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Huge Price Increases on Pentax Lenses

Gwyn
Posted 30/06/2017 - 09:04 Link
pschlute wrote:
Gwyn wrote:
The pound has lost something like a third of it's value in a year, since the referendum. Price rises on imported goods are inevitable.

Not accurate on the timing I am afraid. Since the referendum the pound has lost about 9% against the Japanese Yen. Declines against most currencies are around 12-15% over the last year. The current woes for Sterling started a good 12 months prior to the referendum.

But agree, every manufacturer has a pinch point where they go for a big wholesale price hike.

I can tell you that despite cost of living increases our UK pensions are down by about a third since last year. I feel that in my pocket every day so I am well aware of movements in the pound. Yes the pound problems started in November 2015 but last June did nothing to alleviate the problems and this June did even less.
kh1234567890
Posted 30/06/2017 - 10:18 Link
1stEverPentax wrote:
Gobsmacked.

What do you expect from a printer manufacturer ? Sell the printer (camera body) at below cost and screw your customer on ink/toner (lenses) which they need for the thing to work ...
stu62
Posted 30/06/2017 - 16:32 Link
Well I would say that Chris at arsenal as done well to keep the prices as low as he did for so long
Because at the open day for the kp he said it would probably April when the hick was going to take place and here we are knocking on the door of July
RobL
Posted 30/06/2017 - 16:50 Link
On the other hand the stuff you have will keep its value better! If Ricoh are reviewing prices after their poor profit performance then I for one would rather see a flourishing quality business than one on a descent into cost-cutting.
Jonathan-Mac
Posted 01/07/2017 - 08:40 Link
stub wrote:
I guess we can expect a rise in the reatail price of camera bodies to be not to far in the distance....

It's already happened - a camera with the KP's feature list would have cost around 200GBP less had it come out a couple of years ago.
Pentax hybrid user - Digital K3, film 645 and 35mm SLR and Pentax (&other) lenses adapted to Fuji X and Panasonic L digital
Fan of DA limited and old manual lenses
Jonathan-Mac
Posted 01/07/2017 - 08:43 Link
McBrian wrote:
Jonathan-Mac wrote:

When the referendum on Scottish independence was announced, the country lost billions of income before the vote even took place.
.

Fake news, the pound actually rose in value all through and after the 2014 referendum, the only way Scotland can lose 'billions' is bye way of the Westminster goverment and the Barnett Formula, but thats a discussion for another place.

Nonsense. Scotland lost billions in investments due to investor uncertainty. That money was invested elsewhere instead because business doesn't stop, plans are changed and things move on.

That same principle applies to Brexit - money will be invested elsewhere instead of in the UK, that drives the economy down and de-values the pound against other currencies, which drives prices up. It's very basic economics.
Pentax hybrid user - Digital K3, film 645 and 35mm SLR and Pentax (&other) lenses adapted to Fuji X and Panasonic L digital
Fan of DA limited and old manual lenses
Edited by Jonathan-Mac: 01/07/2017 - 08:44
1stEverPentax
Posted 01/07/2017 - 11:10 Link
Of course if the Pound stays weak then our exporters should be booming creating genuine wealth for the country and lots more jobs.
stu62
Posted 01/07/2017 - 11:35 Link
1stEverPentax wrote:
Of course if the Pound stays weak then our exporters should be booming creating genuine wealth for the country and lots more jobs.

. There is one problem there as we don't have any thing to export as all the company's are owned by foreign nationals any way so all the profits they make don't even see this country it all boils down to idiots that only have one thing on there minds and that's £ signs
Algernon
Posted 01/07/2017 - 11:37 Link
I heard a rumour that Pentax are going to make cameras here in the UK.......
They might take over the Wray Optical Works and re-introduce the Wrayflex with 45 shots on each roll of film ....... Renamed as the K-3Eye-Eye.... Beat that Canikon

http://www.earlyphotography.co.uk/site/entry_C430.html

--
Half Man... Half Pentax ... Half Cucumber

Pentax K-1 + K-5 and some other stuff

Algi
Gwyn
Posted 01/07/2017 - 12:18 Link
1stEverPentax wrote:
Of course if the Pound stays weak then our exporters should be booming creating genuine wealth for the country and lots more jobs.

Only if the UK can come up with some good trade deals on what little they have to export.
The car industry is worried about tariffs after Brexit. No car ( or aeroplane, or pretty much anything) is made in one single country nowadays, with parts crossing borders several times before being fitted finally.

