[ShutterLag]

AF540FGZ -- + $225 ... so the price will be $625???! ... I'm currently trying to determine which flash to get, that could get me moving a little quicker! - Or rule out that flash all together.

And yeah, geez ... the main reason I chose a pentax is due to the "value" aspect. I'm not going to jump ship yet ... but, this is disappointing news.

[Gooshin]

if canon/nikon do a similar price increase then pentax would still be "value"... just not for everyone :P

[k100d]

i don't think the Canikon increases were this much?!

[ShutterLag]

If pentax does this, does anyone see the third party manufacturers following suit? Like Sigma and Metz?

[Samsungian]

Nikon however raised prices alot more than 18% on their best glass, pro f2.8 VR stuff and lessor goods by 18% in USA. The nikon kit I bought on Jan 14th 2009 is up about $1,000 over the $4200 I paid 2 months 5 days ago.

Just be aware the pentax price increase will happen faster than April 1st. You'll see. Write those good pentax prices down and watch your dollars and loonies loose purchasing power right before your eyes. Dollar still trades poorly against the yen so there is no reason not to expect price hikes for USA market too.

The cool thing with Nikon was they raised prices in Nov 2008 in UK first and slowly elevated price across the planet, country by country. They even hit UK with a second increase before USA got its first increase. So on Jan 14th when it was announced as 18% across the board USA prices increases I fullfilled the order within minutes I had a couple months already think about. You all don't have a couple months. I assume by the weekend all prices will be up. Just like when pentax said their last remaining made in japan pentax lenses would go up a few months ago. I saw the SMC-A go from $539 to almost $700 in a couple days which was well over a month ahead of price increase date. So I passed on the $700 offer and had another reason to add nikon gear to my tool kit instead. By the way I can still buy a 50mm 1.2 Nikon lens brand new out of Japan for.... $517 plus $ 25 express. Pentax still has 1/2 of the Shake reduced dslr body niche. Olympus E3 went from $1295 to $1595 I noticed yesterday at B&H. Well I notice this price related info because I write them down, date it all and check back occasionally. The E3 $300 price pop surprised me.

As long as yen stays strong against the world currencies Photography gear will cost more. I thought pentax would be immune to currency trades since they moved most of their production lines to VietNam back in 2002-2007.

if canon/nikon do a similar price increase then pentax would still be "value"... just not for everyone :P

[farfisa]

It'll be interesting to see what actually happens to retail prices--those are huge jumps, but we all know that MSRP and what you pay in the store are very different. The Pentax web store has always shown prices that are way higher than what you'd pay on the street.

In some cases, the increase is equal to what I paid for my used copy!

I noticed Prodigital2000 has half the Pentax stuff they used to (not sure what that means though).

The DA*55 isn't on that list either--when it came out, people thought it was too expensive, but perhaps they were just adding the price increase ahead of time!

I too wonder how it'll affect the used market--should we just buy everything new now, because that's less than we'll be paying for a used one in a month :P

[lesmore49]

The doom and gloom scenario, Hoya wants to close the doors on the camera operation, so they raise prices to kill sales, and close the operation due to poor sales.

Who knows anymore, eh ? I remember that when Hoya and Pentax were originally negotiating that the head of Pentax was quite upset...can't recall the details except he didn't want the merger....something like that. I don't know what all the kerfuffle was as we would say out here on the prairies...but I'm starting to wonder if the chickens are coming home to roost.

I'm starting to wonder. I've had Pentax SLR's since '68 and I've always been happy with the equipment. Back around '05-06 I came very close to going with Nikon (D200) or Canon (D30). I was thinking at the time that since I was going to buy my first digital slr...maybe this is the time to split with Pentax...as I was not impressed with the ist d...or whatever it was called.

The K10D came out and once again I thought Pentax is the way to go.

Since then I've bought a K10D, 16-45, 50 f1.4, 55-300, 360 flash. I'm very happy with the performance of this equipment, but I'm starting to wonder what is happening here with Hoya.

With all this equipment I've made a sizable investment, especially for a retiree. I'm concerned as another said...all is well as long as the equipment continues to work...but if it breaks down....won't be great if they are out of business.

Yeah...maybe it's just recessionary cutbacks...GM...even Honda have cut back.

Maybe not. Maybe the best thing to happen would be a large electronics corporation like, say Samsung to buy Pentax Camera / lenses out right ...a la...Sony taking over the failed Minolta business.

Like many others I'm speculating.

But I'm also wondering if I should of bought that Nikon D200 or Canon 30D back then...instead of the Pentax K10D? I dunno...the Pentax K10D and all the lenses I have are top rate...I just wish all these wheelings and dealings would settle out.

