Pentax is having a sale on lenses. There are a few on sale but these two seem pretty good. The 35mm is $150 and the 50mm is half off at $120.

PentaxWebstore.com:smc PENTAX DA 35mm F2.4AL smc PENTAX DA 35mm F2.4AL
PentaxWebstore.com:smc PENTAX DA 50mm f/1.8 smc PENTAX DA 50mm f/1.8

[fuent104]

Just wanted to post an update; I was contacted by Pentax again today and they're currently discussing the matter with management. A decision will be made today or tomorrow at the latest.

Adam, I admire your ability to be diplomatic. You are really great for both Pentax and us Pentax users.

[fuent104]

Canon offers a similar lens all-day-and-every day for $125 Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Autofocus Lens2514A002 B&H Photo Video Nikon too.

For this reason, I among the people who reject the "It was too good to be true, so you shouldn't have expected them to honor this price" theory. That price was NOT too good to be true, it was pretty much directly in line with its direct competition. It was almost too good NOT to be true.

The bottom line, as far as my purchase is concerned, is this: Ricoh will either receive $120 from me for this lens, or $0 for nothing. It's up to them to work out which they prefer. Their hands are not tied, they just need to be creative if they want to come up with a solution.

I bought a Q from amazon about a week ago, and they shipped it with the 02 lens instead of the 01. I contacted them, and they were very hesitant to help acquire an 01 lens, since the original dealer was Amazon Warehouse, and they "no longer" had the kit with the 01 in stock. One representative insisted that all they could do was give me a $10 refund, which I could put towards an 01 lens. Then he raised the amount to $15. Obviously, it was ridiculous for him to state that Amazon was only capable of refunding $15. Eventually, his supervisor agreed to give me a credit of $168, which I could apply to the purchase of an 01 from another dealer on Amazon.

Solutions are possible in most business cases. On this forum, we seem to be pretty quick to make excuses for why Pentax is unable to compete, meanwhile companies such as Fuji, Olympus, Black Magic, Digital Bolex, GoPro, Nokia, Lytro, Lomography, Sony, etc., are continually able to create products that capture the imagination of the imaging world. I doubt very much that the people who work for those companies decide that their meetings that there are plenty of reasons that they can't compete. I'm not sure why we would expect the people at Pentax to accept it, either.

I realize that every company is unique, and they can't all be expected to operate in same manner. At the same time, I believe it's in our best interest to have high expectations for ourselves and others in life. I agree with LaurenOE: I don't believe people are stupid.

[IchabodCrane]

As has been mentioned, I too think an equitable solution is to honor the price for one unit of each lens ordered. That way Ricoh will at least be able to say to their retailers that the potential damage to their business was minimal. Perhaps they will do "something" for them as well.

Also, an obviously "too good to be true" price is more like when they drop a zero from the end. No one expects a 90% discount.

[hongzhibin1987]

UPDATE:
I got an email from Pentax indicating that My offer was cancelled.
Hummm....

[tele_pathic]

I agree that the price was NOT an obvious error. Fundamentally Pentax is charging too much for many lenses and specifically too much for their entry-level 50/1.8 when seen in light of the day-to-day prices of the equalivalent Canon and Nikon entry-level 50s.

THIS x eleventy-billion. I didn't even consider the price to be an error; I simply assumed that the webstore was aligning its prices with the current offerings/prices from Canon and Nikon. Especially for this lens...

[PlumRT]

It is stupid. They are all stupid. I was stupid to think it was real!

[tomwil]

UPDATE:
I got an email from Pentax indicating that My offer was cancelled.

Wow, you were one of the early 8/13 orders. Doesn't look good for the rest of us.

Edit: if you go by EDT, you ordered just after midnight on 8/14. which is where Pentaxwebstore is located.

---

Last edited by tomwil; 08-19-2013 at 02:28 PM. Reason: Correction

[Quicksand]

I agree that the price was NOT an obvious error. Fundamentally Pentax is charging too much for many lenses and specifically too much for their entry-level 50/1.8 when seen in light of the day-to-day prices of the equalivalent Canon and Nikon entry-level 50s.

