Despite What You May Have Seen, the Panasonic S1 II Is Not Discontinued
Customers who recently viewed the Panasonic Lumix S1 II camera on some retail websites may have been surprised to see it marked as “discontinued” or, more recently, as a “new arrival.” However, there is nothing to worry about.
Last week, PetaPixel noticed that B&H listed the Panasonic S1 II and S1 IIE as “discontinued,” which, of course, makes no sense. The cameras are not even a year old. As it turns out, a similar situation happened recently in other markets, including in Japan. Now, this week, B&H temporarily listed the S1 II as a “new arrival,” which again makes no sense. The “new arrival” label is gone as of writing, but some product pages still show the S1 II and its 24-105mm f/4 kit as “discontinued.”
To figure out what’s going on, PetaPixel reached out to Panasonic’s U.S. team, and the explanation is, fortunately, pretty straightforward.
“This hiccup on the listings was due to a change in our factory transition for some models. Many dealers did this transition seamlessly so there wasn’t a ‘discontinuation’ notice to confuse the market, but others seem to have not gone so smooth,” says Panasonic Lumix USA.
“The original models were manufactured in China. The new models are manufactured in Vietnam and have a different part number which means the dealers created new listings for the new inventory coming in.”
There has been zero change to the camera itself; only the country of origin has changed.
It may still take a little while for the new stock to fully filter into the market, as Adorama still lists both the S1 II and S1 IIE as backordered. At B&H, the Lumix S1 II is back in stock, but the S1 IIE is not. On Panasonic’s own online store, both the S1 II and S1 IIE are available now. For what it’s worth, there is also an active $400 trade-in promotion on Panasonic’s store for the S1 II, valid until March 28. Full details are available on Panasonic’s website.
All this is to say that any photographers who were alarmed by “discontinued” notices on Panasonic S1 II and S1 IIE product pages have nothing to worry about.
Image credits: Panasonic. Header photo created using an asset licensed via Depositphotos.
