[wwwmorrell]

I bought into digital some three years back, they were gouging then & more so now.

Bodies here [Oz] have been within a few hundred dollars of USA prices, but buy a lens & the prices are ridiculous.

B&H had been getting all my business until the currency crash, but now as the Oz dollar is slowly climbing back, 0.81 cents at the moment, just about time to start LBA'ing all over again.

[georgweb]

Out of curiosity I 've made a search on the 'best price machine' for germany, prices of reputable german dealers (it's a EU business after all), converted to oz dollars:

60-250: 2047,-

100-300: 1988,-

300/4: 1901,-

Like I thought those prices are in between the US$ prices and the oz dollar prices. I can't tell how much or if more taxes have to be paid in the EU compared to the US and Australia.

Best, Georg (the other)

[mcjm78]

Relax... the Aussie RRP is always high for lenses... but CR Kennedy's Boss has promised to price match overseas deals if those companies also ship downunder. (Eg, BnH, Adorama)

For what its worth, I recently bought a DA 35 Macro from them for half of the retail price listed in Aussie retails.. like DCW or CameraHouse.

Just send an email to them on the lens you need, and in two days time you should have a reply.

Mike

[Alfisti]

Same happens in Canada. The key is probably sales volumes, sadly.

Are your prices comparisons done in the same currency?

How can it be sales volume? To import ONE lens is just $35 from B+H so christ knows what the unit cost on importing 1,000 of them is. The Pentax importer Kennedy visits Dpreview sometimes and the regulars pander to him like a god when he makes ZERO sense with what he says. He promises to match any OS price ..... well why isn't he doing that now?

I have said it a MILLION times, it's not just cameras either, it's anything electrical or gadget based. A 40 inch Sony TV is under $1,000 CDN here and in OZ it's nearly double that!!!!!!!! My lenovo laptop is 70% more than it is here in Canada.

The distributers are ripping you off hand over fist.

[wwwmorrell]

Relax... the Aussie RRP is always high for lenses... but CR Kennedy's Boss has promised to price match overseas deals if those companies also ship downunder. (Eg, BnH, Adorama)

For what its worth, I recently bought a DA 35 Macro from them for half of the retail price listed in Aussie retails.. like DCW or CameraHouse.

Just send an email to them on the lens you need, and in two days time you should have a reply.

Mike

Well why don't CR Kennedy's list their lenses at real prices upfront.

Rather than wait for a buyer to argue with price matching with overseas prices/deals.

[cupic]

Well why don't CR Kennedy's list their lenses at real prices upfront.

Rather than wait for a buyer to argue with price matching with overseas prices/deals.

Because most consumers never ask and the dealers walk/run away with the cash

cheers

[Wheatfield]

Posted this morning on PDML from an Australian user:

Hi all.

My new lenses arrived today from C.R. Kennedy (Pentax's Australian
importer). They matched B&H's price exactly, paid via credit card and
delivered to my P.O. Box quicker than I could get it from the states.
I have an invoice so I have Australian (world wide) warranty. The
invoice does state "Merchandise on this invoice is not returnable",
which probably means that I can't change my mind (not that I want to).

All in all a good experience. So any Australian's who have a problem
with the cost of local Pentax gear can contact CR Kennedy as per this
link Re: This statement is on the CR Kennedy website: Pentax SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review
to get a better deal.

[Peter Zack]

what has me scratching my head is the increases everywhere but in the USA. It seems that they have basically held the US prices but jacked up everywhere else.

Further down that thread he Kennedy wrote:

Please note on Friday 24 April, we were advised by Pentax Tokyo of massive price increases.

DA 12-24 (+27%), DA 40 (+59%), DA* 16-50 (+24%), DA* 50-135 (+19%), FA 43 1.9 LTD (+72%), FA 31mm 1.9 LTD (+21%), FA 50 1.4 (+17%), FA 35/2 (+46%), FA 77 1.8 (+20%)

We will try and hold prices as long as we can, but it is important that Forum members understand that the increase in raw materials and smaller production runs means that the trend of ever decreasing prices for Imaging products is now over. Prices are only going one way and that is UP. This will be true for all brands.

BUY NOW.

We saw the same thing on May 1st in Canada and by the sounds of it in Europe as well.

