Panasonic GH1 gets a price: It's high

When Panasonic announced its video-capable follow-up to its Lumix DMC-G1 interchangeable-lens (sometimes referred to as a "hybrid") at PMA in February, the DMC-GH1, the company coyly left out any mention of pricing. Although it shipped several weeks ago in Asia and I dutifully did the exchange rate conversions, I really didn't want to believe that it was going to cost $1,499. But a preorder listing for the camera has popped up on J&R's Web site at that very price.

Given that J&R doesn't generally offer the deepest discounts and that the isn't really shipping yet so competitive pricing hasn't kicked in, I expect the street price to be closer to $1,299--still pretty pricey, even with the bundled 14-140mm (28-280mm equivalent) lens.

Then again, it's a new technology and probably a new market segment, so who knows what price the market will bear. The question is, would you pay that much, assuming the photo quality and performance can match a similarly priced dSLR?

(Via photorumors.com)