[31 Limited]

I also bought alot of Pentax lenses when I entered the system with the K10D. I still have a few wants, but I haven't bought anything new expect for the Sigma 10-20mm since the crazy price increases. No more Pentax glass until the prices are fair again.

[Kevwaly]

I am shying away from pentax lenses. Sigma and Tammys will get my business until prices are reasonable from Pentax. Those price mark ups are absurd!

[reytor]

I totally agree. Why would one be stuck with a drand that has stupid pricing policy that force you to buy third party lenses.
The still unreleased DA560 is longer than Sigma's 500, but Sigma is f4.5 compared to f5.6 and adding light is wastly more expensive than adding millimeters to the focal length. Which or the two lenses is more expensive? You all know the answer.

[neuropol]

By the way, who ever said they could count on one hand how many brick and mortar stores are left in the country has definitely not taken the time to research his answer. There are 3 shops within 30 miles of the store I work at, alone. That leaves 7 fingers and 49 more states to count. *and* Ritz just re-opened a few dozen stores under the same name but different ownership.

It affects every one, not just Big & Huge.

[JeffAHayes]

Another thought... When I was in the final stages of narrowing down my decision of what brand of DSLR to buy 17 months ago, it came down to a VERY close race between the Nikon D7000 and the Pentax K-5. I REALLY liked the dual SD card slots on the Nikon (and both cameras had the same Sony 16 MP sensor). What I DIDN'T know at the time was that the Sandisk UHS cards I'd end up buying would NOT run at full speed on my K-5, but the Nikons WERE optimized to run that at up to their full 45 Mbps speeds.

The dual card slot was a "tick" in the Nikon's favor -- would have been maybe two ticks, had I known about the faster card access.

BUT the K-5's ability to use all legacy lenses going back to the 1970s, combined with the fact that its IS was built into the camera, thus keeping lens prices lower (and lenses less complex, thus at least theoretically both less expensive AND less likely to have technological failures) -- and also meaning that even OLD legacy glass would benefit from IS, plus the fact that the K-5 was weather sealed and continued to have the same "Hyper-Manual" mode I'd grown to love on my old PZ1 (although I rarely use it nowadays, opting, instead, almost always for Aperture-priority).

Well, the IS seems to work well enough. But I rarely shoot in "weather," and even then I try to protect the camera, as I need to protect my face, anyway, since I wear glasses and I can't see if they're streaked with water... WR is still something nice to have, however, but now Nikon and Canon (and others) are increasingly adding it to many of THEIR bodies. As for the IS being in the body, thus keeping the lenses less expensive, well, Pentax seems to have blown that one completely OUT OF THE WATER with its UPP! Now many of its NON-stabilized lenses are priced very close to the stabilized lenses sold by Canon and Nikon! The legacy glass thing is still nice. Nikon has changed systems a time or two, making older lenses obsolete for all but older cameras (not sure if Canon has, as well).

One really BIG THING, however, is that it's getting harder to find third-party lenses for Pentax. Sure there are still plenty of Sigma, and a few Tamron lenses. But try finding a Tokina. And many of the newer Sigmas aren't available in Pentax mounts. If Pentax wants to retain any sense of relevancy whatsoever it needs to do whatever it can to INCREASE its market share. A UPP certainly IS NOT the way to accomplish that -- especially not when Pentax is sluggish (to put it mildly) in bringing out newer and better models, while Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fuji and even Olympus keep spitting them out like machine guns.

It almost appears Pentax is trying to run its business into the ground -- perhaps hoping for a buyout by one of the other major players.
Jeff Hayes
Spartanburg, SC

[Docrwm]

By the way, who ever said they could count on one hand how many brick and mortar stores are left in the country has definitely not taken the time to research his answer. There are 3 shops within 30 miles of the store I work at, alone. That leaves 7 fingers and 49 more states to count. *and* Ritz just re-opened a few dozen stores under the same name but different ownership.

It affects every one, not just Big & Huge.

I live in Atlanta. There are 0 outlets that sell Pentax other than WG2s and very occasionally Fry's has an entry level kit in the store. Atlanta is not some remote outpost or a small town. The closest B&M store I can find that has Pentax cameras and lenses in the store to touch and try is in northern Virginia.

It is a HUGE problem and the fact that you have 3 within 30 miles of you is an aberration - period.

[K7-owner]

lower your price, get a full frame!

[johnlsullivan3]

Please lower the price on Pentax equipment!!!

[rhe]

One more resounding YES!!!

+++111

[sre7]

We have no intention of buying new gear at MSRP prices. Any gear that gets faulty will be replaced with used and/or 3rd party equipment, until normal MAP prices are restored.

I'm not a casual Pentax buyer, but I will NOT be extorted by some crazy dream of being Nikon or Canon without the network, sales support, warranty, or range of gear.

I have completely stopped purchasing Pentax gear since the price increase. Moreover, I have strongly considered selling it all and converting to Canon.

I have purchased MX, MEF, ME, ME-Super(2), LX, ZX5, IST DS, K10D, K20D and two K-5, as well as 20+ Pentax lenses, AF400T, AF280, AF540(2) and Auto Bellows.

The fact that there are still focusing issues and external flash issues with the K5 is reprehensible and a major shame on Pentax and everyone associated…including all we who still support Pentax.

[harriska2]

Sold my k20d in order to purchase a new lens. I wanted the 18-135 WR. Alone it cost $450. I sold my k20d for $425 and for an additional $535 I got the lens AND a new K30. Only $85 more and I got a new, upgraded body.

