[dankoBanana]

I would like to hear from our fellow pentaxians, what do you think, which Pentax lenses are overpriced and by how much?

personally I think all the lenses cost by about 10 % too much, but I would like to single out the following ones for costing about 20% too much:

DA 35 Limited
DA 40 Limited
DA 12-24
FA 50
FA limiteds are all overpriced by about 20 %
DA* 16-50
DA* 55
DA* 50-135

the only 2 lenses I find priced about right are the DFA 100 WR Macro and the DA 70 Limited

what are your thoughts?

[dgaies]

I would like to hear from our fellow pentaxians, what do you think, which Pentax lenses are overpriced and by how much?

I guess the question is, overpriced relative to what? Compared to similar lenses that Nikon/Canon offers or compared to Pentax prices from a few years ago? No argument that the prices of Pentax lenses has gone up over the past few years (perhaps for a number of reasons), but that in and of itself doesn't make the lenses overpriced. I think it's a difficult question answer (objectively), let alone try to quantify exactly how overpriced they are.

[dmort]

After being an Olympus shooter and now a Pentax guy, I find that it is really difficult for these comparitively smaller companies (as compared to canikon) to price as competitively. Also there isn't as much of a used market... there is so much used Nikon and canon gear and I think that ready supply helps keep new prices reasonable...

Of course all this gear is really expensive no matter how you look at it.

[Chaos_Realm]

I think the FA Ltd's are not over priced, except for the 31, which I think should be on par with the 77. They are just exceptional lenses!
But I do agree with the DA* lenses you have listed above are over priced. I am not sure if thats due to the lacking performance in SDM and the QC issues which are changing my perception of value. But I could not justify buying any brand new.

I would also like to note; I think all camera equipment in Australia is 25-40% overpriced but such is life.

[markos]

Just posted about the DA*55 being a little dear - can't see the justification for £600 ($950), yet I'm still insanely tempted.

I think I may be an idiot.

[dgaies]

Just posted about the DA*55 being a little dear - can't see the justification for £600 ($950), yet I'm still insanely tempted.

I think all camera equipment in Australia is 25-40% overpriced but such is life.

That's another factor to consider; depending on where you live, some lenses are a lot more expensive. The DA*55 is about 50% more expensive in the UK than the US (based on the price above). I know certain items in Australia are as much as twice the price in the US (the K-7/K-5 battery grip for one).

But I could not justify buying any brand new.

Of the two dozen lenses I own, only one lens (DA15) was purchased brand new (and that was because it just came out when I bought it).

[Rondec]

I think the Da * zooms are actually decently priced (at least in the US). They seem to be priced considerably less than Canon/Nikon equivalents.

As far as the FA 50, Amazon has it for 380, Sony sells theirs for 369 and Canon has theirs for 410.

Some of the others are harder to find equivalents.

Third parties always sell their lenses for less and that is expected, even when their quality is quite high.

Overall, prices are up across the board, for every company. I suppose some is earthquake/tsunami related, some due to global markets being lousy, and some due to the dollar and Euro both being beaten like a red headed step child.

I too wish for the good old days, but I don't see them coming back.

[Aristophanes]

By far the biggest issue with pricing has been the fall of the $US and the over-valuation of the Yen.

[RonHendriks1966]

Well I wonder who is getting what part of my money when I purchase a lens. Most off my lenses are bought new (except FA*85mm offcourse, but that was barely used and DA*60-250mm I bought from a Pentaxleaver). Other lenses I bought new I bought before the big price jump, so I payed 539 euro for DA*55mm and 709 euro for 50-135mm. My 40mm is a gem for 275 euro new.

But then again, paying too much would mean that Pentax made exceptional profits out of it's sales and when you look at the price Ricoh pays for Pentax, that is certainly not the case.

Here in Europe the $ seems to be the value of a euro! A 645D costs $ 9.999 and overhere 9.999 euro, wich is insane.

I think that DA*55 is expensive, but a real good lens. I think that 16-50mm is overpriced and not delivering the quality one might expect from such a lens. The 31mm just jumped in price rescently and now cost new 1131 euro, wich is insane. The 12-24 is way to expensive I think.

Not on your list is DA*60-250mm/f4 wich costs overhere 1249 euro! That is a lot (I only payed 850 euro for my copy) and it is a great lens. I dont know how people feel about that one?

I think that when Pentax marketshare in DSLR would go to 10-12 % the prices would be good to handle since productionnumber would be bigger.

[gut1kor]

A very good post by itself. My observations are...
1. I find prices in US are at least reasonable (may be because there is no Tax on them???). But still some lenses like FA 31 limited looks over priced.
2. In Germany they are atleast 20% to 40% over priced than the US prices. It feels like stupidity to buy there.
3. In India, it doesnt make sense. They import these things and they cost 100% to 130% more than the US prices. (I will never buy even if I could afford it)
4. In Singapore they are generally 20% 30% more than the US prices.
5. About japan????

So definitely people in US are at an edge. So I bought my DA 16-45 f4 new and 2 copies of FA 100-300mm f4.7 used, when I was in US last month.

Cheers
Guna

[RioRico]

They're all 'way beyond my budget, so I don't worry about them.

[gut1kor]

But then again, paying too much would mean that Pentax made exceptional profits out of it's sales and when you look at the price Ricoh pays for Pentax, that is certainly not the case.

I think Ricoh bought only DSLR part of Pentax where as other divisions like medical and sport optics, etc stay with Hoya...

[Chaos_Realm]

Of the two dozen lenses I own, only one lens (DA15) was purchased brand new (and that was because it just came out when I bought it).

Yeh I have only bought my kit lenses new. I have since purchased the rest second hand. I would rather buy new but I'm a student so I have to take what I am served

And although I don't like buying overseas, I have purchased everything (accessories: grip, flash etc) from the US, because the AU prices are absolute rubbish. It's hard to pay up to an extra 40% for stuff when our dollar is higher than the USD.

It would be interesting to find out the actual cost to manufacture the current lineup of lenses, also all the price points the middle men pay.

[djc737]

While the new stuff may or may not be over priced, just look at the requested prices of some used lenses. You would think they were gold plated. Each of the lenses I bought, mostly new, were within my pain threshold of cost. So for me no, none were over priced.
Thankfully, I am in a position today that I can afford most toys that I crave at least over time. I have been selling off my Oly gear to pay a good chunk of my Pentax gear so it is not too painful in the end. I feel I have bought a group of exceptional lenses which matched to the K-5 gives me the Leica setup I always dreamed of for 1/4 the total cost. So I feel like I have had a bargain to be sure.

[eddie1960]

I will point out that when you buy in the US you have to add the local taxes (of course in the states you can mail order from another state and pay no tax) all the European prices include varying amounts of VAT (- though i think the price differential on the 645D is still nuts, in Canada tax in a 645D costs 11865 CDN which is 8757 euros

I agree on the FA 31 it seems overpriced everywhere and I think it should be closer to the FA77 in price myself (it's not like the R&D and tooling hasn't paid for itself at this point on all the FA ltd models)