Sergey Borachev wrote:
jagge wrote:
Allready now the GH3 price is dropping. In europe now only 100 eur more expensive than OMD. Is it just me or is the OMD looking more and more expensive ??
Off course the Oly is great BUT it ceartainly is also quite a bit older than the GH3.
Jakob
Pricing is a complex matter and involves supply and demand, marketing and publicity, company's finance, and many others things. The E-M5 is older but it must be selling better and more appealing to buyers if is still has roughly its release price. I think the GH3, while just as good in stills and much better in video and in a couple other features such as ergonomics, set its target market too high. Its price is significantly higher than so many DSLRs, which must be a big problem for people who apparently still regard DSLRs as better cameras, though bigger. And yet, the GH3 is just slightly smaller.
It's a worry if Panasonic has to drop the price of the GH3 so soon after the cameras actually are available for sale on the store shelves. I suspect demand is not good. I think Panasonic miscalculated a bit, when it put so much advanced video features in it and therefore has to set its price significantly higher than the E-M5 at launch. The E-M5 has been all the rage and what the majority of camera buyers at this level want, i.e. these photographers are not that demanding when it comes to video to want to pay more for extra video quality, but they all pixel peep at photos it seems. Not many people want to make high quality movies. In terms of still quality, the GH3 is at most the equal of the E-M5 but costs more, and to most buyers, that is all they can see when making decisions about.
I think if Panasonic gives the G6 the same or better sensor, then it would be fine. Otherwise, it would be a disaster. If it does, then there is something to satisfy people who want a lower price camera with top still photo quality and not having to pay top price for fancy video. At this time, Panasonic seems to be saying, You want the best image quality? You pay the highest price. All or nothing; take it or leave it. And many left, as the G5 has an uncompetitive sensor and quality, while the GX1 has even worse. That plays into the hand of Olympus, which gives all its cameras the same high IQ as the top E-M5. Unfortunately, the GF6 seems to also have GX1's IQ, though slightly improved using software. Panasonic cannot afford to continue to make such strategic mistakes. It should go all out and compete, not just on features, but also on what people most care about - IQ.
