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05-18-2009, 08:43 AM   #46
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QuoteOriginally posted by jeffkpotter Quote
Uh let me see. We hit hard times economically. My dentist is all of a sudden getting less customers. So what does he do to maintain his posh lifestyle? Raise prices on those who can still pay of course. Maybe let a receptionist go as well. Meanwhile others go toothless. Why is this a surprise? It shouldn't be.
Perhaps in US, were i live new car sells bad as everywhere , but also car repair shops go bad. And if a dentist here rice the prices to much, we go to Poland or Baltic countries with bad tooth were the dentist prices are 1/3 - 1/5 of Swedish prices.

So if a DA lens cost 1000$ here and 3-400$ at B&H photo, you guess that people do.
So then i check today FA35 and FA 50 has drop to prices as for a year ago, it can be temporary but in January this lenses rice around 40%. And the Swedish krona are the ~same against € and $ as in January.

05-18-2009, 10:00 AM   #47
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QuoteOriginally posted by Edvinas Quote
...
I don't think that price increase is for Lithuania only, Europeans, this is clear message for you: if you plan to buy Pentax lenses, better do ir right now, morons at Hoya decided to become Leica number two...
This is disappointing news. It seems there has already been a bit of a rise in the pentax lens price trends.
05-18-2009, 10:41 AM   #48
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We had the price hike in January in Estonia - all Pentax lens prices went up by about 80-150 euros (less for the cheaper lenses, more for the expensive ones). Was not a pleasant surprise when I finally made up my mind and went to buy the 50-135mm SDM lens in the very beginning of January and had to pay 150 euros more than I'd expected to.

But the prices are still lower than what the Lithuanian prices seem to be (e.g. the 12-24mm is 12,000 EEK = about 770 euros). I'm rather hoping they'll be staying where they are here, not going up any more!
05-18-2009, 01:25 PM   #49
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Pentax clearly advertised a price increase for the FA lenses in January, I think it was effective from Feb 1. On top of this there was also an adjustment for the exchange rate between Yen and SEK, so the total price increase was quite high. I made some posts on this, and also ordered the DA*200 and DA*300 while I still could only just not afford them (much better than not even being able to consider a purchase). I managed to get hold of copies on the old price, so I was happy. Immediately after this prices went up a lot, the DA*300 went from around €1200 to €1800. Prices has since come down a bit again.

The price increase of the FA is of course a concious decision. Maybe their costs has increased that much, maybe the volumes has dropped so costs has increased, or possibly the only ones buying the FA lenses would still buy at a higher price...

Regarding the exchange rates there is not much Pentax can do about that, except further reduce their costs to be able to lower the prices.

I surely hope Pentax has not decided to increase prices as a strategy. One of the reasons I have stayed with Pentax all these years is that every time I check Nikon, I realise I could not afford the lenses I would want. If Pentax would be similarly priced I might still stay for other reasons, but if I could not afford the Nikon lenses I would not afford the Pentax lenses either if they were priced the same.

05-18-2009, 02:02 PM   #50
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QuoteOriginally posted by Bophoto Quote
1. Strange if Pentax cameras and lenses in Norway donīt come from Focus trading?
They come From Aronsen. Focus Trading and Aronsen are both part of Focus Nordic, so they're related. I've not seen any official price list since they were appointed distributors, but I haven't seen any huge price hikes either, at least not for lenses which are on my wish list :-)

QuoteQuote:
2. Didīt you see about DA*300 in New Zeeland and many other posts?
5000New Zeeland dollar in New Zeeland and send to his door from BH-photo in New York under 2000!!!
5000 NZD? That's ridiculous. The price in Norway seems to be (with current rates) 3500NZD +/- 100NZD. But again, the NZD has been a volatile currency over the last few months, that may partly explain it.

