[AGWoodard]

I don't think you're getting what I'm saying. I have no personal stake in this (not buying one anytime soon) and I am not at all upset. I'm just questioning the wisdom of their pricing strategy and wondering why the heck there's a huge price discrepancy in the US and near-identical prices in the UK.

Well then give it a week or so to see where the prices end up before we question whether the sky is falling or not.

A lot of people asked for a K7 with the KX sensor and better AF in the same body as the K7. It seems we got what we wanted, and now we're going to gripe about how much more it is than the Canikon and blah blah blah? No one KNOWS what the price will be because no one has bought one yet.

No Pentax owner should be upset that Canon or Nikon has priced there cameras lower than the Pentax. Canikon obviously knows what their products are worth, so let it go at that.

[DogLover]

I think we all are still looking at MSRP. DPReview lists it as street price but the reality is that it's not on the street yet, so street price does not exist. I suspect that the first street prices we see (for pre-order) will be $200-$300 less. At least I hope so.

[illdefined]

I think we all are still looking at MSRP. DPReview lists it as street price but the reality is that it's not on the street yet, so street price does not exist. I suspect that the first street prices we see (for pre-order) will be $200-$300 less. At least I hope so.

the market will quickly force it to be. once again proving Pentax is the brand that sheds its value the quickest.

[er1kksen]

Well then give it a week or so to see where the prices end up before we question whether the sky is falling or not.

A lot of people asked for a K7 with the KX sensor and better AF in the same body as the K7. It seems we got what we wanted, and now we're going to gripe about how much more it is than the Canikon and blah blah blah? No one KNOWS what the price will be because no one has bought one yet.

No Pentax owner should be upset that Canon or Nikon has priced there cameras lower than the Pentax. Canikon obviously knows what their products are worth, so let it go at that.






[/COLOR][/LEFT]

I don't recall any of my posts implying that the sky was falling, nor am I griping about a camera that I'm not going to buy on the retail market, and again I'm not upset. You seem to be overreacting to some imagined negative attitude in my posts. Chill, man.

I'm simply pointing out that the current pricing strategy (according to available material from Pentax, which is as official as we're going to get) may affect initial sales of the K-5 in a negative way. That's not my main concern, however, as market forces will put the price where it should be after a little time on the market. My main point in posting, again, is my confusion over why there's such a difference between the UK pricing relative to the competition and the US pricing relative to the competition. I'm hoping someone has some insight on that (or that we may hear that the reported MSRP, like so many other specifications today, has been misreported).

I'm quite excited by the K-5's announcement and look forward to owning one in probably a bit more than a year from now. This little economic oddity piqued my curiosity; can't I discuss it without being accused of being an alarmist?

[Vil]

The K-5 is now available for pre-order from Pentax USA. Ships in 10days

PentaxWebstore - Digital SLR Cameras

[illdefined]

The K-5 is now available for pre-order from Pentax USA. Ships in 10days

PentaxWebstore - Digital SLR Cameras

at the market unaware MSRP no less.

why is there no 18-135mm kit for the US?

[er1kksen]

Hmm. Everything in the webstore is at least a couple hundred above street value. Maybe overpricing by a couple benjamins is now Pentax's standard procedure since they know a few folks will buy at the MSRP anyways while everyone else buys at the market-adjusted price. A little extra here and there, eh?

(this post is not serious)

[jon.partsch]

Just to put the K-5 announcement in context, here are the MSRPs of the freshly announced competition in the same market segment (all body-only prices):

USA:

Canon 60D: $1100
Nikon D7000: $1200
Olympus E-5: $1700
Pentax K-5: $1600

Yes, I understand your point, but I think the E-5 is a joke and provides no competition to the K-5. Pentax really needs to compete with the Nikon and Canon offerings. I fully expect to see the price for the K-5 below $1400 US by Christmas. If not, then something is really wrong with Pentax

Cheers!

[scole]

It's now also listed on Amazon for pre-order. Weird because the body only price is the same as the 18-55WR kit.

[er1kksen]

Yes, I understand your point, but I think the E-5 is a joke and provides no competition to the K-5. Pentax really needs to compete with the Nikon and Canon offerings. I fully expect to see the price for the K-5 below $1400 US by Christmas. If not, then something is really wrong with Pentax

Cheers!

Well, I did state that the E-5's pricing is pretty out-of-step with the market and competition and market, moreso than any other camera on the list.

I suspect Oly figures they can price however they want since they've got a captive market of zuiko-addicted users clamoring for a camera that does their wonderful lenses justice. Is the E-5 it? I don't know. I guess that's a question for the 4/3 faithful.

[jon.partsch]

I suspect Oly figures they can price however they want since they've got a captive market of zuiko-addicted users clamoring for a camera that does their wonderful lenses justice. Is the E-5 it? I don't know. I guess that's a question for the 4/3 faithful.

Yeah, I have heard legend of the quality of Zukio glass, but against a 4/3 sensor, what's the point?

