Prices are increasing from Monday 1st Dec

Pentax and most camera makers are increasing prices soon due to the drop in the value of the pound against most major currencies recently.

Pentax are increasing UK prices on new orders to dealers from Monday 1st Dec by 15%, the Euro prices remain unchanged.

Dealers who have reasonable stocks and order coverage should be able to continue to offer pre-increase prices for a short period.

I know that SRS will do this, see link

Don't know about other dealers.

If you are contemplating any new purchases, I would suggest that you don't delay

Does this affect new Pentax items such as the ringflash that has not even arrived yet, even though we are almost in December :

I have no idea, but I would imagine that any "not yet available" items would be subject to the new prices.

I would ask Chris at SRS if he has any on order and at what cost.

I am sure that he has a lot on order, since it is likely to be a popular item, but Pentax UK may decide to crank the price up and we would be none the wiser, as pricing levels for it are not known

Damn my central heating .
Just as well Euro prices are staying the same - some lenses here are over 100 pounds more than in the UK .

If Pentax UK haven't any stock because it's a new item, then the price, when announced, will obviously be based upon new Euro/£ calculations as there isn't any "old" price.

I have never understood what the euro / pound exchange rate has to do with the pricing of goods that are made in the Far East.

Quote from HM Revenue & Customs site "With effect from 1 December 2008, customs duty will not be applied on goods with a value less than £105."
I think you still have to pay VAT but for items below this value it may be worth looking at suppliers outside the EU

Pentax Europe GmbH (European Headquarters) are supplied by Pentax Japan.

Pentax UK is supplied via Pentax Europe and the products are supplied from a central location to all the countries covered by the European operation and billed to those operations in Euros and the local prices are calculated according to an internal exchange rate decided on from time to time. If there is a substantial shift in the exchange rates, the local subsidiaries will adjust their prices accordingly.

The Pentax subsidiaries covered by Pentax Europe are:

Pentax Germany
Pentax UK
Pentax France
Pentax Benelux
Pentax Switzerland
Pentax Scandinavia.

I believe that many other makers have similar operational structures with European headquarters and warehousing based within the EU and use Euros as the base currency. Those European countries that use the Euro are unaffected. Maybe a few in the UK now wish we had adopted the Euro rather than stick with the Pound!

One dealer has reported that he has had notification of price rises up to 25%! (Not from Pentax!)

I hope this explains the situation.

Thanks for the information.