I went into Wilkinson's in Liverpool earlier and asked about the D500, the chap said they have no idea when it will come out here.
He said their management keep on asking Nikon for info apparently, but don't get any firm dates.
He also said they had 15 pre-orders, which I assumed was for that store, though I could be wrong.
Nikon have messed this up big time imho.
I don't see what the problem is in giving dates for countries, whilst saying stocks will be low. Saying that, I don't see why stocks are so scarce considering they delayed the initial release to build up stocks. There has been nothing from them for months, and they don't seem to be delivering cameras to reviewers in a timely manner.
I thought it was odd the US getting cameras first before Asia, but if DSLRs are not as popular in Asia, and users in the US being very active in the internet, then they prioritise US users I guess.
So far everyone seems very happy with their D500s, which is a good sign so far. I'm hoping there will be some in depth dynamic range and noise tests this week. I'm buying regardless, but it will be interesting to see how they have designed the sensor to be.
I think Thom Hogan said in one of his articles that Nikon ship cameras rather than use air freight to save money. I can see how earthquakes could affect cameras that should be en route. Having the extra month to churn out cameras should also be unaffected, unless of course that was not the real reason for the delay.