Official price as far I see here in germany will be € 1499, MayaTlab. Never checked french prices, and that sounds like a mistake, imo. I new the british prices are some amount higher than here, but I would not have imagined the french ones are like this.

For a fast check I viewed amazon.de and .fr:

http://www.amazon.de/Canon-Standardzoomobjektiv-EF-24-70mm-USM/dp/B00A2I1D56/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1353766763&sr=8-2

http://www.amazon.fr/Canon-6313B005-Objectif-zoom-24-70/dp/B00A2I1D56/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1353766704&sr=8-2

The difference indeed is listed as € 345. And Amazon. fr prices it € 100 over the launch price you mentioned, too. Stupid! Even more because other stuff is more expensive too, but the difference is marginal (compared to the lens).

Me too, instinctively, I thought at first that was a mistake, especially as it never happened before for Canon lenses, and not even for the 35mm IS USM. But apparently, they're serious about it. Picture me confused.

You have to wait for the real price until they actually have this lens. Prices are often 10-20% higher when the item is announced. Then the price gets lower when it's actually in stock and they can sell it

Lars Johnsson wrote:
You have to wait for the real price until they actually have this lens. Prices are often 10-20% higher when the item is announced. Then the price gets lower when it's actually in stock and they can sell it

true, wait for the reviews and the actual "street" price

Of course. But it feels a bit grazy anyway to see the introduction price in france about 400$ higher than here in germany. The countries border is just a stone through away.

Ralph

Ralph Conway wrote:
Of course. But it feels a bit grazy anyway to see the introduction price in france about 400$ higher than here in germany. The countries border is just a stone through away.

Ralph

The worst thing is that there isn't even a border per se : French customers can purchase the lens online on German stores without any trouble. Audiophil-foto even answers French customers questions in French, like Thomann.de does for audio matters. It's at best incredibly idiotic to price the 24-70 f4 like that.

MayaTlab wrote:
Ralph Conway wrote:
Of course. But it feels a bit grazy anyway to see the introduction price in france about 400$ higher than here in germany. The countries border is just a stone through away.

Ralph

The worst thing is that there isn't even a border per se : French customers can purchase the lens online on German stores without any trouble. Audiophil-foto even answers French customers questions in French, like Thomann.de does for audio matters. It's at best incredibly idiotic to price the 24-70 f4 like that.


Why so surprised and angry? I buy a lot of stuff from the different Amazon shops in Europe. And most of the time the price is different in different countries. Generelly I would say that Amazon.de have the lowest prices of the Amazon shops in Europe

MayaTlab wrote:
Ralph Conway wrote:
Of course. But it feels a bit grazy anyway to see the introduction price in france about 400$ higher than here in germany. The countries border is just a stone through away.

Ralph

The worst thing is that there isn't even a border per se : French customers can purchase the lens online on German stores without any trouble. Audiophil-foto even answers French customers questions in French, like Thomann.de does for audio matters. It's at best incredibly idiotic to price the 24-70 f4 like that.


I would do this, if I have any friend in germany, concerning warranty (neccessary?).
I see no problem in a price difference about 5 or even 10 %. In this case (tax near equal) it means an add on of 25%. I only can assume, it is a mistake by Canon france.

Let us wait, what happens if the lens is on sale.

Lars Johnsson wrote:
MayaTlab wrote:
Ralph Conway wrote:
Of course. But it feels a bit grazy anyway to see the introduction price in france about 400$ higher than here in germany. The countries border is just a stone through away.

Ralph

The worst thing is that there isn't even a border per se : French customers can purchase the lens online on German stores without any trouble. Audiophil-foto even answers French customers questions in French, like Thomann.de does for audio matters. It's at best incredibly idiotic to price the 24-70 f4 like that.


Why so surprised and angry? I buy a lot of stuff from the different Amazon shops in Europe. And most of the time the price is different in different countries. Generelly I would say that Amazon.de have the lowest prices of the Amazon shops in Europe

For the surprised part : as I said, it's downright weird to see it launched at an extra 200 euros given all recent Canon releases (including the 35mm IS USM, launched the exact same day) were launched at the exact same price. Also, the surprise isn't that it's priced higher (something indeed frequent between French and German stores), but that its official launch price is different. I'm ready to bet its going to settle down at a less dissimilar price down the road (which would make the difference in launch price even stupider).