This quote from the DPR preview sound like a lot of "blowing-smoke" to me:

The thing Olympus is really pushing with the E-5 is image quality. It's not a new sensor (from what we can tell this is almost certainly the same as the one in the E-PL1), but it does sport a redesigned (for which read lighter) Low Pass Filter (with moiré removed by the processor) and a new 'professionally tuned' Image Engine (The TruPic V+). The combination of Zuiko Digital lens, the new sensor and the new processor is claimed to offer image quality better than any 12MP APS-C camera, and, according to Olympus, many with even higher pixel counts.

[stanleyk]

Well, I did state that the E-5's pricing is pretty out-of-step with the market and competition and market, moreso than any other camera on the list.

I suspect Oly figures they can price however they want since they've got a captive market of zuiko-addicted users clamoring for a camera that does their wonderful lenses justice. Is the E-5 it? I don't know. I guess that's a question for the 4/3 faithful.

Interestingly The Online Photographer has a post about Olympus ceasing production on 4/3's lenses to concentrate on micro 4/3. Someone from Olympus is quoted basically saying they want to focus on mirrorless since it's 40% of the Japanese market. I might find that percentage a bit hard to believe even as an E-P2 user. It also mentions a pro grade (whatever that is) micro 4/3 in 2011 and new lenses.

[sjwaldron]

Okay,

So the Canon 7D is $1500 on Adorama and the camera is generally *still* higher spec. than the K-5 (MP, FPS, AF probably...).

The new D7000 (same sensor, 1 less FPS, rated to 50000 more actuations, more AF points) and will MSRP at $1200.

The K-7 retailed for $1300 when it came out. Considering the amount of time since K-7's release and the $300 extra MSRP K-5, I'm not seeing much value in this upgrade.

Sorry Pentax, if you want to actually get ahead of the game, you need to take some risk here to gain customers. Charging $200 - $400 more for what many would consider less compared to the competition isn't going to cut it. If you want a premium, make the camera different or better in a noticeable way...

[alexeyga]

Once you realize that the difference in price between just ONE Canikon IS/VR lens and a non IS/VR lens is going to pretty much eat up all of that savings by running to Canikon, the price difference doesn't seem to be that big of a deal anymore.

Unless you want to shoot with Non IS/VR lenses, in the long run, it's going to cost you a whole bunch more than the 500 you will save by buying Canikon.

You can either pay for Shake Reduction once, or pay for it every time you buy a new lens.

Price is a one time thing, cost is a life time thing.

The choice is yours, but if you think about it, this is a silly debate when you consider all the factors involved.


A guy with a simple kit of 16-45, 100 macro, and 55-300 would spend over $2500 to just replace those lens's with the equivalent Canon IS lens.

If you're still upset that the Pentax is 500 more than the canikons, I would stay away from used car lots and guys who want to sell you bridges.

Just saying.........

Sorry to burst your bubble buddy, but you seem to be flying in the same wonderland along with Pentax marketing dep... Smoking the same grass perhaps?

Here are some B&H (US$) prices:
Pentax 16-45: 599$
Pentax 100mm macro: 619$
Pentax 55-300: 349$
Total:1567$

Nikon 16-85VR: 565$ (N.B. that this lens owns 16-45 doggy style in both zoom range and usability)
Nikon 105mm VR macro: 779$
Nikon 55-300VR: 389$
Total: 1733$

The sh#t you're on must be really strong... because no matter how hard i'm trying, but when I do 1733-1567 I can't come up with:

A guy with a simple kit of 16-45, 100 macro, and 55-300 would spend over $2500 to just replace those lens's with the equivalent Canon IS lens.

And these are brand new prices... you should check the used market, you're in for a few surprises...

Just saying........

[johnmflores]

Okay,

So the Canon 7D is $1500 on Adorama and the camera is generally *still* higher spec. than the K-5 (MP, FPS, AF probably...).

The new D7000 (same sensor, 1 less FPS, rated to 50000 more actuations, more AF points) and will MSRP at $1200.

The K-7 retailed for $1300 when it came out. Considering the amount of time since K-7's release and the $300 extra MSRP K-5, I'm not seeing much value in this upgrade.

Sorry Pentax, if you want to actually get ahead of the game, you need to take some risk here to gain customers. Charging $200 - $400 more for what many would consider less compared to the competition isn't going to cut it. If you want a premium, make the camera different or better in a noticeable way...

You can't really compare street price to MSRP - it's apples to oranges.

Pentax has historically priced it's top-level dSLR between Canikon's top tier APS-c (i.e., 7D, D300) and second tier (i.e., D60, D90). Methinks Nikon has upset the apple cart with the D7000, stuffing it with features previously reserved for the level above. The D7000 announcement was too close to the K-5 for Pentax to really respond in kind, so I suspect that Pentax is currently evaluating its pricing strategy in light of the D7000. Unlike the folks on the Internet, Pentax can't make that decision overnight - there's probably a lot of spreadsheets and financial models that have to be studied.