Saw a post on nikonrumors.com that Nikon has already adjusted prices down on the D600 in Europe. From what my local camera store has said the pent up demand for this camera is not nearly what it was for the D800. That combined with what appears to be a healthy supply on D600's available in the market so soon after the announcement makes me think a price adjustment may hit hear in the US over the next month or so for those who can be patient. I know early on when the rumors came out on this camera it was hoped it would be closer to $1800 US.
As good as that sounds, unfortunately I don't think the US will see any price any time in the foreseeable future. The reason I don't think so is that Nikon has a new policy (about a year now) regarding minimum pricing on gear sold through their authorized dealers and any dealer found in violation of the policy would risk losing their dealership. In Europe though, Nikon has no such policy and is probably why they priced the D600 at such high initial price (a way of anticipating the eventual price drop).
In my opinion, I think they priced the D600 too close to the D800. $900 is not that big of a gap and you get a much superior body with the D800. When the D700 was announced, it was almost half the price of the D3, and that's what made it appealing to a lot of folks.
If you're a pro who earns money almost daily from photography, $900 isn't a big gap. If you keep the camera two years, that's only $8.65 a week, probably less than coffee money. So sure, if I were a full-time pro photographer, I'd definitely go for the D800.
But for those who don't make their living from photography (or who are not rich) and in the world of retail at this price range, $900 is a very large and appropriate gap.
I actually don't think we'll see a reduction in the U.S. price in the short term. It was unrealistic to think that this camera would come in at $1800, especially considering how the US Dollar has lost value against the Yen. When the D200 came out in late 2005, it listed for $1700. Since then, the US dollar has fallen 34% against the Yen. That means that if the D200 came out today, it would have been $2278, which means the D600 is priced less than the D200 - a pretty good deal IMO.
Or, it means that if the Yen/Dollar relationship was the same today as it was back then (118.60), the D600 might have been only $1386. You can't blame Nikon - blame both Democratic and Republican administrations of the U.S. government for keeping the dollar weak against the Yen. This happens because they think a cheap dollar will improve exports and because they keep printing money to pay for wars and the debt.
And if we do see a reduction, it's not going to be direct. It will be a rebate if you buy a body and lens or something of the sort.
$2100 over three years is $13.46 a week. That's really not a bad investment.
The European prices were initially much closer to the D800 than in the US. There was a unanimous "What the heck?!" and then they dropped.
While the price is higher than originally rumored over here I think $900 was still a bigger separation. $900 is not a lot for a working pro but Nikon isn't calling this a "pro" camera though many pros will use it without a doubt. $2100, while very high for a consumer camera is a lot easier for many nonpros to talk themselves an their spouses into than $3000 as we have already been seeing.
I think that based on what appears to be an abundant supply and increasing competition from mirrorless cameras that Nikon may have misjudged demand and hence price for this camera. Good point made above on the dollar vs yen but at the end of the day supply and demand still rule markets. Look at much Fuji has had to adjust the price of the x Pro 1. The market is saturated right now with new gear and in the battle for market share price plays a major role
DigMeTX wrote:
In the US it's not up to retailers due to Nikon's strict MAP policy.
brad
+1 for truth
I know in Canada if we advertise this for less than MAP pricing we would potentially be black listed from buying this camera again from Nikon Canada. We are free to sell for as low as we want with no repurcusions but we cannot advertise it.
I don't know why this is so surprising - the D600 was overpriced vs the D800 from the start in Europe. They are just correcting quickly in an economically distraught market. In my opinion, the D800 was under-priced - they could have priced it at $3199 and no-one would have said much.
Personally I doubt you'll see much discounting very soon...
I'd imagine there ought to be a decent amount of leeway in the US for price drops, from current prices. [I've further heard on the 'net that there is]. This would be typical: Nikon's marketing strategy for consumer/enthusiast gear always has the option for discounts. I'd imagine Nikon's also preparing further medium performance enthusiast-oriented FX lenses; as those come on the line, Nikon may discount the D600 to near cost in order to get people to buy into the lenses.
That being said, I doubt we'll see US price drops soon, or further drops from current prices. Nikon clearly read European/UK prices wrong. But it would be crazy for them to discount now, in (I'm told) the first 6 month phase where the vast majority of new product sales occur for electronic devices.
If any discounts emerge, I'd bet the winter holiday season, and that at least in the US they'll be minor ($100 off a D600+kit lens, $200 off the D600+kit lense+70-300 or D600+28-300, etc).