A different example: The DA70 is less expensive (I think about 20% less) now than it was in january 2008, when I bought it (but I bought it in Japan for 1/2 the norwegian price at that time).
05-18-2009, 04:22 PM   #51
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Hmmmm, not sure about this to be honest. Why is the FA50mm shown on that price list, Its not been made for the last 5 years?
Sure there are stocks still around, but they have already been bought by the dealers years ago, so won't be subject to any price increase as not coming new from Japan.

It might seem that the dealer might be trying to pull a fast one and upping prices due to current currency fluctuations, and stating that it is due to this, although clearly it is not.
05-18-2009, 05:07 PM   #52
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Fa50 fa35

QuoteOriginally posted by quarc Quote
Pentax clearly advertised a price increase for the FA lenses in January, I think it was effective from Feb 1. On top of this there was also an adjustment for the exchange rate between Yen and SEK, so the total price increase was quite high. I made some posts on this, and also ordered the DA*200 and DA*300 while I still could only just not afford them (much better than not even being able to consider a purchase). I managed to get hold of copies on the old price, so I was happy. Immediately after this prices went up a lot, the DA*300 went from around €1200 to €1800. Prices has since come down a bit again.

The price increase of the FA is of course a concious decision. Maybe their costs has increased that much, maybe the volumes has dropped so costs has increased, or possibly the only ones buying the FA lenses would still buy at a higher price...

Regarding the exchange rates there is not much Pentax can do about that, except further reduce their costs to be able to lower the prices.

I surely hope Pentax has not decided to increase prices as a strategy. One of the reasons I have stayed with Pentax all these years is that every time I check Nikon, I realise I could not afford the lenses I would want. If Pentax would be similarly priced I might still stay for other reasons, but if I could not afford the Nikon lenses I would not afford the Pentax lenses either if they were priced the same.
QuoteOriginally posted by offertonhatter Quote
Hmmmm, not sure about this to be honest. Why is the FA50mm shown on that price list, Its not been made for the last 5 years?
Sure there are stocks still around, but they have already been bought by the dealers years ago, so won't be subject to any price increase as not coming new from Japan.

It might seem that the dealer might be trying to pull a fast one and upping prices due to current currency fluctuations, and stating that it is due to this, although clearly it is not.
Swedish krona was falling in fall 08 and the pricerice was in beginning of January, But now FA50 and FA35 are back to old good prices at Cyberphoto;
FA50 = 260€
FA35 = 299€

offertonhatter, FA50 has been in production all the time in Japan,
but now they produce it in Vietnam.

05-18-2009, 05:49 PM   #53
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QuoteOriginally posted by Bophoto Quote
2. Didīt you see about DA*300 in New Zeeland and many other posts?
5000New Zeeland dollar in New Zeeland and send to his door from BH-photo in New York under 2000!!!
That was me - for me, the thing which is really insane is that the K20 kit costs more than a D300 body here. I've heard that the local distributor doesn't buy in large volumes, so is unable to obtain decent prices. Then again, they might just be price gouging the small captive market they have, I really don't know.

What I do know, is that CR Kennedy, who are the Australian Pentax distributor, as well as the Australian and New Zealand Sigma distributor, are able to put Sigma gear in the camera shops here at decent prices. Conversely, there is little Pentax gear on the shelves here, and what little there is is very overpriced.

QuoteOriginally posted by gazonk Quote
5000 NZD? That's ridiculous. The price in Norway seems to be (with current rates) 3500NZD +/- 100NZD. But again, the NZD has been a volatile currency over the last few months, that may partly explain it.
That $5000 price does include 12.5% GST (our name for VAT), so it's really $4450. The DA* 300 has always been insanely priced here (along with the DA* 200 actually).

Realistically, it's not much of a problem, since there isn't really a service centre in this country, so I lose little by buying from overseas. It's just a crying shame I can't support the awesome guys at my local camera store. I do what I can by buying things like filters, and camera bags there...

