Rob,

I understand that price from Panasonic NZ will include 2x 8gig cards. That is not unreasonable considering the RRP out of the US of $9995 and our exchange rate sitting at .69

Certainly a better deal than what our PAL colleagues in the UK and Europe are looking at.

I'll be more than happy to rent you one of course!

Cheers, Scott.

Rental ? Yes - you probably will :-)

I think that price is quite reasonable. But I won't buy it. 8 )

finally I now ordered a XL2 PAL. Resolution is nearly as good as HVX or JVC100, looks very cine like, has great glass and saves lots of money to be better invested in some light, a small dolly, a small crane, ..
25- -> 24p for film out is easy, just slow down footage by 1 fps and give a 4% timeexpansion on audio.

There you go Panasonic, lost customer. Hopefully you'll get quite a few more like that and you'll have to reconsider ripping us PAL users off!

Just found out that Sony have announced a new HD XDCAM model, the F350. Still 1/2" ccd's, and still the same datarates as the F330, but the 350 records variable framerate from 4fps up to 60fps. I've also noticed that the list price has changed. The F330 is now listed as $16k while the 350 is $25k

Interesting.

Do these prices include lenses?

Apparently it does include the lens.

[QUOTE=Rob McCardle]

Ummm, I'm really trying to be polite - but if that price doesn't include P2 cards and is bare base camera only (which I can't establish atm) - there's no freak'n way I'm going to part with that sort of money for a handheld (hell, no way even with 2 8gb cards) ... in comparison the Z1 is going for around $7 k.

edit: oh - I forgot the cost of the deck for HDV so add another $4300 to the Sony.
$11300 cf $15,000.

QUOTE]
hmm.. well i woudlnt buy a deck for $4300.. (i didnt coz here in Aus, THAT HDV deck is $6200, i still use my Z1s) id rather get an A1 or HC1 and use that as a second or third camera...AND as a capture deck... at least that way the single chipper can also be used for acquisition and not just capture...

probably not...

Either way here in Aus, we should expect tha base unit for the HVX to be abot the 10/12k mark... maybe less if were lucky... but i really doubt it..
I was advised during SMPTE that were looking at upwards of 16k for the camera and 2 cards... teh P2 Store was going to go for soomethin like 3grand...
THis is all AU$$ of course...

now to me, 10k for the JVC is JUST on being reasonable.. the Z1, is a deadset bargain at 7k (at launch it was 9300...), and the FX1 even better at $4500.... the canon will prolly hit the 12k mark.. maybe less but i doubt that too.. unless someone has an actual price of it and would like to share...

Now heres the important bit...
Unlike most event production houses, these manufacturers are making as much $$ as they can during this transition... Good on them i say... no hear me out... how much work was invovled in bringing these tools to us i really dont want to imagine... But now we can do things we never thought we could possibly do...
Now if the market suppliers follow this trend and starts charging the customer appropriately for HD products, then the issue of cost really woudnt be an issue...

we all complain about cost, and rightly so.. but only to a point...
But in the end, these costs SHOULD be offset back to our clients..
ITS OUR OWN FAULT if we dont.. and its our fault if we allow a precedent to be set within the industry which retains DV production Prices.
This is whats hapening.. I am yet to see a house charging more for HD.... When in fact they should be...

Think about it, coz how manmy people are going to need to upgrade? How many new formats and delivery options must be purchased? What abotu training? And how about processing/encoding times?
Its all about the bottom line and if it doesnt hit, then theres no point in going on.. and mroe importantly if u DONT intend to charge for HD production and want to keep your prices at DV level, then you shouldnt complain about the price of the product....
Why do i say that? Well the opportunity to EXPAND your business is there by offering higher fidelity imagery at a price.

Do waht the big companies are doing.. cash in on it... while u can ..

I am jsut dreading to see the same thing happen with this DV to HD transition, as we saw during the transition between analogue and digital.. the opportunity to expand business was there.. but it was never taken..
However now were working harder, processing more and charging less..

The only pricing I found on these cameras are:

The XDCAM HD camcorder and deck products will be available in March 2006,
with manufacturer's suggested retail pricing as follows:

- XDCAM PDW-F350 camcorder: MSRP of $30,999;
- XDCAM PDW-F330 camcorder: MSRP of $19,999;
- XDCAM PDW-F70 deck: MSRP of $21,000;
- XDCAM PDW-F30 deck: MSRP of $12,500; and
- PFD-23 Professional Disc media: MSRP of about $40 per disc,
capacity of 23.3 GB (gigabytes).

Steve

Must have changed during the day or something? Where did you get those prices? Sonys site stated $16k for the 330 and $25k for the 350.

My bad...
I believe it might be Canadian prices:
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/a.../18/c3356.html

Actually it looks like the lens isn't included!

that woldnt surprise me steve.. so many ppl are so iffy about their glass that they wouldnt bother tryin to argue

as far as theyre concerned, each to their own..