[stormtech]

I currently own 5 Pentax lenses that are currently available as new from Pentax. I bought 3 of them new before April 1 2012 when the on-line prices were reasonable. The Pentax glass is my favorite over other K-mount lenses, but refuse to pay the new pricing.

And as far as on-line pricing vs. B&M pricing - the nearest camera store of any kind is over 100 miles away - 200 miles if I want to go to a dealer that stocks Pentax. All my purchases are done on-line. Even if the prices were equal at a B&M I will still buy on-line simply because of the logistics.

[LeRolls]

Count me in too! I am definitely a shooter on a budget. I'd prefer to give my money to Pentax because I want to support them as much as I can but if I can't afford to then my dollars will go elsewhere...

[SpartanD63]

Count me in! I was almost discouraged from even buying into Pentax gear after I had heard about the price increase.

[sticki]

Yes reduce the price of new lenses - I can only afford to buy used manual lenses because the new glass is so expensive!

[K(s)evin]

Count me in too. I feel extremely fortunate that I bought DA*16-50 and a DA*60-250 last year for reasonable prices (expensive, yes, but nothing like what they are selling for now).

I generally look to Sigma or Tamron first since the policy began. There are a couple of Pentax lenses I've had my eye on, but no way right now.

[djc737]

Count me in too. I feel extremely fortunate that I bought DA*16-50 and a DA*60-250 last year for reasonable prices (expensive, yes, but nothing like what they are selling for now).

I bought the Panasonis 100-300 instead of the Pentax version when the price rose suddenly before I was ready to buy. I have not bought another lens since. Dave

[jplbound]

I have owned a K10D since 2007 and frankly I am tired of the high prices that Pentax Lenses are going for these days. I want a 50-135mm but the high price has turned me away for two years now. Slow lenses are a bit of a pain and now I am beginning to see a a trend towards plastic lens mounts which is unacceptable to me. I am due for a camera upgrade but I have to say Canon and Nikon are my first two choices. I love my K10D but if these Prices continue I will have to abandon Pentax. Nikon, Canon and Olympus can use Tokina glass but only Sigma and Tamron make mounts to fit our cameras. The K5-II looks enticing but I need some faster lens and a resonable price.

[jbuck92]

I'm signing!

[Skoobaed]

Signed. Got my 300mm DA* over the BF and I love it. I wanted it to be my last lens, but we all know that's a difficult reality.

[Guayabero]

Ridiculously high prices and 1 year warranty.... way to go dumbasses! Buy Tamron instead, their lenses are cheaper and usually come with a 6 year warranty.

[serac]

Count me in. I am one of the many who bought the DA* 50-135/2.8 on Monday.

I probably will not be buying another Pentax lens until next cyber-Monday, or if/when prices decrease. The rest of my recent lens purchases have been Sigma or Voigtlaender...

[jjhenders]

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.

Count me in too!

[dr_romix]

I've been complaining about this for a long time.... SLOW auto focus on SDM lenses, high failure rates and still HIGH asking price..

I'm in. thanks.

[jrvath]

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.

I agree, this is a good idea. As a young photographer, I am interested in getting my hands on some different lenses to experiment with, but the lenses are so expensive I have to miss out on what these new lenses have to offer.

[koguma]

yep, +1