Black Friday pricing

[regken]

Supposedly the major market for this Christmas season is the P & Ser moving up to their first DSLR. This market is why Pentax brought out the K2000. Took a quick look at the larger online sellers like Amazon, Adorama, Etc to see what this buyer has to choose from. The least expensive 11 units with a kit lens are as follows. Didn't spend a lot of time looking for the abosulte best price except for Pentax

Nikon D 40 $410
Oly E-420 $435
Canon EOS 1000 $480
Oly E-520 $500
Sony A 200 $500
Sony A 300 $550
Pentax K200D $561
Canon 400D $566
Nikon D 60 $575
Pentax K2000 $600
Sony A 350 $600

Ken

[mattdm]

Yeah. I love Pentax, but the current prices make it very hard to not steer my friends who ask for advice towards the Nikon D40 at that price. I wish Pentax offered a bundle other than the one with the flash. If the decision is that it has to have something more than just the one kit lens, the two lens kit as seen in Europe seems like a good idea here too. But either way, that $500 needs to be broken.

[PentHassyKon]

Originally Posted by mattdm

Yeah. I love Pentax, but the current prices make it very hard to not steer my friends who ask for advice towards the Nikon D40 at that price. I wish Pentax offered a bundle other than the one with the flash. If the decision is that it has to have something more than just the one kit lens, the two lens kit as seen in Europe seems like a good idea here too. But either way, that $500 needs to be broken.

IMHO, Pentax needs to market against either the D40 or D60
- right now you can get
a D40 for $450 with one lens or $550 with 2 lens, granted this is for no VR
a D60 for $725 with 2 lens VR

It would be great if they can break the $500 barrier as then there would at least be a compelling marketing argument against either the D40 or D60

For me, they at least need to be less than the current k200d price with lens $560, so even $500 or $525 and I'd bite. After all, pricing is relative.

[Kirivon]

It's too bad Pentax didn't have the resources to keep the K100D super in production. The D40, imo, feels and handles every bit its price tag.

When I was considering a dSLR system last year, it was down the the K100D, XTi, and D40. Absolute no-brainer. Better build quality, better features, and better viewfinder all for less money.

[falconeye]

Somebody with a Google/Blogger account should go to Ned Bunnels blog discussing the K-m (yes, K-m, not K2000...)
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?bl...7&isPopup=true
and ask this question:

"Why is the K2000 $600 in the US when it is only about $400 in Europe?"

And I bought a K-m in a Munich retail store today for USD 409,- excl. VAT (379,- € incl. 19% VAT). It was the most inexpensive DSLR in Munich's biggest photo retail store even beating an outdated Nikon D40 on price!

[kenyee]

Originally Posted by mattdm

Yeah. I love Pentax, but the current prices make it very hard to not steer my friends who ask for advice towards the Nikon D40 at that price.

Tell them to buy a lightly used K10D. Bargain basement now and under your $500, even if you buy a kit lens...