Indeed. We U.S. customers learned it was not an error when prices went UP 50-100% overnight. Why should we assume a price drop is an error?

[prime.partisan]

Indeed. We U.S. customers learned it was not an error when prices went UP 50-100% overnight. Why should we assume a price drop is an error?

Well it was also an error when the price went up. On your part, for buying into Pentax

[jamarley]

As far as Pentax potentially de-valuing their retailers' inventories, if they honor the prices, there is a bright side. We may hear the excuse that the demand was too overwhelming; we've already seen where backorders are being used as excuses to either outright cancel an order or entice the customer to accept a higher price. Why not offer to buy back inventory from B&H, Adorama, Amazon, et.al., or even have them do the shipping for the webstore while being compensated for the extra labor as well as their original purchase price? In this way, the present snafu is over in a timelier fashion, existing inventory losing its value becomes moot, the customers are placated (stemming the continuing vitriol), and, most importantly, good will is created, something Ricoh/Pentax needs badly at this point.

Then, they have a little time to ponder where the price point will be going forward. Hopefully that decision will be influenced by the realization that it's customer base seems to have a better grasp on where the market level should be than they do themselves!

[IchabodCrane]

The 50mm 1.8 lens disappeared several days ago.

As for the pending charge disappearing from your bank account, odd as it sounds, I've come across this instance several times, with paying Southwest Airlines in particular. Just as you mentioned, the charge would be listed as "pending" on my bank account, then it would disappear for a day or two, then it would be back but "charged" just as soon as it was listed again.

Given Adam's cryptic message on Friday, I'm not abandoning all hope, but the charge is still listed as "pending" on my bank website and the order tracking function of the pentaxwebstore lists my order as "backordered." I would have thought they would have cleared things up/clarified things at 8:00 am EST this morning, but I'll give it until tomorrow afternoon. Then I'm calling again and cancelling my order if need be. Dang it!

Hard as I try, I can't find the DA 15 Limited on the PentaxWebstore, either.

[Uluru]

As far as Pentax potentially de-valuing their retailers' inventories, if they honor the prices, there is a bright side. We may hear the excuse that the demand was too overwhelming; we've already seen where backorders are being used as excuses to either outright cancel an order or entice the customer to accept a higher price. Why not offer to buy back inventory from B&H, Adorama, Amazon, et.al., or even have them do the shipping for the webstore while being compensated for the extra labor as well as their original purchase price? In this way, the present snafu is over in a timelier fashion, existing inventory losing its value becomes moot, the customers are placated (stemming the continuing vitriol), and, most importantly, good will is created, something Ricoh/Pentax needs badly at this point!

Unfortunately, if they were so smart, outsourcing of their own web store would never be an option. When almost all sales channels are dead, b&m store presence nonexistent, outsourcing your own web store — the only tangible way to sell something and still have some vital resources, means and sales figures under control — was an act of foolishness. So it is natural that foolish things, like this, happen. If they had it under control, a problem like this would be noticed within hours and fixed right there, with minimal damage, and not escalated into an agonising, week-long fever.

[PlumRT]

Handle this correctly showing me I deserve a sense of dignity, and you win! There will be a future and you've shown me your willingness to make the investment for it's security.

Don't extend the olive branch, and I'll understand where I stand, as a loyal brand member on a sinking ship you pushed out to sea.

Lets see what Ricoh has planned.............

[seventysixersfan]

Hard as I try, I can't find the DA 15 Limited on the PentaxWebstore, either.

here it is, but I agree it's hidden from the main lenses product page on the webstore. I had to go through the ricoh site and look for DA 15 then click "buy now" to find this page:


PentaxWebstore.com:PENTAX DA 15mm f4 Limited Lens PENTAX DA 15mm f4 Limited Lens

[IchabodCrane]

The status on my order for the DA 35/2.4 is now listed as In Warehouse and the charge on my credit card was placed today.