Originally posted by Glorfindelrb I don't understand why even direct buy through Ricoh shop has those high prices. Does this mean that Pentax/Ricoh neglict EU market even if it's bigger than NA for them ?
I think there are two separate issues here with two (or more) reasons for them.
1. RP Shop having high prices is normal way of encouraging people to buy through other channels, i.e. making sure your partners make money by selling your products so they will keep having them.
2. RP having high prices in Europe is a bit more mysterious. Might be that they are doing really good in Europe and see no need to lower prices. Or they base their global prices on a longer cycle and use the projected exchange rate.
Whatever the reason I'm in the same boat as you; after checking the prices for some lenses I was interested in, I decided simply not to buy.