Panasonic GX8 (English, NTSC) in Japan

Is anyone here in Japan (Tokyo) right now? (or lives there)

May I know if there is a store that sells a Panasonic GX8 (NTSC) with English menu? It is ok if the price is a bit higher. I just need it to be english.

If possible and if it isn't asking to much, kindly paste the price in case you know it.

Thank you very much.

jomsjoms said:

Is anyone here in Japan (Tokyo) right now? (or lives there)

May I know if there is a store that sells a Panasonic GX8 (NTSC) with English menu? It is ok if the price is a bit higher. I just need it to be english.

If possible and if it isn't asking to much, kindly paste the price in case you know it.

Thank you very much.

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You might see if there's an international section at Yodobashi's main store in Shinjuku. They typically handle duty-free purchases for foreigners. Maybe they'll have access to international versions of cameras.

As Jacques said, Yodobashi Camera is a good place to start.

They accept e-mails in English. You can try writing to them.


Julie

Thanks I will email them. Hopefully they have it.

They emailed me back and told me to call the specific store directly.... Bummer. Long distance calls cost a lot.

Anyone here in Japan? Tokyo

jomsjoms said:

They emailed me back and told me to call the specific store directly.... Bummer. Long distance calls cost a lot.

Anyone here in Japan? Tokyo

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If you're there, then go to Shinjuku station. Nowhere else in Tokyo has a higher chance of having it, and it's easy to get there on the subway.

jomsjoms said:

They emailed me back and told me to call the specific store directly.... Bummer. Long distance calls cost a lot.

Anyone here in Japan? Tokyo

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I called Yodobashi in Shinjuku, and it turns out that the GX8s sold in Japan are Japanese-language ONLY (though it seems you can get an English-language GM).

They suggested that you could download an English-language manual for the GX8, although they were aware that it was not a great solution.

Sorry. :-(

Julie

After I made my last post, I went to an appointment in Sapporo. I always stop at the Yodobashi Camera there to fondle cameras, so I asked the clerk about the GX8, and they DID have what's called an "Overseas Model" in stock. It can be operated in 12 different languages (including English, of course), and it does NTSC/PAS output.

As you guessed, it is more expensive than the domestic-use models, AND they only sell a twin-zoom kit (14-42 and 45-150), with no option to buy it body-only. If you present your passport, you can get the kit duty-free for 198,000 yen. Ouch.

If you buy it with a VISA card, you can get 5% off that price.

The clerk at the Sapporo branch said that they must have made a mistake when I called the main store in Shinjuku/Tokyo. Sapporo is a much smaller city, so if they have the camera, they must have it in Tokyo.

I picked up a brochure, so if you need any more information, let me know.

Julie

Hi Julie,

Thank you very very much for your help! What you did is a very big help to me. At least now I know that the GX8 English is available in Japan although at a very expensive price.

If perhaps you get a chance again to drop by at Yodobashi or any camera shop, maybe I ask for another favor? Can you inquire if there is any way that I could get another type of lens to go with the GX8 as a kit? (unless they can sell it as a body only which unfortunately you said is not doable)

Hopefully, they can pair the GX8 with either of the following:

1) 12-35 / F2.8 lens

2) 42.5 / F1.2 Nocticron

3) 7-14 / F4.0

4) or body only

By the way, is BIC camera bigger than Yodobashi? Do you think it is available in BIC?

Oh and if it isn't a bother, can you email me the brochure? ([email protected])

Thank you again!

Why not just order one from B&H in New York? Not sure where you are from, or how long you will be in Japan. The problem you will run into is the warranty. It's best to order a version that has a warranty from the area you are from.

Wasabi Bob said:

Why not just order one from B&H in New York? Not sure where you are from, or how long you will be in Japan. The problem you will run into is the warranty. It's best to order a version that has a warranty from the area you are from.

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I am from the Philippines and there is no shops here selling the GX8 hence no warranty wherever I get it. I tried to get it in Hong Kong as well (went there last Dec and it only cost USD $750) but all they had was the PAL version (although it was in english).

What I need is a Black, NTSC, English Panasonic GX8.

If I order in B&H then it will take a lot of time getting here and the duties/taxes will cost a lot. There will also be a chance that the unit might get damaged thru shipping.

I will be going to Japan this March (Shinjuku) and I am hoping to get the GX8 on day 1 so that I can use it right away. I will be arriving a bit late (4pm) when I get to Narita airport so there will only be a small window open to get the Camera since the next 2 days will be Disneysea and Disneyland. This is why I need to know the exact shop where to get the camera.

(on a side note, I don't know why Panasonic is making it so damn hard for their buyers to buy their product! why not just make the gx8 both PAL/NTSC compatible like the GH4 or be able to sell the GX8 body only in Japan even for a higher price. I understand the economics behind this but a higher price should be enough. Don't force us to get a kit! I am this close to switching to another brand. If there is only a good alternative that can give me 4K video, small, light and not as expensive as the sony a7sii/a7rii)

jomsjoms said:

Wasabi Bob said:

Why not just order one from B&H in New York? Not sure where you are from, or how long you will be in Japan. The problem you will run into is the warranty. It's best to order a version that has a warranty from the area you are from.

