Originally posted by yyyzzz There are two world views. One view is that there has not been much price increase on wide angle Pentax lenses in general and on 12-24mm in particular. The other view is the opposite.
I happened to be in the second camp. Is the price increase a fact or an illusion?
An illusion, as I have proven already. I don't care which "camp" you are in - if that camp is located in the US, then there has *not* been a large price increase in the price of the 12-24. The story might be different in other countries, and I have no insight into how much so or why that might be, but since you are in the US, I can tell you flat out: you are wrong in your claims about the 12-24.
Quote: I do not care about the answer because it is too academic and I only care about my wallet.
Right. And your wallet would have paid almost exactly as much for the 12-24 two years ago as today. That's a fact, not an opinion. You can't rationalize this away by saying you don't care if it's just an illusion. If it's an illusion, that means you are wrong, period. And that is the case here.
Yes, there *have* been *some* increases in *some* lenses. When I've checked across the whole range of lenses, I've found increases of about 20% on average, which some lenses going up a bit more, and others going up less. The 12-24 happens to be one that has *not* gone up even as much as 20%.
Given that 20% is also the amount the dollar has slid against the yen, it seems silly to blame Pentax for this. You might as well blame them for global warming while you're at it.
The only thing that is a matter of opinion here is whether an average increase of 20% - the same amount the dollar has slid against the yen - counts as an "astronomical" increase or not. You're welcome to consider it so; I don't. But thats really not the issue, because as I said, the 12-24 hasn't *not* gone up 20%. It's sitting pretty much right exactly where it's always sat.
Quote: As said, some people may be perfectly happy. That is fine. BUT I am not one of them and I would like to tell Pentax about this.
Fine, go ahead and write them and tell them you are unhappy that the 12-24 costs virtually exactly the same as it did two years ago. Because that's the truth of the matter. Or do you mean, you wish to tell Pentax a lie?
Quote: BTW, I use FA 50mm f1.4 as an additional piece of supporting evidence of the pricing policy.
Right, but you blamed this "pricing policy" on the Tokina alliance. Clearly, the fact that the 50/1.4 was being sold practically at a loss in the past and now is finally being sold for what everyone else has always sold 50/1.4's for has nothing to do with Tokina. No one is denying that some US lens prices have gone up slightly - 20% or so on average - over the last couple of years. The issue isn't whether there has been an increase; it's how *large* n increase it has been, and whether there is any connection to Tokina. You're quite simply mistaken on both counts.