I can't blame the guys down there for not trying to sell Pentax though - when a K20 is in the same price bracket as a D300, and the lenses are more expensive than Nikon equivalents.... well yeah it's not exactly a good value proposition.
05-18-2009, 10:26 PM   #54
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QuoteOriginally posted by janneman Quote
Why is this price drop bad???
Many people stil l think that expensive is better quality... Maybe they will sell more if their prices are up to Nikon/Canon level
Well, I don't see a lot of people shooting Pentax here, and that's even with Pentax items here selling at near full MSRP, and very close (if not above) Canon and Nikon equivalent offerings, so I still think it's not a workable proposition, especially in a country that has a much lower average income than their European or American brethren.

Personally, I bought Pentax (via outside means) because of the value proposition I saw in the DSLRs. While I would love to buy Pentax glass, current prices drove me to buy third-party glass, which means a few more lost sales by Pentax. I don't mind paying a bit more for first-party glass, but a $300 difference between the Tamron 17-50/2.8 and Pentax 17-70/4 doesn't do Pentax any favors.

I'm still hoping Pentax doesn't overcharge for the WR lens. Sure it's sealed, but it's a variable-aperture kit lens, still.
05-19-2009, 02:21 AM   #55
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In Lithuania people can't buy Pentax lenses, because Canon or Nicon prices better ! Pentax/Hoya what's wrong with you ????

For example (Lithuania prices):

Canon 35mm f/2 ~260 eur.

Nikon 35mm F1.8G AF-S DX ~ 230 eur.

Pentax 35mm f/2 AL smc-FA ~690 eur.
05-19-2009, 02:25 AM   #56
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QuoteOriginally posted by cpopham Quote
That $5000 price does include 12.5% GST (our name for VAT), so it's really $4450.
Well, the $3500 price I quoted includes 25% of our VAT, so it's really $2800... and I live in the most expensive country in the world...
05-19-2009, 02:27 AM   #57
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QuoteOriginally posted by Vaikis_ Quote
In Lithuania people can't buy Pentax lenses, because Canon or Nicon prices better ! Pentax/Hoya what's wrong with you ????

For example (Lithuania prices):

Canon 35mm f/2 ~260 eur.

Nikon 35mm F1.8G AF-S DX ~ 230 eur.

Pentax 35mm f/2 AL smc-FA ~690 eur.
~290 EUR (+ 25% VAT) here... Something is really wrong with your distributor!
05-19-2009, 02:31 AM   #58
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QuoteOriginally posted by gazonk Quote
~290 EUR (+ 25% VAT) here... Something is really wrong with your distributor!
DA* 16-50 ~837 EUR (incl. VAT)
DA 12-24 ~953 EUR (incl. VAT)
DA* 50-135 ~866 EUR (incl. VAT)

What you prices ?
05-19-2009, 03:11 AM   #59
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QuoteOriginally posted by Vaikis_ Quote
DA* 16-50 ~837 EUR (incl. VAT)
DA 12-24 ~953 EUR (incl. VAT)
DA* 50-135 ~866 EUR (incl. VAT)

What you prices ?
In Estonia, in the main Pentax distributor stores (all prices including 18% VAT):

DA* 50-135mm ~ 925 euros
DA 12-24mm ~ 770 euros
DA* 16-50mm ~ 800 euros

Oddly enough, the DA* 50-135 is quite a bit more expensive here while the other two are cheaper. We don't seem to have the FA 35mm f/2 at all here, so can't compare that one.
05-19-2009, 03:33 AM   #60
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QuoteOriginally posted by Vaikis_ Quote
DA* 16-50 ~837 EUR (incl. VAT)
DA 12-24 ~953 EUR (incl. VAT)
DA* 50-135 ~866 EUR (incl. VAT)

What you prices ?
Not too different. From one dealer:

DA*16-50: 730 w/o VAT - 913 incl. VAT
DA12-24: 694/867
DA*50-135: 822/1028

Last edited by gazonk; 05-19-2009 at 04:20 AM.
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