Gadget Circuit LLC Selling grey market cameras not made for the US market on the Internet
After some googling, the price listed on gadget circuit is the lowest for Panasonic GX8 camera. So I made the purchase, right before my 2-week trip to the Australian outback.
After receiving the camera, I tested the still photo functions pretty thoroughly and the image quality is amazing. Went on the trip, trying to take some 4K videos and I noticed that the frame rates available are 25fps and 24fps instead of the advertised 30fps and 24fps.
After some googling, it seemed to suggest that US version of the camera can shoot 4K videos at 30fps but European models can only do 25fps. With this skepticism I reached out to Panasonic support US. After checking the serial number of the unit and talking over the problem, Panasonic support said the unit is not made for the US market because it can not shoot video at 25fps.
I called up Gadget Circuit support and told them what Panasonic support had said. But what they told me was "please send your unit back to our repair department and we will try to fix it.". I am not sure if their support is just stupid or this is their usual practice, but this is not something they can "fix". The censors and firmware are fundamentally different. The tone the gadget circuit support person was using on the phone sounds like he is very certain the my camera is broken. I am concerned that if I send my unit back for repair, they might send me something completely different back like a used US model, which is entirely possible because some search indicates that gadget circuit even sells used models as new to consumers.
Here is another review site: https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.gadgetcircuit.com
Avoid this site at all cost!!!