HDX900 delivery?

[Lee Dashiell]

I wish there was an end to “I heard this or that” and have someone from Panasonic address this issue. I’ve heard more third party conversations about delivery than I care to remember.

PANASONIC!!!! YOU OUT THERE????

How about a rep from PANASONIC respond.

DP/CamMate Crane owner/Operator

[Jeff Merritt]

All,

Regular members of this site know that I am here very often trying to help clear up questions about our products, particualrly the VariCam and the new products like the AJ-HDX900 and the AJ-HD1400. However the furor over the delivery of the AJ-HDX900 commands me to address this apparent issue.

First, I personally spent hour after hour in the Panasonic NAB booth talking to many of you about the introduction and delivery date for the HDX900. I said over and over that delivery would be the end of July and into August this year. Our press release for this product said the same. In fact Panasonic delivered the first deliveries the second week of August and more deliveries this past week and even this week. Additionally I was on this site a little more than a week ago describing how we were bringing this popular camera to market and the delivery schedule of twice this month.

For obvious competitive reasons we can not divulge the number of units we have or can deliver, but I can honestly tell you that the response to the AJ-HDX900 has been more than overwhelming. I remember one of our competitors years ago that introduced a new camcorder that didn’t make the grade as far as deliveries go which indicates that manufacturers can not always guage the market as to popularity.

Panasonic is doing everything possible to fullfil the huge back order situation on the HDX900. On a daily basis, I see the orders coming in and I am in constant contact with our factory to encourage them to manufacture and deliver the numbers of HDX900s required for the market. It may be interesting to know that the BBC has decided that DVCPRO HD is their format of of choice and most recently that NHK in Japan has adopted the AJ-HDX900 as their primary acquisition format in HD, neither having an effect on deliveries in the U.S.

I totally understand after more than 30 years in this business that you have a business to run and projects to do. And we are working hard to help you succeed. Dialogue on this site is extremely important and I always look forward to reading your opinions.

Thanks for understanding,

Jeff Merritt
Product Line Business Manager
High Definition Products
Panasonic Broadcast
323-436-3676

[Tony]

Jeff,

Thank you for the detailed response.

I think anyone with long term experience in this business already knows that any delivery estimates any manufacturer (Sony, Panasonic, Grass Valley, Fisher Price etc) states about a new product are at best cases scenarios initially and a buyer needs to add one to two months for a more realistic delivery time frame.

But in the meantime can you answer more pressing technical questions like if the HDX-900 has VMod as part of its setup menus?

Thank you ,

Tony Salgado

[John Sharaf]

If that’s the case I’m sure you can rent a varicam to carry you over!

JS

[Bchsiao]

Hi Taylor,

I see you were on Ron Ayers’ top list.

“Todays find…”Line Mix”…6db of gain with no noise or image lag. Not really sure how this works or what the trade off is but I am sure it will come in handy.”

Have you tried and is that the same as D.S.Gain (only in 1080i mode though)?

Bruce Hsiao

[Lee Dashiell]

Jeff,
Thanks for your response. Renting a camera, rather than using the camera you ordered is never much fun, so you can certainly see my interest in delivery.

DP/CamMate Crane owner/Operator

[Peter Corbett]

What sort of dollars are you guys paying for a 900 and VF in the States? Is there any discounting on the MRP?

Peter Corbett
Powerhouse Productions
Australia
http://www.php.com.au

[Llbr22]

We too have not gotten our pre-ordered cameras yet either. But .. and not to spam.. but it seems there’s lots of interest to see the camera (and how many of you actually live in Nor-Cal)

We are demo’ing it tomorrow in our offices in San Rafael, CA if anyone is interested… it’s open-house

Wednesday, September 7, 2006
Demo will begin at 1:00pm and end at 2:30pm at:

101 Glacier Point Rd., Suite A
San Rafael, CA 94901
https://www.snader.com/contact/sanrafael/index.html

Lloyd