Pentax Prices Holly Cow!

*Rhizo* · 10-27-2009, 09:52 PM

I'm sure this is nothing new, but boy have the lens prices gone up!

I wanted to pick up a FA 50mm $150 last time I checked? Now $400 big ones Ouch! Talk about Pentax being a good hobby choice

. I have not spent much time internet searching as you can tell.

Is there any talk about them coming down? I love Pentax because it did not impact much when tuition time came, but IDK about this....

Barnster · 10-28-2009, 03:01 AM

Pentax is a good Hobby choice,but you do pay out of your arse for the privalige.As for talk of prices coming down...Dont hold your breath!If you think prices over your way are hard done by,you should feel the pain amonst us Australians.Lower the prices and I'm sure Pentax would have a better stock turnaround,which they would make more money from us devoted Pentaxians.

*Wheatfield* · 10-28-2009, 07:56 AM

Hoya seems to be of the opinion that they want to make a profit off of Pentax. I think the days of cheap Pentax equipment is in the past.
As far as lowering prices making for more sales, were this the case, Pentax wouldn't have found itself in the financial mess they dug for themselves that caused the Hoya takeover.

Mike.P® · 10-28-2009, 08:00 AM

Originally Posted by Wheatfield

Hoya seems to be of the opinion that they want to make a profit off of Pentax.

PROFIT? .. They want to make a PROFIT? ... How dare they

Eruditass · 10-28-2009, 09:01 AM

Wish I could've got at least one of their lenses like the DA40 before this!

Dangermouse · 10-28-2009, 10:12 AM

A major problem for those of us in the UK is that if we buy from outside the European Union then we have to pay import duty. That's annoying, but fair. The unfair part is that Parcelforce (who seem to handle incoming post) charge an exorbitant fee for collecting the duty - effectively a fine levied by a private company with no checks or balances on their behaviour.

You may get lucky and have items come in without being snagged, but they seem to go for specific sizes and weights of parcels so I'd bet that most camera kit will be held to ransom. It's just a lot less hassle to stick to UK-based sellers, and then you end up paying the standard rip-off prices. Some stores just seem to take the price in Dollars and put a Pound sign on the front...

AF primes usually go ballistic in bidding wars on the used market as a result, but you can find bargains in the zooms.

*Rhizo* · 10-28-2009, 05:04 PM

Originally Posted by Eruditass

Wish I could've got at least one of their lenses like the DA40 before this!

Amen! I'd dump a good load to pick up primes I really need now.

Looks like you guys have it even harder though. More money of top of the already price hike.

I could see why Pentax bumped the prices. They are still lower by a bit compared to Canon, Nikon, etc. The difference is they have better body selections. I think Pentax would greatly benefit if they offered a body with high FPS for us sports shooters. Canons 7D looks pretty darn good to take a good shot at replicating IMHO. The K-7 sort of compares with the 50D.

*Wheatfield* · 10-28-2009, 09:01 PM

Originally Posted by Rhizo

I could see why Pentax bumped the prices. They are still lower by a bit compared to Canon, Nikon, etc. The difference is they have better body selections. I think Pentax would greatly benefit if they offered a body with high FPS for us sports shooters. Canons 7D looks pretty darn good to take a good shot at replicating IMHO. The K-7 sort of compares with the 50D.

I don't think it matters what Pentax puts on the market, Canon is going to trump it.
The 7D makes the K-7 look like a Holga.

*Ash* · 10-28-2009, 10:37 PM

Originally Posted by Wheatfield

I don't think it matters what Pentax puts on the market, Canon is going to trump it.
The 7D makes the K-7 look like a Holga.

Not exaggerating at all are you?
Weather sealing, top build quality and good glassware to pair it up with make the K-7 at least look like a Kodak Easyshare...

*Wheatfield* · 10-28-2009, 11:17 PM

Hyperbole is something I try to practice from time to time. Seriously though, a friend just bought himself a 7D and took an hour to run through the features for me. It's like Canon took a K-7 apart and put every desirable feature on steroids and then packed it all back into a camera.

*Rhizo* · 10-28-2009, 11:26 PM

Originally Posted by Wheatfield

Hyperbole is something I try to practice from time to time. Seriously though, a friend just bought himself a 7D and took an hour to run through the features for me. It's like Canon took a K-7 apart and put every desirable feature on steroids and then packed it all back into a camera.

I can agree to that. I was amazed at the shots I was missing with my K10D. Not saying Pentax is bad at all, but the 7D felt and performed every bit as I hoped it would.

joele · 10-30-2009, 07:46 AM

Originally Posted by Mike.P®

PROFIT? .. They want to make a PROFIT? ... How dare they

well yeah.. except the DA*55mm is AUD$1,599 in Australia, thats US$1,400 or so.. OK our prices often have not really compared to the US, but > $1,500 for a 50 odd 1.4 prime is INSANE..

*Ratmagiclady* · 10-30-2009, 10:13 AM

Prices always take a long time to come back down, but I think we'll eventually see something of a correction: maybe nothing like the really-depressed pricing there was, but I think it'll have to get there. Pentax has been sorting out its issues with bodies, ...I think with the in-body SR platform and all the other factors, they will either find advantage in lower prices or be kind of forced to. The major brands are absorbing some big losses and kind of need top dollar to support all the advertising. Pentax just needs to get production going. That's my guess, anyway.

sebberry · 11-01-2009, 11:44 AM

Originally Posted by Wheatfield

I don't think it matters what Pentax puts on the market, Canon is going to trump it.
The 7D makes the K-7 look like a Holga.

Originally Posted by Ash

Not exaggerating at all are you?
Weather sealing, top build quality and good glassware to pair it up with make the K-7 at least look like a Kodak Easyshare...

This is why in my other thread I was suggesting that Pentax bring back the larger body style of the K10D/K20D and beef if up with a few semi-pro features. No pro wants to shoot with something that others may consider to be an upper-entry level camera. Features and picture quality aside, the 7D simply feels like a more serious camera.

sebberry · 11-01-2009, 11:52 AM

BTW, what's a holly cow?