[Kunzite]

I'm continuing to argue that Pentax can benefit from holding retailers to minimum pricing. I'm not arguing that they've set the correct minimum. Please don't confuse those two points, particularly when you're excited.

Well said.

Btw, at Amazon.com some lenses are sold below MSRP (usually by about $100, that would be 22% for the FA 50mm).
The 60-250 is back to $2000, though.

[Docrwm]

Well said.

Btw, at Amazon.com some lenses are sold below MSRP (usually by about $100, that would be 22% for the FA 50mm).
The 60-250 is back to $2000, though.

Which, based on experience with other low volumn high price items, means they sold one at the slightly lower price.

[Docrwm]

I'm continuing to argue that Pentax can benefit from holding retailers to minimum pricing. I'm not arguing that they've set the correct minimum. Please don't confuse those two points, particularly when you're excited.

I'm not confusing anything. I realize that they could have raised prices moderately and not alienated most current customers AND their retailers would be happier too as they would have a lower % of something vs. 1000000% of nothing.

[mattdm]

I'm not confusing anything. I realize that they could have raised prices moderately and not alienated most current customers AND their retailers would be happier too as they would have a lower % of something vs. 1000000% of nothing.

I'd like to point you back at this post from earlier in the thread:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-news-rumors/180664-pentax-unilater...ml#post1903365


In short: Breathe. This will work itself out.

[Docrwm]

I'd like to point you back at this post from earlier in the thread:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-news-rumors/180664-pentax-unilater...ml#post1903365


In short: Breathe. This will work itself out.

I'm not aggitated, merely disagreeing with some of the assertions and premises of those who post repeatedly that somehow things will all work out. For whom? Pentax-Ricoh, probably but not certainly because companies make mistakes - Kodak ring any bells?

[Blue]

I'm not confusing anything. I realize that they could have raised prices moderately and not alienated most current customers AND their retailers would be happier too as they would have a lower % of something vs. 1000000% of nothing.

Even if they take the prices back down half way between now and what they were before, I would be very hesitant to add anymore glass at this time. I may send a jar of Vaseline (name brand) to those old boys in Japan when the DA 560mm comes out with some concise instructions.

[ElJamoquio]

Even if they take the prices back down half way between now and what they were before, I would be very hesitant to add anymore glass at this time. I may send a jar of Vaseline (name brand) to those old boys in Japan when the DA 560mm comes out with some concise instructions.

Yup. I'm looking at Nikon-mount long glass now. I had been waiting for the 560, but this certainly scared me off.

[mattdm]

I'm not aggitated, merely disagreeing with some of the assertions and premises of those who post repeatedly that somehow things will all work out. For whom? Pentax-Ricoh, probably but not certainly because companies make mistakes - Kodak ring any bells?

This is small-potatoes in comparison. Kodak failed because they were in deep denial about digital as a disruptive technology, and couldn't realign their strategy and culture. Pentax is clearly more agile than that — in fact, they're demonstrating that by making changes like this one, and by releasing the Q system even though everyone thinks it's crazy. But more importantly, this is just a pricing change. Maybe it's a misstep, but it's pretty easy to tweak if the numbers say it isn't working out.

Right now, it may be that the retail prices are too high for the market. With the new legal tool offered by the Supreme Court decision, Pentax has the ability to assert more direct control over the supply side of the equation, and it looks like they see an advantage in using that.

It sucks for people who want to buy Pentax lenses cheap. It feels unfair to long-time loyal customers. It even risks losing many of those loyal customers. But how much will all of those things actually hurt them? Are there long-term benefits which might outweigh the losses — preventing a Kodak-style meltdown in the future? Hard to say from where I'm sitting — and, I think, from where you're sitting.

[Blue]

. . .

It sucks for people who want to buy Pentax lenses cheap. It feels unfair to long-time loyal customers. It even risks losing many of those loyal customers. But how much will all of those things actually hurt them? Are there long-term benefits which might outweigh the losses — preventing a Kodak-style meltdown in the future? Hard to say from where I'm sitting — and, I think, from where you're sitting.

I don't see them in a position to pull a Canon, a la FD to EOS fiasco.

[Laurentiu Cristofor]

I don't see them in a position to pull a Canon, a la FD to EOS fiasco.

That wasn't a fiasco - that was the smart thing to do for Canon and they had the guts to do it.

[Blue]

That wasn't a fiasco - that was the smart thing to do for Canon and they had the guts to do it.

It was for the folks that Canon L glass and other premium FD glass. If Ricoh were to announce the demise of the K-mount, imagine how the value of your DA* and DA ltd lenses would go. Plus, you forget Canon wasn't on a slide at that point but Asahi had already began to slide at that point. Canon caught the shift to AF that was created by Minolta. Pentax is at 5% market share in the SLR world at present, so I think a fiasco may be in reverse for them.

[monochrome]

rparmar would point to the inevitable adapter and say, "See!! I told you!!!"

(There's actually an imaginable path for a new mount assuming a K-Mount adapter with contacts. Whoa. Think about the pricing initiative, shutting down sales and production if that was the reason. Yikes!).

[Blue]

rparmar would point to the inevitable adapter and say, "See!! I told you!!!"

(There's actually an imaginable path for a new mount assuming a K-Mount adapter with contacts. Whoa. Think about the pricing initiative, shutting down sales and production if that was the reason).

The thought has crossed my mind that the 560 could be the last of the K-mount.

[Kunzite]

Oh, and how about the new K-mount roadmap full of lenses? Are they lies? Probably after they'll launch you'll claim the products are lies as well, or that K-mount will be killed just after that?
Get real, the K-mount is here to stay!

[eddie1960]

nothing is permanent Kunzite but i agree the K mount is around for a while yet. the investment in Pentax wouldn't have made sense otherwise