[Medium FormatPro]

Does anyone at Pentax USA have any kind of Business or Marketing degree at all?

If so it was earned (and also interned) in Cuba

[mee]

Wait for Photokina. I have a feeling we're going to be wow'd!

I thought the same thing last night about today with the rebates.. and, yes, I said 'WOWWWWW' when I saw the prices had increased WITH the rebates.

so.. I'm not so sure.. I'm still holding out to see what/if there is a K-300 and any talk of FF.

Otherwise I guess I'll get a K-30 and ride it out for a few years until I can afford a Nikon FF and uberlenses..

[Clarkey]

Price have not move in Canada, now some lenses are cheaper by 15-20%
Lenses by Pentax - Canadian and Cross-Border Price Comparison - photoprice.ca

The Q in particular is stubbornly highly priced against the US now. ~$500 CAD vs. $399 US for the prime kit.

But if Pentax keeps twisting around pricing like this, *Pentax* won't be around.

Precisely.

Wait for Photokina. I have a feeling we're going to be wow'd!

Even if we are, and there is something there that will blow everything out of the water, the existing lenses are going to be needed to grow the brand. If the new stuff is at a premium, and the existing lenses are still priced at, or above the competition (or as a customer, you have to play roulette when you order), I don't think they are going to get a lot of new market share.

As mentioned, there haven't been too many announcements by US corporate. I wonder if there might be a corporate shakeup (specifically, in the US) going down now that the company purchase is done.

[Uluru]

This is Pentax USA incompetency in its operatic heights. (I'm not an cannot blame mother company in Japan or this)

Can they do something more thoughtful and forward looking? Say, steadily increase prices as they introduce more better and better bodies?

This reminds me of a cartoon in which a doctor asks a patient with a large bandage: "Would you like to moan little by little as I remove this bandage step by step, or would you like to roar as loud as a wounded lion if I strip this bandage off in one quick move?"

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Last edited by Uluru; 09-02-2012 at 02:40 AM.

[24X36NOW]

Amazing how every thread turns into a FF discussion .....

Not that amazing, given that it is THE issue that is marginalizing the brand. Like it or not, it's been the White Elephant in the room for years. It probably keeps coming up because it's important.

The instant Pentax lens rebates that were announced on Thursday have now gone into effect at retailers (at least at the big two in NYC)...but wait a minute: the post-rebate lens prices are higher than the pre-rebate prices!

Perhaps they're trying to squeeze more margin per sale since they aren't selling a lot of lenses anyway.

Nobody's going to buy their lenses if these prices stay.

Maybe nobody's buying them anyway. There is a squeeze based on currency exchange, maybe this is their way of dealing with that since they can't make it up on volume.

[causey]

Perhaps they're trying to squeeze more margin per sale since they aren't selling a lot of lenses anyway.



Maybe nobody's buying them anyway. There is a squeeze based on currency exchange, maybe this is their way of dealing with that since they can't make it up on volume.

If so, their way of dealing with the problem is tantamount to an acknowledgment of the brand's foreseeable extinction, and we should be very worried.

[CRPhoto]

This is just plain WRONG! Yesterday we had $899 lens....now $1499. And how exactly does Pentax USA expects to sell more stuff? The stupidity is enormous.

[Pål Jensen]

This is just plain WRONG! Yesterday we had $899 lens....now $1499. And how exactly does Pentax USA expects to sell more stuff? The stupidity is enormous.

Import it from outside US.
The prices seem pretty constant elsewhere...

[CRPhoto]

I'm gonna check the prices here in Costa Rica. Normally I would go to the US for better pricing, but maybe it's better here!!! lol

[roro]

i was going to wait for the k5 replacement . now they just lost me, as a customer, with these lens price increases.
$3000 to 4000 now heading to nikon or canon

[JinDesu]

Maybe it's a coding glitch in their price report system.

[mee]

Maybe it's a coding glitch in their price report system.

Oh it is a glitch alright.. but not in the software...

[Class A]

How long will Pentax Japan allow such inept and brand damaging management by it's USA distributor?

Hopefully not for much longer.

I don't really know who is behind those stupid price changes, but Pentax USA seems to be the most logical choice.

Too bad B&H and Adorama are not ignoring Pentax USA as Amazon seems to do. Or are B&H and Adorama to blame?

[sebberry]

$1425 for the 16-50?

Yikes. Even in Canada it's $1,099.

[Uluru]

i was going to wait for the k5 replacement . now they just lost me, as a customer, with these lens price increases.
$3000 to 4000 now heading to nikon or canon

This is just plain WRONG! Yesterday we had $899 lens....now $1499. And how exactly does Pentax USA expects to sell more stuff? The stupidity is enormous.

Nikon's 70-200/2.8 now priced at B&H is $2,396.95 Or, 3 bucks close to $2400.

Up to a day ago Pentax' focal length equivalent lens was $900, now is $1525. [Digression: that $1500+ price we in Australia were paying for years already and supporting Pentax like that, so nothing new for us there]

Do you think it is all right for Nikon to ask for their lens $2400? I mean they are world's no 1 aren't they, so they can do whatever they please? And you will jump ship because Pentax asks for their lens $1525? That's still $875 less than Nikon… You can get yourself an extra body. Or another lens or two.

Then, yes, you may say Nikon's lens is FF, there's helluva lot of glass they sell. So yes, let's take into account. Let's divide 70-200/2.8's price by 1.5, or, by the crop factor of the Pentax's sensor. $2400 /1.5 = $1600. That's still more than what Pentax asks for their crop sensor equivalent lens; so maybe you can add extra lens filter too?

And you still think it's too much for Pentax to ask a *fair* equivalent price for their gear? You think they should work as hard as mules, rolling out amazing gear and sell all for bargain, under the grisly threat that you will jump the ship otherwise and be very, very unhappy?

If you still think so, then perhaps that what you ask is too much of a commodity; you ask for a privilege to jump ships, but you deserve to be thrown overboard.