I also doubt, given the D600's price level, that the D800 will ever have significant discounts in the US from its current US prices..
All IMO; I have no special insight than anyone else on this forum into Nikon's marketing/pricing.
Let me chime in. I was a little surprise that the d600 is $2,100...but even more surprised that the D800 was "only" $3,000 and not $4k or greater. I really like the D600 after testing it out side by side with my D800. I think it fits a great niche and frankly Nikon is going for the damn jugular!! Look at how one-sided their released products have been. all of the top FF sensors are almost exclusively Nikon (Sony-designed/manufactured). The D600 will drop i predict, about $100-150 around Christmas, sell 1XXXXX units, and price will go back up to $2,100 as "supply" gets low. The 600 is worth its price; we're conditioned to believe the
D800 is only worth $3k right now. Just consider my used 5d2 I sold a few months back for $1,900!! the d600 is SO MUCH BETTER MADE, handles great, fast FPS, dual sd, etc.
Michaelparris wrote:
I check the FM buy and sell forums constantly for the first "unsatisfied" D600 user.....
I held that little bugger in my hands yesterday and it felt GOOD....I want one.
My camera constitution says "never buy new", I may have to amend it....
I checked out one today at B&H and while I didn't get that much time with the camera and while the pictures I took did look pretty good (although very over-saturated) in the LCD, I wasn't all that happy with the overall feel and responsiveness, although that might have been due to the crappy lens they had on it. I then switched over to the D800 and it felt solid - much more like my D200. So while I swore I would never spend $3K on the D800, I might have to. I'll simply have to find extra days of work to pay for it.
I don't know how much of the way it felt was simply the fact that it was lighter. I do like the idea of lighter bodies - my favorite film body was the Olympus OM-1 which was smaller and lighter than my Nikkormat and much smaller and lighter than the F series. Yet, with today's big, heavy lenses, I'm not sure a lighter body is an advantage. It's not like Nikon is going to release some pancake lenses or return to lighter lenses that take 52mm filter sizes. I'm more concerned with responsiveness than body construction - the camera seemed slow to me.
I wish I knew whether they're going to put out the D400 or not. However, if the D400 is simply a DX sensor in the D800 body, I can't see it being more than $400 less than the D800. And for that difference, I'd definitely buy the D800. If it were priced under $2K (preferably around $1700), I'd buy the D400. I think Nikon screwed up the numbering. Seems to me that since the D600 body is closer to the D7000 than the D800, it should have had a four digit designation.
M635_Guy wrote:
... - they could have priced it at $3199 and no-one would have said much. ...
Agreed. They also probably could have matched the price of the 5D3 at $3,499 without much fuss over it other than from those who complain about nearly everything and therefore don't count for much.
Sep 24, 2012 at 12:54 AM
Andre Labonte Offline • • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
I wish I knew whether they're going to put out the D400 or not. However, if the D400 is simply a DX sensor in the D800 body, I can't see it being more than $400 less than the D800. And for that difference, I'd definitely buy the D800. If it were priced under $2K (preferably around $1700), I'd buy the D400. I think Nikon screwed up the numbering. Seems to me that since the D600 body is closer to the D7000 than the D800, it should have had a four digit designation.
Hi Zoe
I think you underestimate the cost of the FX sensor and other cost savings associated with putting a smaller sensor in a camera. I would expect a D400 to come in at around $1800, which if true would be a full $1200 less than the D800. Nikon is not likely to leave a $1100 gap in their line-up between the $1000 and $2100 price points we have today between the D7K and the D600 respectively.
Antedotally, the D600 is basically an FX version of the D7K yet we see a $1000 price difference ... some margin is built into that, but most of that is the cost of the sensor.
Other sources, such as Thom Hogan, agree with the assesment that thought sensor manufacturing cost have come down for FX sensors, the same is true for DX sesnors ... the gap has narrowed but is still quite large.
The other side of it is the cost of the lenses to support FX vs. DX and still cover the same range of FOV. Nikon is well aware that between bodies and lenes they are making the leap from DX to FX too expensive ... they need something in between.
zoetmb wrote:
I think Nikon screwed up the numbering. Seems to me that since the D600 body is closer to the D7000 than the D800, it should have had a four digit designation.
Clearly you don't understand the new nomenclature then.
D# = FX (Heavy workload)
D## = FX (Multimedia FX)
D### = DX (All DX)
These are the actual categorizations on the Nikon site. They are no longer sorting cameras by amateur, enthusiast or pro.
lol