I put in a request on availability here in Canada to a store I frequently deal with. I'm a CPS member, but I was told the first batch were going strictly to CPS members that are covering the winter Olympics. No info on a general release to other CPS members or general public at this time was given.
That was my understanding as well, it seems pretty typical of a new model. They tend to trickle in at first. Being an Olympic year and top model, I'd expect them to be hard to come by until all the sports photog's and such are served.
I started to start this post by saying, "I was in my local camera store today...", but I feared a loss of credibility, however...
While out Christmas shopping for my wife, I stopped by my local camera store, just to ask. I waited patiently for my simi-trusted advisor. I asked one simple question, "What do you know about Mark IV availability?" He said, "I really don't know.", and he immediately called the Canon rep with me standing there. I thought it was really nice as the store was quite busy. Here's what he told me, so take it for what it's worth. There will be cameras this month, but no one knows how many. The camera guy said he ordered 24 and had 6 pre sold. He offered to put me on the list.
This really feels like the 1D3 launch. I managed to get my 1D3 out of the first batch B&H had. It seems like they were few and far between for a month or so and then I started getting emails from everyone I had made inquiries to that they had available stock. I expect this roll out will be similar. The unknown here is the demand from the video side.
PierreB wrote:
They are not my words but from the dealer I use. My guess is that by 'pro market' they mean 'CPS members' - how else would they control it? Not sure about that one...
rd4tile wrote:
A buddy of mine is a CPS member, he told me he's never been able to buy equipment directly thru CPS, that they are more there for loaners and expedited repairs. I'm curious if any CPS members out there are being told they are prioritized by their dealer of choice for this or any other purchase?
32067dlm: I said that more tongue in cheek, I think people's buying criteria and the timing of it is usually based on other parameters.
Nowhere Man wrote:
I'm CPS and all over the contract details it says that members WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PURCHASE anything through CPS. That is not how Canon does business and CPS members must continue to use traditional buying outlets/shops to purchase all of their gear.
Like ^ your buddy said, CPS is only for loaners and expedited repairs. They do not sell anything. They do not offer discounts on purchases of equipment.
I too am with CPS and I know you cannot buy anything from them. What I meant was that they could use CPS membership as a possible way of determining who fitted into their 'pro status' for allocation of early release bodies. I'm just guessing of course, who knows what they're thinking.
The whole thing with Laforet and that video is just plain bizarre to me. It's a great promotional ad for Canon and they've skewered the thing.
On a really strange note on the markIV, Apple just released an update to give 1DmarkIV support amongst other cameras to Aperture and so on. Normally they are forever getting support out, and here we have support for a camera that isn't available!!
PierreB wrote:
I too am with CPS and I know you cannot buy anything from them. What I meant was that they could use CPS membership as a possible way of determining who fitted into their 'pro status' for allocation of early release bodies. I'm just guessing of course, who knows what they're thinking.
They could but they won't. At least for CPS USA, they are completely understaffed (or at least were, before the new membership policies went into affect). But membership is pretty much open to anyone that wants to pay a fee, so using that for a 'pro status' determination would be better off if they called 'already-giving-us-money customer status'.
32067dlm wrote:
Please define pro market. I placed my order on Amazon.com early on Oct 20. No one has asked for my tax statements or professional affiliations. Now, it is possible many are going to news agencies, and I suspect a lot have been reserved for the Olympics, but retailers don't hold reservations for "pros". They just want the cash register to ring.
Actually, official dealers for both Canon and Nikon will hold the first batches for registered pros (CPS/NPS), by direction of Canon and/or Nikon.
Here in Atlantic Canada the first several batches of D3s's are being earmarked only for NPS members. And if a body comes in, and the NPS member who pre-ordered it decides not to buy it, they work their way down the NPS pre-order list. If they have more bodies than NPS pre-orders, they have to ship the bodies back to Nikon Canada for redistribution. This is very unusual - normally they would never have to ship back the bodies, but b/c it's an Olympic year, and b/c we are hosting the games, both companies are taking pains to get their flagship sports cams in the hands of the people who will be shooting there.
For me, it's awkward, as I'm not shooting the olympics, but I am shooting our national curling championships the week after the games end. That puts me far down this list, but high up on the 'need'. I'm hoping to get a camera in my hands at least two weeks before my event, as I won't use a brand new system at an important gig without knowing it at least fairly well, and for me, that still takes a fair bit of time.
