Let's face it, the initial rush for the 5/3 wil mean that they'll sell enough in 2012 that they won't have to concern themselves with the price until 2013.
We all know there's enough people out there who gotta have it. I'd say it's going to be tough to track one down for the next six months at least.
I thought the price of FF was going to come down after the 5D. It's kinda beyond me that it really hasn't. Seems to be going up in fact.
Way too early to proclaim anything about Canon's strategy, at this point in time, the 5DIII looks to be spec'd where the sweet spot is, the 5DII was IMO hurt by too many pixels too soon(banding) and too weak of an AF system, this mkIII fixes that(I hope).
And don't forget Canon can one up Nikon with a replacement of the 1DsIII.
And then there is a possible mirrorless option that could be a knockout punch.
Many people are saying that the pricing and plans will backfire/etc. on Canon. I think these people just WANT Canon to suffer and are pretending their wishful thinking is professional business sense.
The fact is, Canon has surely done lots of market research and will set and adjust prices accordingly. Despite our sincerest efforts to call them out on the flaws in their pricing and product lines, they continued to sell crippled cameras very well. This is because they do their research and their PR and advertising = they know how to do this stuff. Can they make mistakes? Sure, and they adjust...
I really wish Canon some bad press myself because it would be some satisfaction after the 5D II having serious limitations that made it far less user-friendly than it should have been. I wish them bad luck for doing so many things that seemed like not listening to working demands...it's vengeful. It would feel great if they flubbed. But they're not going to, because this camera design answers all the requests and demands made...At least, the demands that were made 3 years ago. It doesn't necessarily answer present ones as well...
Maybe the improvements in the video area are more impressive on the 5DIII. Maybe they think the little video industry that sprang up around the 5DII is going to go nuts for a 5DIII at "only" $3500.
artd wrote:
Maybe the improvements in the video area are more impressive on the 5DIII. Maybe they think the little video industry that sprang up around the 5DII is going to go nuts for a 5DIII at "only" $3500.
The video specs do sound impressive, if it was true that well over half the 5D2 sales went to primarily video people then it may sell at $3500 (just so long as the new D800 video isn't as or very nearly as good as well....) regardless.
Still $800 more is $800 more and to really use it well for video you need to add lots of $$ attachments.
I imagine Canon is being pushed to raise prices on there DSLR cameras and lenses in order to maintain margins in there camera division because the point and shoot camera market is collapsing. Canon Point and shoot sales where down 15% last year and the trend is accelerating, most people find there cell phones perfectly adequate and don't see the need to carry around an extra device. I will say that as the prices increase my interest decreases. I try and buy a new body a year but I won't be buying a 5D III until they show up on the refurb site and even then I'll probably wait for a 15% off sale.
Mar 02, 2012 at 12:05 AM
Lars Johnsson Offline • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
David Vaughn wrote:
3 years ago I bought the 800mm for $10K; now, its about $14K. Both the 500mm and 600mm have increased $4K. So, at least in the longs lens market, prices have increased 40% in 3 years.
Prices have not increased so much. But your US dollar is worth less than it was a few years ago. I also have the 800 and other long lenses. And in the countries that I buy lenses in, the prices have not gone up so much.
Most people that don't live in N.America are used to rather large fluctuations in prices depending on their currency going up or down. But American's are not really used to that. Or belive that all companies from every country only use US dollar when selling their products
Prices on the Canon long lenses have not increased 40% in 3 years. (for the same lenses)
Look how much other daily stuff like food, clothes or oil has increased their prices in 3 years time
Lars Johnsson wrote:
Prices have not increased so much. But your US dollar is worth less than it was a few years ago. I also have the 800 and other long lenses. And in the countries that I buy lenses in, the prices have not gone up so much.
Most people that don't live in N.America are used to rather large fluctuations in prices depending on their currency going up or down. But American's are not really used to that. Or belive that all companies from every country only use US dollar when selling their products
Prices on the Canon long lenses have not increased 40% in 3 years. (for the same lenses)
Look how much other daily stuff like food, clothes or oil has increased their prices in 3 years time...Show more →
Good point. Unfortunately our gear comes through Canon USA.
And don't forget that (most of) you pay for Canon gear in US $, but a large part of Canon expenses is in Japanese ¥. Over the last year or two yen gained a LOT vs the dollar.
Mar 02, 2012 at 02:02 AM
Lars Johnsson Offline • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
Glenn NK wrote:
Good point. Unfortunately our gear comes through Canon USA.
