[Docrwm]

Not being a resident of the USA the survival / death of any of the specific brands I mentioned is purely to punctuate the point that a stand alone photography outlet is probably not their objective. All that being equal - I'd say that its a pretty safe bet that the increase is not one that is realized at the PRIC level, it is Minimum selling price to guarantee distributorship. With an organization so thinly staffed, I can assure you a sell direct model will not work, so the pricing situation is tactical to increase distribution. 5 pages of "I'm jumping ship" from the average consumer who buys a camera every other year at best, and collects a dozen or so lenses pales in comparison to a mega merchandising pipeline that can put a K-30 into the hands of hundreds of thousands of soccer moms per year.

Those geniuses at Pentax have said publicly that they are not going to compete on price. So, what is going to lure those hundreds of thousands of soccer moms away from the two top brands? All of Pentax's advertizing? Their sponsorships? Their celebrity endorsements? Their innovative features? Oh wait, no that can't be because they do none of those things. Bad word of mouth, the internet is an easy place to search, is a hard thing to overcome when you are already in a hole, no one outside a few brand loyalists have even heard of your company, and you are unwilling to compete on price.

Good luck with that model.

[ElJamoquio]

I've only checked out about half the lenses on the list, but in dollars to British pounds the new prices still represent bargains compared to what we pay in the UK where prices are far higher, and quite likely in Europe and so euros too. An FA 43mm over here, for example, is the equivalent of $933 including sales tax. I imagine that sales taxes and other things in the USA might even things out a bit but my impression that these new prices aren't high in worldwide terms and for all I know could still be low. However, I suppose none of this is much consolation when faced with a price rise and, just when you thought the Pentax of old was dead and a new era of communication with customers had begun, the lid of the coffin begins to creak open ...

My lens price doesn't include the price of my healthcare. I have to pay for that separately.

[Uluru]

My lens price doesn't include the price of my healthcare. I have to pay for that separately.

We have all gone through this before, and it's been explained many times in this forum. It's the PRIC USA and their thoughtless behaviour and pricing policies in the past, not the rest of the world, that has wrecked the image of Pentax brand across the globe. Most popular Pentax forums in the English speaking part of the Internet are based in the US, full of frustrated Pentax users, and then, there you go ...

[ogl]

Is there any chance to survive?
Hmmm....Ricoh time is rather strange time. Time of P&S cameras. Q10, MX-1, WG-3, GR....No new DSLR. Hmmm...
K-30 is Hoya's time development. K-5II is just upgrade of Hoya's K-5.
Will DSLR division be sold?

Attached Images

 

[rawr]

So Pentax is doomed, I guess.

[interested_observer]

Those geniuses at Pentax have said publicly that they are not going to compete on price. So, what is going to lure those hundreds of thousands of soccer moms away from the two top brands? All of Pentax's advertizing? Their sponsorships? Their celebrity endorsements? Their innovative features? Oh wait, no that can't be because they do none of those things. Bad word of mouth, the internet is an easy place to search, is a hard thing to overcome when you are already in a hole, no one outside a few brand loyalists have even heard of your company, and you are unwilling to compete on price.

Good luck with that model.

• First rule of holes - When you are in a hole, stop digging.
• Second rule of holes - refer to rule #1

[Uluru]

Is there any chance to survive?
Hmmm....Ricoh time is rather strange time. Time of P&S cameras. Q10, MX-1, WG-3, GR....No new DSLR. Hmmm...
K-30 is Hoya's time development. K-5II is just upgrade of Hoya's K-5.
Will DSLR division be sold?

Are you going to buy it?

Jokes aside, no new DSLRs so far would not mean a thing if Ricoh started addressing the lenses first.

If they have committed to reissue some popular lenses, update them, and then change and rise their prices globally, the perception of the brand would be quite different, and people would not complain — they would knew something is going on. Even cosmetic and minor updates would mean a lot to users. But like this, and after almost two years, I'm still quite surprised to see such a considerable lack of basic marketing skills, and no lessons learned, even with Ricoh on board.

