K-7 price dropping already?

Whilst I am patiently (honest!) waiting for the K-7 stock to filter through, thought I would do a very quick search to see if there were any deals on.

Best I've just found with a 2 min browse

Body only £1099.99 - saving £100 off RRP

Body + 18-55WR & 50-200WR £1249.99 - saving £80 off RRP

Grip only £242.99 - saving £27 off RRP

Just wondering if anyone has found any advertised prices lower than these from a reputable supplier yet? Would be interesting to see if these prices hold, or wether Pentax may have reduced the wholesale price, as I wasn't expecting any discount from RRP for at least a few months.

Is this why Chris @ SRS hasn't released his pricing yet?

PS. Same supplier above also has lenses at the following prices! Yikes!

10-17 - £495
12-24 - £1040
17-70 - £560
43 LTD - £784

PPS. If anyone wants my 43 LTD for 'only' £600 let me know!

As you have tried out the K7 I thought I would take the opportunity to ask a few questions. Forgive me if they have already been asked.

How did you find the K7?
I am struggling to think of a reason to buy it, is it as good as everyone says?
What about the size, is it alot smaller than the K20?
What did you like most about it?

Paul

When the Canon 500D came out early May it was up around the £900 mark in Jessops with kit lens as I recall. Now they are selling it £200-300 cheaper

The K7 looks like it is around $1200 plus tax in the USA (similar to Japan) which would equate to £830-ish here inc VAT so maybe this might be where it ends upo, but the question is when?

If not, I might have to take another 'business trip' to the USA sometime soon, which would be a shame

Advertised price in Australia is AU$1539 (£740) Body only link

I would be surprised if it is released at £1200, it seems way more than anywhere else, someones having a laugh

It could be the Canon 500D is not that good?
The only camera that has held its price well is the Nikon D300, super bit of kit.
I just hope the K7 is as good or hopefully better all round.
Ps could you pop into "47th st" and get me a 300mmDA*

Actually, this makes another trip to that photogenic city called Sydney look quite appealing

BTW the UK's nickname for some US manufacturers is 'Treasure Island' because they know they can always get away with Dollar for Pound parity on their pricing on many items. If something costs $1200 there you can bet they'll try and get £1200 here...we're used to it, although with electronics in recent years it has got a little easier as the Internet gives them nowhere to hide if they can't justify the technology as being particular to that country (look at iPhone pricing for example)

or that there is a 'market price' above which their target market won't stand. This may be true of the K7. It might be every bit as good as a D300, 50D or even better models due to its refinements (personally I think it is easily on a par if not higher in some respects), but the market of people who are likely to part with their money for it might very limited at £1200 but at £800 it might be a runaway success. Time will tell

Interesting prices there, my dealings with Devon Camera Centre in past have always been good (HD camcorder accessories).
I must admit I didn't realise the grip was so expensive

Here's hoping Chris will be able to offer similar or a slightly better deal

The cheapest I have seen it is for €1049 at www.fotokonijnenberg.nl.

Now I'm shocked, I thought you guys always paid more, but this really just stinks now. That is not far off half the price!

I am probably the most eager person in the country to get my hands on a K-7, but this has really stopped me in my tracks and made me rethink about wether spending £1200 on a camera now is a good idea.

Just done a quick price comparison and found the D300 following on from Clarky's link at ~£1150 v £740 for the K-7, whereas SRS is £1199 & £1199. Does that mean that Pentax are ripping off UK customers?

This is when I start feeling sorry for suppliers like SRS, as most of the abuse normally heads in their direction, even though it's out of their hands. I really do hope that Chris is giving Pentax some abuse!

Intrigued now to work out the cost of importing from Australia! Anyone know the import / VAT rates etc.?

It's all in a big thread here!

Quick answers:-

Is it as good as everyone says - YES

It's a bit smaller than the K20, but for some reason, it just didn't make a difference, the deeper grip meant it handled better, for me at least anyway.

How did I find it / what did I like most - Image quality has got to a point now on APS sensors, where it is going to be very difficult to greatly improve it, so if image quality is the main criteria, stick with a K20.

It's everything else that makes the difference. From how it feels in your hand, to how the dials feel damped and less plasticky, it's responsiveness, the quiet shutter, the speed, the AWB improvements, the metering improvements, that gorgeous LCD, build quality, innovative features like HDR, distortion and CA correction, adjustable rotating sensor, electronic level in 3 places, larger resolution top LCD, info screen for quick adjustments............

It's just a vastly better package all round, and I can only remember one thing that annoyed me that was better on the K20 and that was selecting focus points, you have to press OK first instead of just pressing the direction you want to go.

Just pick one up and play, and you will instantly answer most of your own questions and want one. But preferably at a price similar to the Australians!

I totally agree Danny, we usually do pay more, thats why I can't understand that price over there, it just doesn't seem right to me.

With such a large customer base in the UK it makes no sense to price them out of the market.

Import / VAT rates, are in the vicinity of 25% if i'm not mistaken :

Danny, for years and years the UK has had Pentax products at much lower prices than in Europe or Australia. Plus cash-back offers and all sorts of incentives never available here. Why do you now assume they are ripping you off? Come on grow up - the pound is lousy at the moment so prices of imported goods will be higher.
I'm willing to bet that Pentax UK come up with another cash back offer for you before very long, whilst we have to pay the full amount no matter.

This line as written above answers that question.

Just done a quick price comparison and found the D300 following on from Clarky's link at ~£1150 v £740 for the K-7, whereas SRS is £1199 & £1199. Does that mean that Pentax are ripping off UK customers?

That is not a 'the pound is crap at the moment' argument to me.

And I didn't assume they were ripping us off, I was asking a question. So telling me to grow up is a bit harsh.