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Pentax/Ricoh putting prices up

johnriley
Posted 17/04/2012 - 13:13 Link
We have been enjoying relatively low prices for a very long time and we predicted that after the Japanese tsunami and then the Thailand floods that prices would increase. It's not really a surprise.

They will settle again in due course as supply improves, but I'd buy now if we are buying because the problem of supply will I suspect hit very hard at some point. That's just my opinion, and I suspect that it won't be good again for a while.

I hope to be quite wrong, but years back the price was one thing but there was very little available anywhere. If you can't get a 12-24mm lens then the price becomes a bit irrelevant.
Best regards, John
ChrisA
Posted 17/04/2012 - 17:10 Link
johnriley wrote:
We have been enjoying relatively low prices for a very long time and we predicted that after the Japanese tsunami and then the Thailand floods that prices would increase. It's not really a surprise.

If either of these really was the issue, do you not think Pentax would have been completely up-front, and just said that it was? And that we wouldn't all have completely understood?

Hard disk prices went through the roof after the Thai floods, and still haven't come back down. But people understood the laws of supply and demand well enough to realise that if components were impossible to come by, disks were going to get pricey.

However, I find it hard to believe that there was so much stock in the channels that the tsunami and/or floods are only having an effect on prices now.

Seriously
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Pentax K-3, DA18-135, DA35 F2.4, DA17-70, DA55-300, FA28-200, A50 F1.7, A100 F4 Macro, A400 F5.6, Sigma 10-20 EXDC, 50-500 F4.5-6.3 APO DG OS Samsung flash SEF-54PZF(x2)
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cabstar
Posted 17/04/2012 - 17:38 Link
Why do they have to explain their price increases???

They set the price they want or need for their business to be successful, the customer then decides whether to buy or not. On a purely business point of view, no business puts up prices in a very competitive market, particularly technology markets without considering the consequences.

I am sure Pentax will have taken into account the market equilibrium price along with the supply & demand curves.

Price setting is really difficult in business & I am sure Pentax will have plenty of experts working behind the scenes which takes all this into account..
PPG Wedding photography Flickr
Concert photography

Currently on a Pentax hiatus until an FF Pentax is released
alan S
Posted 17/04/2012 - 17:46 Link
As long as Pentax/Ricoh realise that if the price/quality doesn't match then consumers will look at the third party options and I'm sure the likes of Sigma and Tamrom will be watching the markets.

However it would be lucky days to find that odd little gem in the backstreet shops like my Teleplus PZ-AF X2 converter for £20 prior to SDM drives becoming the norm of the 50MM "A" for a fiver, sometimes it's just luck. Be hopeful.

Alan
Pentax A3, IstD, K10 50mm 1.7 M & A, 16-45, 18/35, 18/55(x2), 28/90FA, 80/320FA, AF36FGZ, AF500FTZ
Sigma 24/135, 150/500
Tamrom adaptall2. 500mm mirror. 70-300 DI.
grahamcoad
Posted 17/04/2012 - 17:49 Link
HMMMM will be good for the used market and the already competitive Sigma, Tamron etc...

..and older Pentax/Takumar glass on a certain Internet Auction site.....

We live in interesting times!
K-1, Sigma 12-24mm DG EX, Sigma 24-70mm DG EX, K-3, White K-01 with 40mm XS and white 35mm f2.4, SMC Pentax FA 1.8 31mm AL Limited, 43mm f1.9 Limited, 77mm f1.8 Limited, Sigma 17-50 f2.8, SMC Pentax DA* 50-135 f2.8, MX + SMC M 50mm f1.4, SMC A 50mm f1.4, SMC A 50mm f1.2, Spotmatic F 55mm f1.8, ES with 55mm f1.8 and 28mm f3.5, Program Plus (Chrome) with SMC A 50mm f1.7, Pentax 6x7, Leica ii, plus misc. odds and sods)
cabstar
Posted 17/04/2012 - 17:52 Link
alan S wrote:
As long as Pentax/Ricoh realise that if the price/quality doesn't match then consumers will look at the third party options and I'm sure the likes of Sigma and Tamrom will be watching the markets.

Alan

This market has always been there... I am sure Tamron & Sigma will also be looking at price increases too...
PPG Wedding photography Flickr
Concert photography

Currently on a Pentax hiatus until an FF Pentax is released
Gwyn
Posted 17/04/2012 - 18:07 Link
Tamron have all but withdrawn from making Pentax fit lenses so I don't think they'll be bothered one way or the other. They have already decided there is no money in Pentax.

Sigma too seem to be less inclined towards Pentax, and are removing OS from Pentax lenses which previously had it - yet are still charging the same price for a non OS Pentax as they are for an OS Canikon lens.
dougf8
Posted 17/04/2012 - 18:45 Link
no Tamron or Sigma means no
competition and prices might well go up,
because they can ..... bigger profits for Pentax.
Lurking is shirking.!
Hyram
Posted 17/04/2012 - 19:50 Link
This thread seems a bit tough on SRS, since presumably everyone is putting up their prices as and when new stock arrives.

