50-135mm Price hike!

[offertonhatter]

WEX have put the price up for the 50-135mm. almost doubling it!

Pentax 50-135mm f2.8 DA* ED SDM Lens (21355) - Warehouse Express

Who are they trying to kid!

Thank god I got mine last year for £499.

[richard64]

Originally Posted by offertonhatter

Thank god I got mine last year for £499.

SRS have it now for only thirty quid more: £529. I think WEX just don't want any customers.

Richard

[Mike.P®]

Expect to see a lot more price rises, Pentax UK have doubled their RRP in some cases. SRS are keeping their prices as long as possible but once stock has gone they will be going up to a similar amount.
Trying to decide whether I should get a 50-135mm in favour of my Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 atm.

[Pentaxor]

a brand new 50-135mm costs at around 1200 CAD in Canada. it would be wise to just order from the U.S. and save at around 300 CAD. the shipping and tax duties are already included btw. man, it's even cheaper to buy a brand new lens than to buy a 2nd hand used 50-135mm which sells at around 1150-1200.

[emr]

I don't really understand all these price hikes of Pentax lenses. OK, the Yen vs. €, Yen vs. $ and Yen vs. £ exchange rates have risen, but if Pentax is still going to get some sales abroad they should adjust the prices. Also, I just checked recently what's been happening to the Yen vs. € rate and while Yen had risen significantly during early 2009, some of the change was reversed during the last month or two. And what are the prices doing? Still rising. Many second hand Pentax lens prices seem to have also risen so much that one can find similar quality C or N glass with "SR" at the same price.

On the whole Pentax is still good bang-for-buck-wise, but significantly less than before.

EDIT: Tried to find the exchange rate graph, but the ones I found now suggest that Yen's rising still. Oh, well...

[emr]

This is the Yahoo graph I was thinking about.

[hs57]

Even in Germany, Pentax prices almost doubled in some cases.

[joel_ed]

That's a pretty dramatic price increase!

I ordered a 50-135mm from warehousexpress last week, paying only £529 (delivery not included). Thank god for that timing! It has not even been delivered yet

This is pretty bad for Pentax, this will not affect their sells in a positive way

Compared to the price of 50-135mm in Sweden, £529 were very cheap.

[Pentaxor]

it is indeed insane. actually, local stores have already profitted by increasing their prices. the present currency exchange rate is another massive added bonus. clearly they are not at a loss here but rather they tripled their profit. I don't quite understand but it's not something like Canada had to import from the outside and they needed to increase the price at such a high rate. so what's the sense of having a Pentax manufacturing plant based in Canada if it costs more to order from the inside rather than import from the U.S. ? taxes? are you kidding me?

the only item that is slightly makes any sense of being sold is the pre-ordered K-7. geez.

[ve2vfd]

Pentax dramatically raised their lens prices in Canada a few months ago...

I haven't bought a lens since, nor do I plan on purchasing any until Pentax comes to their senses.

I can't imagine that silly move was too good for their sales...

Pat

[Pentaxor]

Originally Posted by ve2vfd

Pentax dramatically raised their lens prices in Canada a few months ago...

I haven't bought a lens since, nor do I plan on purchasing any until Pentax comes to their senses.

I can't imagine that silly move was too good for their sales...

Pat

Pentax lens prices @london drugs last March 2009, while I was checking out for lenses.

40mm 2.8 = 300
50mm 1.4 = 200
43mm 1.9 = 1000
50mm 2.8 = 450

Pentax lens prices @London Drugs last April 2009 and current prices up to date.

40mm 2.8 = 500 = +200, what?
50mm 1.4 = 300 = +100, cheaper in other places
43m 1.9 = 1000 = +/- ? = dunno didn't update but much cheaper in other stores
and a way lot cheaper by half when order outside canada.

50mm 2.8 = 550 = +100 , the Sigma version is cheaper by 50 bucks.

I went to check out some of the prices at the Dunne & Rundle, Broadway Cameras and found out that they are a bit cheaper compared to anywhere else. I'm not sure about the prices of their other Pentax lenses as they weren''t shown on their websites but I suppose they are also cheaper. I'm not sure how much the lenses cost at Leo's as their website is not updated.


the FA 50mm 1.4 is cheaper by 50 bucks, the 43mm 1.9 by 100 bucks and the rests at around 30-50 bucks

now, let's compare the price at B&H.

mind you that I made already the necessary recent currency rate conversion + shipping (2-4 days via UPS, cheapest) + tax duties (PST and GST) if applicable. I'm sure sending via USPS, you will get charged for import taxes. though I'm not sure if you will be via UPS. in any case, I'll just put a supposed price just the same.



USD = CAD shipping charge tax duties (vancouver,b.c.)
1 = 1.105 27.75 dollars or 30.67 CAD around 35 CAD


40mm 2.8 = 330-365 CAD in total = save 135-170 bucks
50mm 1.4 = 306-341 CAD in total = you'd rather buy this one at dunne & rundle for 250 CAD.

43mm 1.9 = 583-618 CAD in total; save 282-417 CAD. definitely a must.
50mm 2.8 = 482-517 CAD in total; save 33-68 CAD. this would had been not necessary if the price was where it was 3 months which was around 450 CAD.

100mm 2.8 = 583-618 CAD in total; save 17 CAD (if price is 600) and 82 CAD if price is 700. is the 17 CAD savings worth the trouble?

50-135mm 2.8= 858-893 CAD in total; save 311-345 CAD. worth the trouble
35mm 2.8 = 583-618 CAD in total; save 82-117 CAD.

now, pre-ordering the K7 here would also save you around 100-135 CAD. the only sensible lens that you could buy brand new are the 50 1.4 and the 100mm 2.8 (if you don't mind the extra 17 CAD).

or probably just get a 2nd-hand lens for 1/2 or 3/4 of the retail price. I suggest that sellers here should drop the prices of their second-hand lenses unless those lenses are rare or worth their original price. otherwise buyers should just order a new one online. although some people here sell some of their slightly used but either way still secondhand stuff for a reasonable price, though we cannot avoid a few that sell their stuff at even or way off high. it would have been great if it's way low or at a bargain/discount and the item is in great condition rather then sell it low and crappy, but worst of it is sold at a high price broken.

now, are there any camera stores in Vancouver that have such a good or better deal than B&H?