Not unfortunately that your gear comes through Canon USA. You can of course order your gear from any shop in Europe or Asia if you don't like Canon USA. And pay the exchange rate yourself. But that would probably cost you a lot more
Canon has to respond with high prices to the D800. Imagine what would happen if they went down 20% with their prices. People would take it as a sign that Nikon is better, second hand prices would drop as well leaving many frustrated customers who would not spend money on new gear as they are afraid to loose more money.
For the time being Canon has no 35mp body, bad for them, but no reason to damage the brand.
In December 2008, just after the 5D MkII release, it sold for $2700 B/O and $3500 with the 24~105mm. The camera was sold out at most retailers by mid December and on back order until late December. The dollar was worth about 97 Yen that same month. In August of 2008 it was about 110 Yen to the dollar. Today the dollar is worth about 77 Yen (I think it closed yesterday at 80). With the dollar losing about almost 30% of its value during that time, is it too hard to see why a Japanese company needs to "raise" its prices?
Hrow wrote:
The steep pricing on various new Canon products has left me wondering if Canon is trying to reposition its DSLRs as a more "elite" product line. Perhaps they feel that the DSLR is going to wane from the pressure of smaller cameras and feel they can increase or maintain profits by increasing the per unit value to offset lower volume. I really have no idea, but their pricing certainly can't be considered aggressive and in fact, it is just the opposite.
For example, I have no doubt that the 5DMkIII will be a fine camera but $3500? Give me a break. That's $1100 over the current, assumingly profitable, price to fix an AF system that doesn't belong in any current camera over $600 and taking advantage of faster, but cheaper, memory to get the FPS up. Sure there are other improvements involved and included but that's to be expected after three years as today's cameras are essentially computers and subject to a similar pace of technological advance.
Some other recent offerings point to the same trend...
$800 for the new 28 f2.8
$850 for the new 24 f2.8
$10,500 for the new 500mm f4
$13,000 for the new 600 mm (BTW that's nearly a $4K increase in case you don't know)
$2,300 for the new 24-70 (up $1K)
Before the flaming starts, please note that I am not saying that any of these are bad products nor am I saying that they are not worth the asking price to those who need or want them. I am simply pointing out the obvious, that Canon is pursuing a practice of big price increases at a rapid rate. ...Show more →
No flaming deserved .
I said this emphatically several times over the last few weeks in multiple threads. It's been obvious to any paying attention that Canon is positioning themselves as the "premium priced" product. Makes me wonder what happened to management, some wanting to maintain a better value structure and some wanting to make Nikon the more bang-for the-buck product. nikon has always been more expensive than Canon...
Canon's pricing will never work as long as Nikon keeps their prices less. You also have to factor in that all the other camera makers (Sony, Pentax, Sigma) are pricing their comparable products significantly lower than Canon. Leica has been able to get away with outrageous pricing for years, but Canon ain't no Leica.
Now, pick up a 5D Mark III and hold it in your hands. Feels good doesn't it? Now pick up a D800 and all of a sudden the Canon feels cheap. Aesthetics, appearance and subjectives are all factors that Canon has never learned to master and Nikon has. I shoot with Leicas because there is something subjective that I can't quite put my finger on, but that I see with photos taken with their glass, with the way the Leica processor processes the shot. Canon has to come up with s a subjective mystique if they're going to justify these prices. Otherwise they're going to hear a loud sucking sound as the rest of their market crosses over to the dark side.
Hulot wrote:
Canon has to respond with high prices to the D800. Imagine what would happen if they went down 20% with their prices. People would take it as a sign that Nikon is better, second hand prices would drop as well leaving many frustrated customers who would not spend money on new gear as they are afraid to loose more money.
For the time being Canon has no 35mp body, bad for them, but no reason to damage the brand.
Huh? So when Canon release the 5DII at $300 less than Nikon's D700, were they damaging their brand
Jeff Donald wrote:
In December 2008, just after the 5D MkII release, it sold for $2700 B/O and $3500 with the 24~105mm. The camera was sold out at most retailers by mid December and on back order until late December. The dollar was worth about 97 Yen that same month. In August of 2008 it was about 110 Yen to the dollar. Today the dollar is worth about 77 Yen (I think it closed yesterday at 80). With the dollar losing about almost 30% of its value during that time, is it too hard to see why a Japanese company needs to "raise" its prices?
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