Anyway the prices are swings are roundabouts. This year they are high in the UK, a couple of years ago they were comparatively high in Europe and you could all have got some real bargains by buying in euro.
Next year who knows?

It's painful for you now but it wont last forever.
RobL
Posted 03/07/2017 - 08:16 Link
Take recommended retail prices (£) of three most popular FF lenses with equivalents across all manufacturers: 15-30 f28, 24-70 f2.8, 70-200 f2.8.
Pentax: 1500+1149+1850=4499
Canon: 1790+2300+1540 (no IS on any)=5630
Nikon: 1670+1849+2650=6169 (only IS on 70-200)
Sony: 1729+1679+2799=6207
Sigma doesn't have the equivalent wide-angle zoom but the other sizes are 899+1539 so are cheaper options.
Where there is more than one option I have taken the cheapest.
Edited by RobL: 03/07/2017 - 08:17
ilovesaabs
Posted 03/07/2017 - 09:27 Link
RobL wrote:
Nikon: 1670+1849+2650=6169 (only IS on 70-200)
Where there is more than one option I have taken the cheapest.

Rob, which Nikkor's? the 14-24, 24-70 and 70-200? the new 24-70 is VR, the older variant isn't. If you expand to say the 16-35 option then the cheaper f4 Nikkor is VR. But there is no Pentax equivalent f4 at any range.

Perhaps Pentax are missing a bit of an opportunity here, some of the Canon and Nikkor f4 are more hightly regarded than the equivalent f2.8s so perhaps Pentax/Ricoh should repackage the DA*60-250 as a D-FA* lens. What to do at the wider end, not sure.
AKA Welshwizard/PWynneJ
Assorted Pentax/Nikon/Mamiya stuff
AlB
Posted 03/07/2017 - 10:38 Link
The limited devaluation of the pound against the yen is just an excuse for the manufacturer or importer/distributor or retailer or all of them to to increase their profit margins. HM's Government also gets more money to waste on inefficency and incompetence with the increased VAT that has to be paid.
RobL
Posted 03/07/2017 - 10:38 Link
ilovesaabs wrote:
RobL wrote:
Nikon: 1670+1849+2650=6169 (only IS on 70-200)
Where there is more than one option I have taken the cheapest.

Rob, which Nikkor's? the 14-24, 24-70 and 70-200? the new 24-70 is VR, the older variant isn't. If you expand to say the 16-35 option then the cheaper f4 Nikkor is VR. But there is no Pentax equivalent f4 at any range.

Perhaps Pentax are missing a bit of an opportunity here, some of the Canon and Nikkor f4 are more hightly regarded than the equivalent f2.8s so perhaps Pentax/Ricoh should repackage the DA*60-250 as a D-FA* lens. What to do at the wider end, not sure.

I picked the cheapest f2.8 where there was a choice from each, I didn't want to complicate matters as my point was to show how favourably Pentax prices compare. If you add in the cost of a FF body from each then that would give a better idea of the cost of a full set-up rather than comparing bodies alone. Quality comparisons are another matter and I bet you would end up with one lens each from three different brands for the optimum set-up, but this thread is about lens costs hence my exercise.
McBrian
Posted 03/07/2017 - 20:34 Link
Jonathan-Mac wrote:

Nonsense. Scotland lost billions in investments due to investor uncertainty. That money was invested elsewhere instead because business doesn't stop, plans are changed and things move on.

That same principle applies to Brexit - money will be invested elsewhere instead of in the UK, that drives the economy down and de-values the pound against other currencies, which drives prices up. It's very basic economics.

Believe what you will, official figures don't agree with you:
Quote:
http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Economy/PubGDP
On an annual basis, comparing the latest quarter (2014 Q1) with the same quarter in the previous year (2013 Q1), GDP grew 2.6%.
On an annual basis, comparing the latest quarter (2014 Q2) with the same quarter in the previous year (2013 Q2), GDP grew 2.6%.
On an annual basis, comparing the latest quarter (2014 Q3) with the same quarter in the previous year (2013 Q3), GDP grew 3.0%.
On an annual basis, comparing the latest quarter (2014 Q4) with the same quarter in the previous year (2013 Q4), GDP grew 2.8%.
Calendar year growth for 2014, i.e. comparison of the four quarters of 2014 with the four quarters of 2013, was 2.7%.

Last words from me on this topic....
Brexit on the other hand is an absolute disasterous folly of economic suicide that will hit everyone and every part of the country except the establishment and will take decades to repair.
Cheers
Brian.
LBA is good for you, a Lens a day helps you work, rest and play.

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