[Schraubstock]

Hi

Use Hoya's (Pentax) Colonoscope with an extra long fiber-optic cable and try to find out if any sort of brain can be found in the heads of Pentax/Rico's marketing people.

PS: it may require an extra strong magnifying lens.

[bossa]

As an FA43 owner, I wouldn't pay the $500 I paid for it again. I certainly wouldn't pay $750.

Could you elaborate on that V5 because I've got one in my shopping basket as we speak? ($585)

PS: I bought a FA31LTD for $841 four weeks ago and it arrived today with a scratch on either one if the internal elements or a bracket - I have organized a replacement ASAP. One would think that extra care would be taken with such a premium lens.

[bossa]

• First rule of holes - When you are in a hole, stop digging.
• Second rule of holes - refer to rule #1

LOL.. exactly. And if it ain't broke don't look for glue.

Seriously though, you guys are scaring me...

Based on the depreciation of the Yen against the greenback it does look like the Pentax crew are double dipping to try and compensate.

Reading this forum you could be forgiven for thinking that they are about to fold and are looking to squeeze the last drop out of current product lines.. unless they are slowing down the clearing of current stock whilst they begin totally new production lines. I have a pretty decent Nikon FF system but Pentax has been my photographic soul for 30 years, and, looking at all of this just makes me think that I probably should have sold off all of my Pentax gear and forgotten about building a small system based on FA limiteds. I guess we'll know soon enough WTF is going on.

[v5planet]

Could you elaborate on that V5 because I've got one in my shopping basket as we speak? ($585)

PS: I bought a FA31LTD for $841 four weeks ago and it arrived today with a scratch on either one if the internal elements or a bracket - I have organized a replacement ASAP. One would think that extra care would be taken with such a premium lens.

I just don't think it's that exceptional or reliable of a lens, and I've never bonded with it. The particulars are a subject for another thread, or the user review I posted for it recently, but in short, it was already a bad value proposition at older prices, and now it is just absurd. IMHO of course. :-)

There are many who like it, but would they pay so much to replace it if anything happened to their originals? /rhetorical

[edit] if you're curious to try it and have access to it at the old price, don't let me dissuade you too much. It might fit you better than it fit me, and if not, you'll probably be able to sell it used without much/any loss to a gaggle of willing buyers here or elsewhere. Possibly at a profit if these new prices are permanent.

[bossa]

I just don't think it's that exceptional or reliable of a lens, and I've never bonded with it. The particulars are a subject for another thread, or the user review I posted for it recently, but in short, it was already a bad value proposition at older prices, and now it is just absurd. IMHO of course. :-)

There are many who like it, but would they pay so much to replace it if anything happened to their originals? /rhetorical

[edit] if you're curious to try it and have access to it at the old price, don't let me dissuade you too much. It might fit you better than it fit me, and if not, you'll probably be able to sell it used without much/any loss to a gaggle of willing buyers here or elsewhere. Possibly at a profit if these new prices are permanent.

I am looking for something to stick on my K-01 so I can just slide the damned thing into my baggy shorts pocket.. maybe a DA40LTD? I'm open to advice.

[Giklab]

Are Canon and Nikon offerings in line with respect to price between US and other parts of the world?

I won't do a complete analysis of all the prices, but I'd say they are somewhat higher on average. (Comparing to B&H prices)

[elip021]

Im not sure i understand their business model here. Maybe they think if they hike up the prices when they end up slahing them people will buy more? Instead of toying with the prices they should work on coming out with new lenses. It seems like the competitors are constantly coming out with new lenses.

[gazonk]

I've only checked out about half the lenses on the list, but in dollars to British pounds the new prices still represent bargains compared to what we pay in the UK where prices are far higher, and quite likely in Europe and so euros too.

I only checked the DA14, and the new price is actually higher than store prices in Norway (probably the most expensive country in the world), although the Norwegian price is significantly higher when the 25% VAT is added.