[Kunzite]

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#3 - More manufacturing capability and capacity might be shifted out of Japan but that's it's a stretch to make such a claim as far as the FA 50mm f/1.4 is concerned. Where is the actual proof that it is Made in Vietnam with regards to this lens?

Well, I clearly saw the "Made in Vietnam" label on a brand-new FA50 f/1.4 box. I haven't opened the box though, so it's possible that only the box is made in Vietnam - and the lens inside, made in Japan
Next to it was a FA 35 f/2, made in Japan. It could be an older batch, or maybe not all FAs are made in Vietnam (yet).

[creampuff]

Well, I clearly saw the "Made in Vietnam" label on a brand-new FA50 f/1.4 box. I haven't opened the box though, so it's possible that only the box is made in Vietnam - and the lens inside, made in Japan
Next to it was a FA 35 f/2, made in Japan. It could be an older batch, or maybe not all FAs are made in Vietnam (yet).

Well that would be interesting...
From the many new FA 50mm f/1.4 lenses I have seen in the shops here (both local warrantied and grey imports), all the boxes have "Made in Japan" printed on them.

[Sailor]

OR Hoya told Pentax to forget about volume sales and start making a better profit on what does sell.

Interesting that there's a price increase now - given the global economy is facing a dismal future. I suppose the FA lenses, particularly the very expensive ones, already have only limited sales volume and are sold primarily to enthusiasts. Apparently Pentax believes that what volume is lost will be trumped by overall margin. Of course, what do I know? I'm an organic/polymer chemist.

Jer

[regken]

Of course, what do I know? I'm an organic/polymer chemist.

Jer

LOL! And I'm a marketing consultant which takes the brains of a gnat. The math is interesting. If you are making a net of 30%, a 36% increase in price allows you to lose 55% of your market and still make the same net dollars. If you are making less than 30% the number of units you need to sell drops even further.
Two points. If they are moving production to Vietnam decreasing items sold may be a good idea so the burden on the production facilities aren't strained. Secondly, after the review by DPR which rated the lens very highly and showed it was priced signifiganly under the Canon and Nikon a 36% increase still leaves it below the compitition. I can just hear someone from Hoya saying, "Why the heck is this lens priced so low".

Ken

[Sailor]

LOL! And I'm a marketing consultant which takes the brains of a gnat. The math is interesting. If you are making a net of 30%, a 36% increase in price allows you to lose 55% of your market and still make the same net dollars. If you are making less than 30% the number of units you need to sell drops even further.
Two points. If they are moving production to Vietnam decreasing items sold may be a good idea so the burden on the production facilities aren't strained. Secondly, after the review by DPR which rated the lens very highly and showed it was priced signifiganly under the Canon and Nikon a 36% increase still leaves it below the compitition. I can just hear someone from Hoya saying, "Why the heck is this lens priced so low".

Ken

Uh Oh, Ken - I conveyed the wrong message - what I meant was: "I'm a chemist not a marketing guy". But it came out like I was trumpeting my smarts, which my wife will assure you I lack entirely.

Anyway, the numbers are, indeed, interesting. Which demonstrates the need for a marketing guy (rather than a chemist) to unravel this sort of thing. Your comments sound logical to me.

Jer

[sorksoft]

Money, money, money. Oh well, isn't this the time to get that fabulous limited lens before it is gone. The 31mm LE is a behemoth but it takes so nice pictures. You really should have one, you know. In black, of course.

[ll_coffee_lP]

Can someone post the price list in this thread? For some reason I'm having difficulty with acrobat reader...

c[_]

[Aristophanes]

after the review by DPR which rated the lens very highly and showed it was priced signifiganly under the Canon and Nikon a 36% increase still leaves it below the compitition. I can just hear someone from Hoya saying, "Why the heck is this lens priced so low".
Ken

Market share. Only 3 ways to gain higher volume sales:

1) Advertise
2) Price compete
3) Pray the competition stumbles

This is a very difficult industry to differentiate and stay profitable. It would be nice if a camera company would do that. Sony used to. Apple does. Subaru did it. The camera biz is very, very conservative. Closest I've seen has been Fuji's SuperCCD. They had a hit (F31fd) and the dropped it for megapixels. Can Pentax market its advantages better? Hard to say. It's like engineering doesn't talk to marketing.

[turbosaturn]

Well wishfull thinking would cause me to think that there may be greater demand for the full frame lenses in the near future... Maybe the next Pentax dslr would have a larger sensor that would require the FA series lenses on the interim until Pentax comes up with new lenses.

[Brice]

For me
2 possibility:
-yen become stronger,
-pentax has realized that competitor have invested the field of FF (in the past Nikon said, we won't in the FF area, they lied ), so they decided to do the same, and increase before there fully compatible lens.
Imagine a Dslr with interchangeability of captor, like a computer (on the 645 digital prototype, it was possible to do that)

we will see

[cpopham]

My country (New Zealand) has a pretty small market (population ~4 million). I recently purchased a DA 16-50 and K20, and while talking to the guys at the camera shop, they explained that the local distributor was raising prices on new stock by 10-20% depending on the item.

This is largely because my country's currency has taken a massive dive against the Yen.

I wouldn't take the price rising too seriously. On the other hand, it is entirely possible that someone has sat down and had a good look at profits on the various lenses and has decided that there are lenses in the range which are aggressively priced which don't need to be.

For example, who chooses a camera system based on the price of a 50mm prime? There's really no reason for Pentax why they can't price it similarly to competitors and make more profit...... which they can then invest into R&D on new things.

[fabledviper]

I recently purchased a FA50 1.4 and both the box and lens said "Assembled in Vietnam under license & supervision of Hoya corporation Japan" Hope that clears things up a bit.

[nixcamic]

Well, the good news is we know theyre going to keep making them for a while if they switched production to vietnam.

[m8o]

smc PENTAX A 50mm f/1.2 Brand new - eBay (item 160299554171 end time Dec-18-08 12:45:46 PST)

Well that could very well just be NOS [new old stock if you don't have tube amps ]. Is it still being made annually? Of that I'm quite skeptical.

[thibs]

it may be NOS but AFAIK it was available for purchase a couple months ago in Japan according to users reports. Now, when were they built, good question.