nope, you’re not gonna get it for Christmas but could be Lucky on Valentines <3

although some pre-orders are being shipped out-of-schedule due to mass floods in Thailand
the Sony’s Official Release Date in the home-country of Japan – and God do they keep punctuality – is next January 27th 2012 .

the moment it is released in Japan, you can buy a couple of days later in the following camera-rows in South Korea with only a slight premium on top of Japan’s discount outlets (still way below Japanese Official Retail Price) – great because you don’t have to wait in line as in Japan for popular products – BUT you will have to send it back to Japan for repairs .
this is all thanks to a long history of early smugglers who brought goodies from Japan as their counterparts did from U.S. military bases soon after the Korean War .

  • in the Capital of Seoul : two places in the photographic equipment whole-sale district of NamDaeMoon – right across the burnt NamDaeMoon (South Gate) at SoogRaeMoon UnderGround Market (yes, it is literally in underground level)
    and out on the road towards ShinSeGae Department Store and further MyungDong, in Good and Good Department Store (in name only where clerks decide their own price)
  • in the Port City of Busan or Pusan : two places again thanks to sea-farring smugglers who brouht electric and then electronic house-hold items when import was illegal during the harsh military regime -_- first in the original Camera Row of NanPoDong (this place flourished prior to Seoul Olympics because this was right across the docks where the boats came in from Japan)
    and then the current Fashion mecca also migrated from NanPoDong at SeoMyon in the underground passage linked from the subway .

Official Sony imports into South Korea usually gets the latest Sony digital camera and camcorder release – IF it does decide to sell – about a month after Japan release
and considering the miniscule amount of stock on first shipment
it could be a month there-after when supplies are ample .

the earliest stock-pile in South Korea would be the now-very few Sony Show-Rooms which only sell at Official Retail Price
then the on-Line stores with cut-throat discounts due to competition .

     

[ Packages ]

at the introduction stage Sony Korea only sells single-reflex and hybrid digital cameras as package sets with basic lens or even two . then after a month or two, you can buy bodies only and longer or wider zoom lens by itself .

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[ Price Comparison & Difference between Countries – Korea, Japan and the States ] 

first of all from the good ol’days of catalog sales based in New York
it is and still is the cheapest to buy electronics in the States because they buy in massive bulk .
the only culprit would be that choices in models, package sets and colors are limited .

then there is the Official Retail Price in manufactured-homeland of Japan . but behold, large discount outlets such as Yodobashi Camera and Big Camera (the Otaku or nerd/geek culture in Japan is divided among which is their favourite – me, the former) has much discounts but smaller outlets discount more and some more for cash – but the smaller the stores go, you are stepping into uncertain territory such as exchanges and refunds .

greedy Sony Korea adds 10 ~ 20% and even 30% on higher lens to Japanese prices . but buyers still opt for these because of domestic product support, which is a stingy ONE year . Korean product support contractors for other makers such as Panasonic and Pentax are much forgiving in that they will repair products bought abroad – for a fee – but Sony is among the stubborn gang who would not . 

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this time around : Thank God Sony understand our need for Flash
small and large “V”
  

once sale is on-the-flow, it is then the accessories notoriously slow AND few in landing on Korean shores
where you’d have much more choices in variety as in color ordering from Japan just across the straits .

in Korean a die-hard Sony-fan is called “Sony-ppa” in a sarcastic tone pointing the obsessive,
will do /anything/ to get all ~ of the following, plus :

  

then what-da-ya-know .. look-alikes start to appear here as in JVC GC-PX10 
remember the now-classic Sony 828 ? mmm ~ ’tis was a very good year
and we thought by now the difference between a digital camera and camcorder would have vanished   

then there are no limits on your Christmas list now including  Toshiba Camileo S10, yummy
I mean, even a super ~ ultra compact ?!
  

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[ previous Posts on Sony NEX fore-runners ]

2010.6.26 Compare Sony NEX-3 vs. NEX-5 Digital Camera Difference Review,
2010.9.29 Sony NEX-5K with 18-55mm Zoom Lens and NEX-5H with 18-200mm Zoom Lens,

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– Korea Tech BLog, December 2011 –

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[ January 5th 2012 Update ]

January 27th Friday : Official Japan Relase Date
January 9th Mondy : Sony Korea starts early reservation

Expected Official Korean Price Tag joining the realm of European designer brands :
Sony NEX-7 body only W1,498,000
Sony Alpha 18-55mm zoom lens kit W1,698,000