Click to expand...

I am from the Philippines and there is no shops here selling the GX8 hence no warranty wherever I get it. I tried to get it in Hong Kong as well (went there last Dec and it only cost USD $750) but all they had was the PAL version (although it was in english).

What I need is a Black, NTSC, English Panasonic GX8.

If I order in B&H then it will take a lot of time getting here and the duties/taxes will cost a lot. There will also be a chance that the unit might get damaged thru shipping.

I will be going to Japan this March (Shinjuku) and I am hoping to get the GX8 on day 1 so that I can use it right away. I will be arriving a bit late (4pm) when I get to Narita airport so there will only be a small window open to get the Camera since the next 2 days will be Disneysea and Disneyland. This is why I need to know the exact shop where to get the camera.

Click to expand...

You are in the same position as me, I live in Panama, and a US warranty is not valid here, so I simply purchase whatever I want from Asian sellers, and the price difference more than makes it if I need to send it for service.

There is one seller in Hong Kong that offered 2nd day shipping with Fed Ex. I just got my 35-100mm f:2.8 from it. I highly recommend it.

jomsjoms said:

Hi Julie,

Click to expand...

Hi!

jomsjoms said:

Thank you very very much for your help! What you did is a very big help to me. At least now I know that the GX8 English is available in Japan although at a very expensive price.

Click to expand...

No problem. Glad to help.

jomsjoms said:

If perhaps you get a chance again to drop by at Yodobashi or any camera shop, maybe I ask for another favor? Can you inquire if there is any way that I could get another type of lens to go with the GX8 as a kit? (unless they can sell it as a body only which unfortunately you said is not doable)

Click to expand...

The clerk was very clear that you can only buy the "overseas model" as part of that twin-zoom kit. I'm certain they wouldn't break up a kit and sell the body with different lenses. Japanese retailers just don't work that way, I'm afraid. They probably have a special box for that kit, and they have to sell you the box and the contents exactly as described on the label.

jomsjoms said:

By the way, is BIC camera bigger than Yodobashi?

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I only know the Sapporo branches, and Yodobashi is bigger up here. However, BIC also has a large selection and is always full of foreign tourists.

jomsjoms said:

Do you think it is available in BIC?

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I'm not sure. Yodobashi has a little info about "tourist models" on their website, but I can't find anything on the BIC site. Maybe a forum member in Tokyo can answer? I'd go check the Sapporo store for you, but it's a little far for me. I only pass by it once a month at most.

jomsjoms said:

Oh and if it isn't a bother, can you email me the brochure? ([email protected])

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The basic information for the tourist model is on the Panasonic homepage:


The printed brochure I received is only one page, but it has more detailed specs. I'll try and take a picture of it and post it within a day or so.

And here is Yodobashi's page for the GX8 tourist kit. It's in Japanese. It says the kit is 213,840 yen, but if you buy it in the store duty free, it should be 198,000 yen.

On the right-hand side, they tell you how many stores have the kit in stock. If you click on the link, a window pops up which lists the stores by name. You can try Google translate on the page, but I don't know if it will work on the popup window. Anyway, the kit is currently in stock in the Shinjuku stores (there's a store at the West Exit -- Yodobashi's main store -- and another one at the East exit).

Slightly off topic, but why are you going to Shinjuku? It's on the west side of Tokyo, on the opposite side from Disneyland, and there's more for a tourist to see on the east side, I think, especially if your time is limited. You could get your camera in Akihabara on the east side (it's in stock at the Yodobashi store there), and enjoy Tokyo's "shita-machi" (the charming old downtown area).

But maybe you have something or somebody near Shinjuku that you want to see?

Just curious!

Julie

Failing that, Digitalrev sells a body only GX8 that supports both PAL and NTSC:

jomsjoms said:

They emailed me back and told me to call the specific store directly.... Bummer. Long distance calls cost a lot.

Anyone here in Japan? Tokyo

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Use Skype, you dummy!

windsprite said:

The basic information for the tourist model is on the Panasonic homepage:

http://panasonic.jp/tourist/en/dc/

The printed brochure I received is only one page, but it has more detailed specs. I'll try and take a picture of it and post it within a day or so.

Click to expand...

Sorry for the delay. I had some technical problems getting the images uploaded. Here's the brochure (excuse the dog hairs!):


top half


bottom half

Many thanks.

You might watch on e-bay for sellers from korea, I bought a G7 body only with 7 selectable languages, and it was cheap, regarding warranty, he offered `year warranty ,just send it to him, I did have to call him, after a couple weeks I had been tweaking the camera I had it screwed up so badly, so I thought, no prob I'll just do a re-set and that went fine, but I lost the english setting, and I could not remember just where or which menu, so I sent a message to the vendor, and within 5 min, he sent a e-mail with a pic. of the menu and the korean instruction on how to do it, well my korean is a bit rusty,so I looked at the korean symbols, and i could only see the last one so I brought the menu up on the camera , and there it was, so I cl. on it and I was back in the english menu, what fun it was, I enjoy being challenged abit. hope you get what you want .