one have too many cameras?

-steev

Don't you just keep'em with your Ultimate 35mm Adapter? ;-)

Heh heh, yeah. You're right - nothing quite compares to my beloved elephant trunk adapter. I'll probably find myself rigging 89 random optical thingies to this new mini camcorder as well cuz I just can't help myself!!! I even threw in several wide adapters in on the order. Woo hoo!!

-steev

Australian press release including pricing info:
http://www.dimagemaker.com/2009/04/2...ull-hd-movies/