Many of the places that are less than B&H right now are simply giving the lenses away either at cost, or below cost. As great as it is to the consumer, I don't see how these places will continue to stay in business by giving away the product. I think B&H has realized that they simply cannot afford to give away the product at cost and still turn a profit.
Ben Horne wrote:
Many of the places that are less than B&H right now are simply giving the lenses away either at cost, or below cost. As great as it is to the consumer, I don't see how these places will continue to stay in business by giving away the product. I think B&H has realized that they simply cannot afford to give away the product at cost and still turn a profit.
Exactly which retailers are giving away lenses either at or below cost, thanks?
That way when they discount when the new 100 IS comes out, it will look like a greater price drop. Or they want you buy the non-IS at a higher price, which will surely be less than the new lens
That way when they discount when the new 100 IS comes out, it will look like a greater price drop. Or they want you buy the non-IS at a higher price, which will surely be less than the new lens
Pavel wrote:
B&H knows that all will think that it is the Yen/dollar thing ... and is making more profit. Well, I don't know that of course ... but I wonder if Canons price raises are not a great cover for a bit of extra profit at the retails level.
I think that companies are learning that we will pay anything. I suspect that some of us here shooting birds for a hoby may have upwards of $20,000 invested - maybe more? Sell to magazines and a few prints here and there and one can recoup their investment in less that 47 years. If you keep busy that is. ...Show more →
maybe they need to rise price because of lowered volume, canon never seems to give B&H enough stock anymore and they are always out of this and that and thus must be getting lower volume and maybe need to sell higher?
dcmiller wrote:
I believe that demand has consistently exceeded their forecasts. Canon for years had the best value lenses. I believe that now they see little reason to leave that money "on the table". Hopefully some of the extra cost goes to QC. I am cautiously optimistic that they are improving.
Video on the 5D2 wiped out inventory on better fast lenses like Contax that could be adapted to Canon. That's a pretty good sign that demand for better glass is high.
It's also difficult for them to surge volume on the superteles. They don't want item volume to exceed their capacity.
I have NO 'inside information', but this just seemed to make perfect sense to me:
It presents another perspective from the business side as to what seems to be happening behind the scenes, and offers an alternative view as to the reasons behind the price rises.
Sincerely
Helen Oster
Adorama Camera Customer Service Ambassador
Welcome to inflation - the predictable result of runaway government borrowing and spending. Rumors of deflation are greatly exaggerated. Other than housing prices, which are still recovering from their own price bubble, I haven't seen anything dropping in price over the last year or so.
Not that I like it, but if lenses are consistently sold out, the prices should be raised.
At some point the price will be high enough that there won't be shortages,
then the price should stabilize.
There is a kink in this, though. Raise prices enough and still not have enough
production on hand to sell, and one of the big reasons to buy into a Canon system
has disappeared: the ready availability of good value glass. Couple that with QC
problems and focusing issues experienced by some, and you can lose your customer,
then your revenue from them goes to zero.
A balancing act. I, for one, would be willing to pay on the high side for my
product if I knew it was going to work up to par. I really do not enjoy playing
the QC lottery.
On the positive side, I think Canon scored big hits with the 5DII, and that has led
to body and glass shortages. Kudos to them. I'm hoping for good success from the 7D.
I think it is the best time for people who have Canon products and want to release them into the used market to cover their other business ventures like jumping over to the dark side (Nikon) or the sunny side (Sony)...
Well, maybe we should not behave like photographers but as investors to get something out of it, while Canon benefit from their price increase.
Business 901 from the International Business Management University on Internet.
This is what I call a win-win situation in managing out bank account.
Ironically raising prices also might slow down the photography industry recovery. If a good portion of the price increase is due to the economic slow down, then the higher prices will add drag to the situation when the economy recovers. The manufacturers will need to slowly decrease prices as the economy recovers to reset the volume they once did.
trumpet_guy wrote:
Not that I like it, but if lenses are consistently sold out, the prices should be raised.
At some point the price will be high enough that there won't be shortages,
then the price should stabilize.
There is a kink in this, though. Raise prices enough and still not have enough
production on hand to sell, and one of the big reasons to buy into a Canon system
has disappeared: the ready availability of good value glass. Couple that with QC
problems and focusing issues experienced by some, and you can lose your customer,
then your revenue from them goes to zero.
A balancing act. I, for one, would be willing to pay on the high side for my
product if I knew it was going to work up to par. I really do not enjoy playing
the QC lottery.
On the positive side, I think Canon scored big hits with the 5DII, and that has led
to body and glass shortages. Kudos to them. I'm hoping for good success from the 7D....Show more →
Do you really think the shortage of lenses was caused by a big influx of people buying new lenses to go with their new 5DII? If that was the case, then we should see Canon's revenue and profits shoot up...but in fact the opposite has occurred. Personally, I don't think Canon sold that many 5DII cameras.
chez wrote:
If that was the case, then we should see Canon's revenue and profits shoot up...but in fact the opposite has occurred.
Actually in the last two quarters they have (relatively). Canon's quarterly reports show cameras greatly outperforming the larger divisions. Meaning cameras are holding their own in revenue while the other divisions have totally tanked.
Same thing is going on in Nikon. I think it's the yen rising to the dollar. Also, I'm looking to pick up some new 2.8 glass, and the prices will keep rising until I buy. Prices should drop off precipitously after that though. I think I'll pull the trigger in October, so you folks should be good to go by Christmas.
Rather than losing my sleep over reasons for a major increase in lens prices, I like to examine my own strategies for gear cost minimization. In the extreme view, hobbyist don't have to buy any equipment at all......it's not like food, transportation and shelter, right ?
Secondly, many of us have already accumulated much more gear than really warrantied photographically. I reckon 90% of my photography objectives can be attained with 20% of my present gear inventory.
For example, why buy 400DO when 400 f/5.6 or 100-400 can do a comparable job ?
Why buy stuff because it is new and improved ?
Or because someone said you need 21 Mp ?
Or because most guys have the "holy trinity" of lenses so you don't wanna fall behind.
Or you believe that having 800 f/5.6 will elevate your standing in the birder community ?
In short, I firmly believe most folks can cut their gear expenses significantly with impunity, if they wish to do so.
Obviously, when it comes to full time professional photographers, the situation there is somewhat different. One would also hope that increases in their equipment costs can passed onto their clients.
(It's a joke, just in case someone take it seriously).