The lens prices don't pencil out. I will not be buying another pentax lens.

[Blue]

By the way, who ever said they could count on one hand how many brick and mortar stores are left in the country has definitely not taken the time to research his answer. There are 3 shops within 30 miles of the store I work at, alone. That leaves 7 fingers and 49 more states to count. *and* Ritz just re-opened a few dozen stores under the same name but different ownership.

It affects every one, not just Big & Huge.

Actually, I have researched it and there are next to NO B&M in Florida, Ga, or TN that stock any Pentax dSLR gear (new gear). Ritz and Wolf folded and even though there are a few around, they don't reliably stock anything Pentax. Even before they closed both Tally stores pre-bankruptcy they had 1 mythical K20d body between them back in 2008, but no one actually saw it.

Sold my k20d in order to purchase a new lens. I wanted the 18-135 WR. Alone it cost $450. I sold my k20d for $425 and for an additional $535 I got the lens AND a new K30. Only $85 more and I got a new, upgraded body.

The lens prices don't pencil out. I will not be buying another pentax lens.

A DA* 50-135/2.8 penciled out for me on Black Friday and it was unexpected. It was actually $100 cheaper than they were the day the MAP price hikes. That is why it is at the top of the graph on Black Friday sales.

[birdman59]

I really want to upgrade from my current K-x to a K5II or IIs, but since the drastic rise in prices for lenses, I am seriously looking at switching to Canon. There are some awesome Canon bodies and lenses and now the prices are very close to each other. Give me a reason to stay.

[wlc1967]

It's time to put the online MSRP thing to an end. Back in April, through a "Unilateral Pricing Policy" (UPP), Pentax USA forced online retailers to start selling Pentax lenses at full MSRP rather than the then-lower MAP prices. Refer to the article below for an overview of the price jumps. Some lenses nearly doubled in price!

Brutal Pentax Lens Price Increase: 15-90% - Pentax Camera News & Rumors - PentaxForums.com

Since this change, online sales of Pentax lenses have virtually come to a standstill because of the high, artificially-inflated prices. I'm sure you guys can testify to that, especially if you opted to use the Marketplace or get Sigma lenses rather than new Pentax ones. Just because the DA* 16-50mm has an MSRP of $1500 doesn't mean that anyone in the right mind will buy a used copy at the new high price: in fact, used Pentax lens prices are generally lower than the old MAP prices.

All of a sudden, this Black Friday weekend, the UPP restriction was temporarily lifted, and Pentax lens prices fell sharply for a few days (but some were still higher than the old prices). Here's a little insight into what gear really started moving:

In just one day, well over 100 new Pentax lenses were sold to PF members alone. That's more that the total number sold to PF members after the introduction of the UPP but before Black Friday.

So what good is this UPP thing doing? None at all. When it originally came about, Ned Bunnell, former President of Pentax USA, blogged about the UPP, saying that the main goal of the policy was to protect smaller brick-and-mortar stores so that they don't have to compete with really low online prices. Well, that's great and all, but you can count on your fingers how many such stores there are. And the funny thing is that if you walk into any one of these stores, you'll see the old prices. The same applies if you call B&H or Adorama: you'll generally get the old prices as long as you mention it (and if you walk in to the store, there's no question about it) On top of all this, rumors have it the Pentax USA distributor requires retailers to place large orders, which causes smaller stores to lose interest in carrying the brand, given the tiny demand that there is for Pentax to begin with.

The UPP isn't going to change the fact that the largest audience for Pentax lenses is found online, because of the fact that Pentax users are few and far between. This means that the new policy has done nothing but prevented users otherwise interested in Pentax lenses from buying them.

Above: the Pentax DA* 50-135mm is the star of the UPP, jumping from $749 to $1599

I was on the phone with B&H again today, and after I mentioned the recent Adorama deals, their buyer agreed to drop the price of the 15mm limited to $539 when in cart. B&H said that if this deal ends up getting more copies of the lens sold, they will do their best to post similar deals in the future, even if Pentax doesn't get rid of the UPP. Lowering prices after adding to cart, without advertising them, is a gray area: Pentax can't really say that it's a violation of the UPP, but they certainly won't be happy about it. B&H admitted that it was nice to see some stock get cleared out during Black Friday, so hopefully they'll be giving Pentax stuff a little bit more attention from now on.

While I'm sure B&H will be the first to offer the best online Pentax lens prices, they alone won't be able to change the way things work, because Pentax lenses and cameras are dwarfed by all other DSLR brands.

Almost all other camera brands have unilateral pricing policies. The difference, however, is that in-store prices are the same as online prices, and that no lenses doubled in price from one day to the next. This keeps prices constant across the board and successfully protects the market, unlike the Pentax policy, which one might say was late to the game. So, Pentax, consider this a petition on behalf of our entire community asking you to rethink your online marketing strategy.

If the UPP has prevented or discouraged you from buying a Pentax lens, or even forced you to switch brands, and if you want prices to go back to normal, sign the petition by replying to this thread. Let's make this the biggest thread in the whole lens forum: hopefully it'll send a strong message!

And if you want, I can go on with more reasons for why the UPP is bad:

• Competitors have similarly-priced full-frame glass
• Sigma has cheaper lenses and also offers premium lenses
• People will avoid new lenses in favor of cheap manual lenses

As much as I hate to do it, I'd like to ask that the replies be limited to members based in the US, or who regularly import Pentax lenses from US online retailers.

Yes to Black Friday pricing

[SideRaptor]

Yeah, count me in on this.