Foreign Camera's

[Maxim 0]

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone could help me. I have been looking at a sony camera i live in australia so PAL. and off ebay i can get a PAL model of the same camera for considerably cheaper. it gets shipped from hong kong, the only thing i have been told that because of copyright laws in some countries some camera are not able to firewire footage from camera to camera. I rang up sony them self and they are not sure if this is true or not cause they dont support foreign cameras.

Was wondering if anyone can shed some light on this subject for me thanks.

Life is Great. Even Greater what we do with it.

[bob.dino 1]

What model?

I've not had problems with the PC350 I bought off eBay from HK.

[dragon2 2]

You need the -E models if you want PAL.

Over here (Netherlands) some models, usually the cheapest one or two of any line, don't have dv-in, although all have dv-out (I think).

Some of these you can "fix" but not all of them.

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[mr2mk1g 10]

Your first issue is PAL/NTSC. You'll still be able to fire wire footage between different format cameras but you'll not be able to view it on anything but the camera. Likelihood is that out there your TV or VCR won’t even play PAL footage either (not always true).

The other issue is the precise model number.

Basically the EU has passed a regulation a couple of years back that anything that can record from a data cable input is in the same tax bracket as a VCR and therefore costs a lot more to buy inside the EU as Sony has to pay large taxes on it as the units enter the EU.

If the camera can't do that then it isn't taxable as a VCR and is therefore cheaper and more competitive with other brands. However Sony knows some users really want this feature so they still make models that do have it and these are usually far more popular anyway despite the price difference.

Therefore the model is important: eg the 103 and 105 are identical but for the "DV in" feature. I think the same is true of the 108 and 109... or 107 or something... maybe one doesn't have a memory card??... sony has too many damn models.

Anyway, without DV in you'll be at a disadvantage when it comes to copying people's footage from them... although so long as one of you has the feature you can always swap tapes around.

Basically find out what model it is and then look on the web to see if it has “DV in”.

[Maxim 0]

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=20333&item=7525155301&rd=1&ssPageName=WD1V

hmm you cant see anything on there that would help do ya?

i asked the seller a question anyway hopefully he knows about the camera and gets back to me.

Life is Great. Even Greater what we do with it.

[mr2mk1g 10]

I'll refrain from commenting on the specific auction, but I can confirm that the PC1000E has both DV in and out and is in PAL format.

I've just noticed you're in Oz so ignore my comments re PAL/NTSC as you guys use PAL thus theres no issue.

I personally wouldn't have any concerns about the use of a PC1000E that came from HK... it's just up to you whether you take the risks involved in buying from abroad.

The only other issue I know of re grey imports like this is that if you have a break down your warrantee is generally from the source country... thus you have to ship your camera off back to HK to get it fixed. That's a simple gamble, (although I note the auction promises local warrantee support within the first 12 months... that would be normally be unusual).

[bob.dino 1]

I bought my PC350E from Digital Rev (the same seller as you). Have had no problems. They claim to have an Australian agent for warranty issues, but I've not had occasion to test them out.

Be aware that you'll be liable for GST & duty, and since the camera costs over $1000, you'll need to make a trip to your local customs depot to get the appropriate form filled out. The form is available on the web, but the information you need to fill it out isn't . There's also a $48.50 processing fee for the form. You'll need to bring a printout of the eBay auction to prove the price.

The camera I bought listed for AUD 1399 ended up costing me AUD 1680. So be aware. Any questions about the process, PM me.