SRS shifts a lot of stock and therefore is probably one of the first to receive stock at the new, higher prices.
Hyram

Bodies: K20D (2), K10D, Super A, ME Super, Auto 110 SLR, X70, Optio P70
Pentax Glass: DA* 300, DA* 60-250, DA* 50-135, DA* 16-50, DA 70 Ltd, FA 31 Ltd, DA 35 Ltd, DA 18-55 (2), DA 12-24, DA 10-17, M 200, A 35-70, M 40, M 28, Converter-A 2X-S, 1.4X-S, AF 1.7, Pentax-110 50, Pentax-110 24
Other Glass: Sigma 105 macro, Sigma-A APO 75-300
Flash: Metz 58 AF-1 P, Pentax AF160FC ringflash, Pentax AF280T
gartmore
Posted 17/04/2012 - 20:04 Link
Good point, Hyram.

This forum seems to be intent on attacking people who would be its natural supporters at present.
Ken
“We must avoid however, snapping away, shooting quickly and without thought, overloading ourselves with unnecessary images that clutter our memory and diminish the clarity of the whole.” - Henri Cartier-Bresson -
helios
Posted 17/04/2012 - 20:06 Link
Now that Ricoh own Pentax and have been in charge for the past six months they will have been looking at price structures throughout the new camera division. Ricoh do not just make photocopiers, they have been making cameras and lenses for quite a few years. If you look at the Ricoh range of cameras, apart from a few cheap point and shoots, most of their equipment is aimed at keen photographers who are willing to pay high prices for well designed small often pocketable cameras with good ergonomics and built to a high standard.

Like Pentax they seem to aim at the keen amateur and semi pro photographers and make quite innovative small camera systems such as the GXR range which is really very expensive. As it is difficult to compete in the mass market they may be aiming at a smaller high value high quality market. Let us hope that if this is the aim there will be a greater emphasis on quality control so that the higher prices are justified.
Archie
Edited by helios: 17/04/2012 - 20:11
DrOrloff
Posted 17/04/2012 - 20:48 Link
Hyram wrote:
This thread seems a bit tough on SRS, since presumably everyone is putting up their prices as and when new stock arrives.

SRS shifts a lot of stock and therefore is probably one of the first to receive stock at the new, higher prices.

Good point. Due to some very recent dealings once I learned of the price rises I can attest to the integrity of SRS as a retailer. I have had no better customer service, anywhere, ever.
johnriley
Posted 17/04/2012 - 21:16 Link
gartmore wrote:
Good point, Hyram.

This forum seems to be intent on attacking people who would be its natural supporters at present.

Totally agree.
Best regards, John
DaveHolmes
Posted 18/04/2012 - 00:58 Link
I don't actually ever shop at SRS (it's too far away and I like to shop test items) but I do often use their website as my local independent camera shop will price match against them. SRS's prices seem in general very competative and they've saved me money a couple of times...
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Digital:
Pentax K5- Vivitar 19mm 3.8; FA35mm f2; D-Xenon 100mm macro f2.8; DA50-200mm WR...
Flash:
Yongnuo YN-560; Vivitar 285HV; Cactus V4 triggers...
Film:
Pentax-MX & M50mm f1.4; Spottie & 55mm f1.8; MG & M40mm 2.8...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/daveholmesphotos/
DaveHolmes
Posted 18/04/2012 - 01:27 Link
johnriley wrote:
gartmore wrote:
Good point, Hyram.

This forum seems to be intent on attacking people who would be its natural supporters at present.

Totally agree.

If anything that just goes to show how massively out of touch the User Team is with a growing proportion of the actual Pentax User Community...

Anything the User Team disagrees with is immediately dismissed as nonconstructive and/or insulting, and there's obviously a serious lack of understanding when it comes to the use of sarcasm (the use of which, as a staple of British life I wholly support)...

I absolutely understand the need for moderation on any forum but posts from the User Team often come across not in the vain of moderation, but more like we're being policed and belittled as members and is sometimes frankly arrogant.

Attacking the members you represent and moderate is not how to keep a thriving forum thriving!

It is quite possible to be cynical and Pro-Pentax; to celebrate the good and to ask difficult questions; to be upfront, forthright and sarcastic without the intent of confrontation...

Best regards
Dave
........................................................................
Digital:
Pentax K5- Vivitar 19mm 3.8; FA35mm f2; D-Xenon 100mm macro f2.8; DA50-200mm WR...
Flash:
Yongnuo YN-560; Vivitar 285HV; Cactus V4 triggers...
Film:
Pentax-MX & M50mm f1.4; Spottie & 55mm f1.8; MG & M40mm 2.8...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/daveholmesphotos/

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