Up for Grab This Week

(Click the image to visit the Candid Photo Gallery by Ricoh China's "promotion ambassadors")

Three new serious compact cameras have been put up for purchase this week in Hong Kong. Surprisingly, despite the appreciation of the Japanese Yen to a new high level, the Ricoh GR Lens A12 28mm f/2.8 is far less expensive than the A12 50mm. Is the pricing strategy adjusted? Likely.

The suggested retail price of the GR Lens A12 28mm is HK$5,500, and that of the GXR body with the A12 28mm (free hood）is $7,300. As a reference, the NEX5 with two lenses or the NX100 with one kit lens now asks for about HK$5,500 to HK$5,700. [Use the exchange rate widget in the sidebar.]

Panasonic has also released the pricing for its two new cameras. The slightly compact GH2 body is selling for HK$ 8,380; the body plus 14-42mm lens for $ 9,380; the body plus 14-140mm lens for $ 12,990. Since these are suggested retail prices, the street prices can be about two hundred HK dollars cheaper.

Another is the seriously compact GF2, which is ready for pre-sale only. Customers who order the pre-sale item will receive a free Panasonic leather camera case. The GF2 will be available for hands-on in the Panasonic showroom in SOGO at Causeway Bay and iSquare at Tsimshatsui as soon as 11 December. The prices are:

Panasonic GF2 body　HK$4,990
Panasonic GF2 body + 14mm F2.5    HK$5,990
Panasonic GF2 body + 14-42mm F3.5-5.6    HK$5,990
Panasonic GF2 body + 14mm F2.5 + 14-42mm F3.5-5.6    HKD$6,990

Comments

New Low Prices

The window shopping some hours ago has almost provoked my AgIDS illness. Just in case you’re in Hong Kong or are coming here, and have the money to burn (All in HK$/ body only): GX200 = $3,280 GRD2 = $3,380 LX3 = $3,180 G10 = $3,280 Prices are available form a gear shop on the 1st floor of the Mongkok Computer Centre. Besides these new low prices, I found that Wing Shing Photo (55-57Sai Yeung Choi St., MK Tel: 2396 6886/ 91-95 Fa Yuen St., MK Tel: 2396 6885) is offering a Sony A700 + Carl Zeiss Lens package for HK$9,980 (hopefully, a bargain will make it some hundreds cheaper).

Final Verdicts: GF2 in Action

(The rest of the GF2 review posts can be found here ) It is widely believed that the GF2 is a paradoxical downward-upgrade version of the GF1. So, after all the discussions of its bells and whistles, how does it perform in reality? First things first. Which or what kind of cameras should we measure the GF2 against for that matter? We believe that potential buyers of the GF2, maybe except for serial fad chasers and the diehard loyalists, are attracted by its smallness in size with a larger sensor to achieve better image quality, especially at ISO 800 or above. However, given the less satisfactory handling with for example just one dial, the GF2 cannot assume the place of a primary camera. Put together, these assumptions suggest that the GF2 is more suited to be used as a backup camera for social and street shots. Let's grill the GF2 on this basis. In the Hand An obvious merit of the GF2 is size. It feels much less bulky in the hand than the GF1 or the NX100, and just lik...

Dressing Up

(Camera: Ricoh GX200) On the street, a group of Chinese tourists are waiting for probably pick-up. With oblivion to the surrounding, this man changes his vest for an unknown reason to the author taking the opportunity to do a snap shot of the scene of an indecent taste. The increasingly common sights, or eyesores considered by some, of people squatting in front of shops or in the thoroughfares, together with more billboards written in simplified Chinese, seem to push this international city towards the Chinese characteristics of the Mainland cities. The other day when the author visited the the aquarium and panda's home in the Ocean Park, there were, among the swamps of tourists, conspicuous signs saying, "Keep Quiet" and "Don't Use Flash". The management of the Park has obviously deployed a much bigger troop of attendants to carry the signs around. On one occasion, one of those attendants was so annoyed that she went up to a tourist and made a big long...

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