I've also- been looking for a body as a carry around. Up to now I've been thinking getting a Pentax KM with the 18-55 kit. Now I'm starting to think...maybe a Nikon D40 wit the 18-55 kit makes more sense...might as well be prepared....have to think on that one.

---

Last edited by lesmore49; 03-19-2009 at 08:01 AM.

[legacyb4]

For the record, listed prices today (and projected increases) from ProD2K are:

DA 35 MACRO --- $470 (+200)
FA 31/1.8 ---- $966 (+360)
FA 43/1.9 -- $483 (+360)
FA 77/1.8 -- $762 (+280)
DA 50-135/2.8 -- $851 (+640)
DA 300/4 -- $1,182 (+120)
DA 40/2.8 -- $279 (+160)
DA 70/2.4 -- $648

If those increases are accurate, might be worth putting down on some of the lower lenses just on the resell value alone...

I received the information at work today regarding the Pentax Canada price
increases ..effective April 1, 2009

[asdf]

Who knows anymore, eh ? I remember that when Hoya and Pentax were originally negotiating that the head of Pentax was quite upset...can't recall the details except he didn't want the merger....something like that. I don't know what all the kerfuffle was as we would say out here on the prairies...but I'm starting to wonder if the chickens are coming home to roost.

I'm starting to wonder. I've had Pentax SLR's since '68 and I've always been happy with the equipment. Back around '05-06 I came very close to going with Nikon (D200) or Canon (D30). I was thinking at the time that since I was going to buy my first digital slr...maybe this is the time to split with Pentax...as I was not impressed with the ist d...or whatever it was called.

The K10D came out and once again I thought Pentax is the way to go.

Since then I've bought a K10D, 16-45, 50 f1.4, 55-300, 360 flash. I'm very happy with the performance of this equipment, but I'm starting to wonder what is happening here with Hoya.

With all this equipment I've made a sizable investment, especially for a retiree. I'm concerned as another said...all is well as long as the equipment continues to work...but if it breaks down....won't be great if they are out of business.

Yeah...maybe it's just recessionary cutbacks...GM...even Honda have cut back.

Maybe not. Maybe the best thing to happen would be a large electronics corporation like, say Samsung to buy Pentax Camera / lenses out right ...a la...Sony taking over the failed Minolta business.

Like many others I'm speculating.

My main concern with electronics are the batteries. The one gadget that I had to pry open and put in a new third-party battery was an ipod I was given as a gift around five years ago (since then I've only used Samsung, Creative and Sandisk mp3 players). K20D has easily replaceable batteries and there are third party battery manufacturers. So I'm not too worried.

If your K10D's shutter bites the dust and you can't find a third party fixer upper guy or if the sensor dies, you are still going to be able to find a used K20D on ebay.

[LaRee]

Since stocks and everything else are going down the tubes these days, it is kind of comforting to see my net worth in lens inventory take such a drastic hike up. Sucks for those who have been saving for these lenses and flashes though.

[Clicker]

Glad i picked up the zooms i wanted but the yen is rising, wait till the boys at Nikon and Canon see their respective increases

btw people pick up your 55, ned has some samples on his blog.

[Jack Simpson]

The DA*50-135mm increase is just silly.

Atleast the DA*16-50mm with all its shitty QC issues isn't on that list :-)..

Hi Frogger,

FWIW, the DA16-50/2.8 is going up $80 which, relative to the others, wasn't too
bad and, oddly and ironically, a few months after the release of the DA 50-135/2.8 there was actually a price drop of around $80-$100, if memory serves.

Cheers,

Jack

[Jack Simpson]

so why is the 21mm DA and 70mm DA excluded from these price hikes? (not that i'm complaining)

Hi Eyou,

The DA21 and DA70 weren't excluded from the price hikes BUT they only went
up by around $40 which, IMVHO, wasn't worth mentioning

Cheers,

Jack

[cousinsane]

Pentax is not stupid.

[Jack Simpson]

If pentax does this, does anyone see the third party manufacturers following suit? Like Sigma and Metz?

Hi S_L,

Even though we don't carry the Metz line, a competitor does and they mentioned that
they were selling really well until around the beginning of January, I believe, and then
the prices "zoomed up" in price to the point that purchasing the 'camera name flash'
became just as easy.......costwise, anyhow

As for Sigma, they have had a couple of price hikes but, to their credit, not as drastic as Pentax (and Tamron: 70-200/2.8 = +$400 // 200-500/4-5.6 = + $440 // 17-50/2.8 =+$110) and Tokina had an "across the board" hike of approximately $120 :ugh:

Cheers,

Jack