So can someone explain how a new camera like the K-7 can come out at EXCATLY the same launch price as the K20D but the lens prices have shot up. Glass couldn't have increased that much. Actually you'd think that glass would be getting cheaper as there's less supply pressure now that LCD's and Plasmas have replaced tube TV's and monitors.

[pop4]

Don't forget the customs duty on anything over $1,000AU.

I'm pretty sure that camera gear isn't charged duty, only the 10% GST, and this would only apply for an order over A$1000.

[heropsycho]

Well why don't CR Kennedy's list their lenses at real prices upfront.

Rather than wait for a buyer to argue with price matching with overseas prices/deals.

I'm pretty well in agreement with you here. I recently ordered a DA21 from Adorama. Even when CRK are willing to price match items, it's a lot less hassle for me as the consumer to order from fantastic dealers like Adorama and B&H and receive the items in a matter of a few days (as opposed to weeks to order it in through a local dealer).

This rubbish about warranties and peace of mind that CRK pull just doesn't stand up when the risk of receiving a faulty item is extremely low and the saving is 25% (or possibly a great deal more).

[bessa66]

I'm pretty sure that camera gear isn't charged duty, only the 10% GST, and this would only apply for an order over A$1000.

Merely quoting Customs information. see attached for duty calculations. GST is a separate additional tax. Can be quite expensive if your item gets picked up - not to mention the paperwork.
When buying over the internet

CR Kennedy seems to be the way to go. Do they match on camera bodies as well?

[brumby]

As far as I'm concerned it's an open and shut case.

CRK and their dealership network has competitive pricing for Pentax camera bodies and body/kit lens kits.

The mark-up on Pentax lenses, on the other hand, is exorbitantly excessive, especially when compared to body pricing.

If CRK does match US online pricing if asked specifically by email, and many here have confirmed that they do, then they are hamstringing their Aussie dealerships by not allowing them to offer similarly competitive pricing. No wonder that there are almost no bricks and mortar camera dealerships in Oz which have any kind of selection of new Pentax glass.

CRK's attitude seems to be this: Most Pentax DSLR purchasers are merely P&S shooters with delusions of grandeur. So we'll give 'em a good price for a camera/lens kit. Then, when they come back for more lenses, we'll shake 'em down big time. We know most of them won't come back for more lenses anyway. And if somebody does notice that our lens prices are obscene, either they can buy overseas or they can email us and we'll price match. Not many will do either.

Doesn't matter anyway. We don't give a stuff about Pentax or photography. We just want to sell "product" and the average Aussie will buy just about anything once.

I'm very interested in the K-7 and will probably buy the body/kit lens package locally. But I'll be stuffed if I'll buy lenses from CRK - on principle. They are destroying the local market for Pentax and the head office in Japan doesn't seem to care. Meanwhile, local bricks and mortar stores simply don't bother with Pentax much and not at all with Pentax glass. In Oz, its Canon/Nikon uber alles. CRK is one very good reason why.

The only possible solution is that the Pentax head office dumps CRK and takes on a decent distributor. Or that the K-7 proves HUGELY popular and pressure is put on CRK to re-price their Pentax glass. Perhaps they might even figure out that if they did that, they might even SELL some Pentax glass. Perhaps, when I start seeing squadrons of airborne pigs passing overhead.

[schmik]

With the good price on the K7 and the 'predicted' popularity of it now would be a great time to put reasonable prices on the lenses. If the k7 really is 'system changer' then it would make sense to show the entire system as affordable. Unless their thinking is that they want the lenses to be expensive to give the impression that they are just as good as canikon.

It is a pity though that we don't have prices like in the US. eg, the k20d is soooo cheap in the USA and local it is still about $1250. At $800 - $900 they'd be selling a lot more.

BTW, what will they do with all the unsold k20d bodies in 6months time?

mike

[Voe]

I agree with you Brumby 100% percent. I hope someone at Hoya or CRK notice this thread and do something about it, cause it's getting ridiculous.

[cpopham]

The only possible solution is that the Pentax head office dumps CRK and takes on a decent distributor.

You know what's funny? I think most of us on the other side of the ditch would almost kill to have CRK as the Pentax distributor here...