For the angry part : I'm not angry when I qualify something idiotic. Even more so as I have no intention to buy that lens. I'm just puzzled by the person who said at Canon France "yes, 1699 euros is a good price for the French market, lets do that !", knowing fully well that its a piece of cake to buy something from German stores in the EU. I don't see the rationale.

so there will be sold more here in germany (to france, too) and our prices at least might fall to thw low US standards

The price change all the time on the Amazon France site. So it's not final, and they don't have the lens. It's not 1699 now. It's 1803.
And do Amazon Germany ship free of charge to France? Otherwise it's a shipping cost also. VAT is also one or two percent more I belive.
If looking at Amazon UK you will have another third price also. It's always like this and it's normal. Why would Amazon have exactly the same prices in their five European shops? All other shops have different prices all over Europe. VAT and taxes are also different in all countries here

Again, that the price fluctuates all the time is a normal phenomenon, as is the case that there can be price differences between countries. That the official launching price and current pre-order price is at least 200 euros more in France than in Germany (and in the case of Amazon.fr more than 300 (!!!) at the moment), while another lens launched the exact same day has no pre-order price difference, is the real surprise, and baffles me as there is no rationale apparent to me to justify this difference, especially as it's so easy to buy stuff from Germany (and therefore incite price comparison).

I have no doubts, in the end, that the price difference for that lens will be reduced between France and Germany, but that's exactly why I see no reason to announce it at its current price apart from being sadomasochist and yet again attract criticism like magnet for inflated prices.

NB : I'm not criticising its current German price at all. Just Canon France, who apparently thought it well-advised to advertise their new lens with a 200 euros extra over Canon Germany. It's idiotic from a PR point of view.

Lets come back to the lens(es).
Roger, can you imagine when the first ones reach LRs?

Ralph

Canon UK has two 35 f/2 sample images. First one @ f/5.6, 1/25, ISO 800

I'm guessing the principal advantage of the 35mm f/2.0 IS is going to turn out to be extremely low light autofocus.

I just did a little test with my 5D III. Using only computer screen illumination on a target 10 feet away, with a Zeiss 35mm f/1.4, I was unable to get a focus indication in the viewfinder. At that level of illumination the Zeiss is out of the game. The venerable 35L, however, was nailing shot after shot, f/1.4, 1/40th, ISO 6400 (subjectively, about as dark as a late-night wedding reception). Perfect focus about 80% of the time. So between those two lenses, the 35L is the better low light choice, even if you discount the usual manual focus disadvantages.

However, Canon is now doing some newer autofocus tweaks, and because of that I'm guessing that 35mm f/2.0 IS is going to outperform the 35L for low light. Better low-light focus, plus IS could add up to a real see-in-the-dark monster of a lens. I think the price complainers may be missing the point.

And then there is the question of what happens if Canon updates the 35L, giving it the same autofocus that is now going into the newest lenses, which presumably they will. Even more market confusion, but only because of the range of choices.

Both are excellent sample images. What is not common for Canon ...

Looks as sharp as the new Sigma without IS, doesn´t it?

The depth-of-field of the night market shot at an aperture of f/2.8 for a 35mm lens appears to be really deep/extended. Not saying one way or the other, I just noticed that. And both images are really nice, I agree.

AGeoJO wrote:
The depth-of-field of the night market shot at an aperture of f/2.8 for a 35mm lens appears to be really deep/extended. Not saying one way or the other, I just noticed that. And both images are really nice, I agree.

I see this an an issue with WA/UWA lenses; getting shalllow depth of field and why f/1.4 is so appealing especially on a 24mm. On 35mm f/2 is probably fine and the 4 stop IS would make it unreal for low light work. Looks like it's going to be a nice battle between the Sigma 35 f/1.4 and 35 f/2 IS, but I have a sneaky suspicion, most will opt for IS and the lighter weight of the Canon than the extra stop of the Sigma, if the IQ is close.

Pixel Perfect wrote:
AGeoJO wrote:
The depth-of-field of the night market shot at an aperture of f/2.8 for a 35mm lens appears to be really deep/extended. Not saying one way or the other, I just noticed that. And both images are really nice, I agree.

I see this an an issue with WA/UWA lenses; getting shalllow depth of field and why f/1.4 is so appealing especially on a 24mm. On 35mm f/2 is probably fine and the 4 stop IS would make it unreal for low light work. Looks like it's going to be a nice battle between the Sigma 35 f/1.4 and 35 f/2 IS, but I have a sneaky suspicion, most will opt for IS and the lighter weight of the Canon than the extra stop of the Sigma, if the IQ is close.



If IQ is as close as the price I would choose the Canon because of IS, right. But if IQ is close at 35mm and I guess it will be, I would prefere the 24-70 4.0 L over both, even I would loose another two stops.

I agree with you, Whayne. At $849, lighter and with IS, the Canon might sell better than the Sigma at $899. Yes, those are the official introductory prices and chances are, the Sigma prices will erode faster than that of Canon. When I had my 35mm L, I used it more at apertures closer to or at f/2.0 rather than at f/1.4. So, f/1.4 may not be a big deal for me, again, only for me and my style.