HPX-170 - New Unit ?
 

I received my HPX-170 today, having purchased it from a major dealer in Panasonic Broadcast equipment (who shall remain nameless for the moment), but have questions as to whether or not I should return it. Advice would be appreciated. Although packaged well, it did not appear to be factory packaged. The component out cable and the power cable for the charger were both not in plastic sleeves, and the Panasonic battery was in plastic but was not sealed. What actually drew my initial attention was that the main lens coating had at least three 2 mm ragged imperfections, suggestive of overly vigorous wiping of a lens surface. I've had my HVX-200 for more than two years and the lens surface looks better on that unit than on this one. Another concern is that the tripod mount on the base is scored like it has been mounted firmly at some time. The "Operation" counter on the OTHER FUNCTIONS screen of the Menu shows zero hours, but this dealer is also a major service center for Panasonic, and I suspect that they could reset it if they chose to do so. The serial number matches the shipping box, and ends in 0621 if that is helpful to anyone. My guess is that the coating imperfections would probably not significantly affect the camera's operation, but I am still a bit uncomfortable with this. What say you all ?

Send it back, Mark. I don't have a 170 but what you are describing sounds like it's been out of the box. The fact that you're posting about it means your not completely satisfied. For $5k you need complete satisfaction!

I would exchange it or return it and buy elsewhere.

Dan

Just for follow-up, I expressed my concerns to the dealer and they responded very positively. They explained that the unit was not factory-sealed because they had performed a Panasonic-authorized repair due to the lens wobble issue (see under HPX-170 in this subject). They said that they had been informing all customers of this, but they missed telling me. Regarding the lens coating flaws, they offered to accept the return and send out a new factory-sealed unit without additional cost. I was pleased with their response and will be getting another unit. Thanks for the advice.