BurtR wrote:
I was in B&H last week to pick up a filter and at lunchtime it was not really busy. You could go right up to the counter without going on their lines to wait. I also felt prices are a bit up and by shopping around you can do better at present particularly if you are out of state and save on the taxes. Salesman said it was a little slow but apparently Sunday is the big day at the store.
Sunday is by far busiest. In general, we're busier later in the week than Mon & Tue and generally busier mid to late afternoon than morning or lunch time.
When the 85mm f/1.2 L II gets back to $1,685 and the 135L gets back to $899, I'll buy them. These current prices are still way too high. I don't fault the retailers... I'd say Canon is driving the inflation.
I'm a big fan of B&H but have started looking at other shops when the prices started to go up. If you don't absolutely need to have a brand new lens, the B&S forum is very reliable.
sskoutas wrote:
When the 85mm f/1.2 L II gets back to $1,685 and the 135L gets back to $899, I'll buy them. These current prices are still way too high. I don't fault the retailers... I'd say Canon is driving the inflation.
That's correct, "faulting" anyone serves no practical purpose. They (and all of us) run their (our) businesses in a way which is aimed to maximize gains/minimize losses.
However, I am not clear on who did what to whom. I am guessing that Canon has caused lens shortages in the USA market. Perhaps they cut their manufacturing costs that way.
Thus the lens demand might have exceeded the lens supply. Big retailers responded by raising prices in an attempt to mainatain their profits despite a lower sales volume. Lo and behold, higher prices are causing lower demand....so now we might have an oversupply of lenses. This latest miniscule price drop might be indicative of that demand shrinkage. And on it goes.
sskoutas wrote:
When the 85mm f/1.2 L II gets back to $1,685 and the 135L gets back to $899, I'll buy them. These current prices are still way too high. I don't fault the retailers... I'd say Canon is driving the inflation.
PetKal wrote:
That's correct, Omar, "faulting" anyone serves no practical purpose. They (and all of us) run their (our) businesses in a way which is aimed to maximize gains/minimize losses.
However, I am not clear on who did what to whom. I am guessing that Canon has caused lens shortages in the USA market. Perhaps they cut their manufacturing costs that way.
Thus the lens demand might have exceeded the lens supply. Big retailers responded by raising prices in an attempt to mainatain their profits despite a lower sales volume. Lo and behold, higher prices are causing lower demand....so now we might have an oversupply of lenses. This latest miniscule price drop might be indicative of that demand shrinkage. And on it goes. ...Show more →
I recently purchased a Canon 16-35mkii and a Canon 70-200 2.8 IS at J+R using Bing Cash Back through their online sales. They had a 5% cash back on the 70-200. But I wanted to ask them some questions. So, I called them up. I spoke with a guy name Jake at x1031. To make a long story short. J+R took 5% off so I didn't have to wait 60 days for my cash back. And they even gave me a 3% off on the 16-35 even when it didn't have a cash back deal.
Agreed. And I'm not demanding any high end glass be shipped to my house until they supply it to me at a lower price. The power of the consumer... the power to say "no, thanks, Canon." I can think of no gear that I would rather have than these lenses, but I'm not paying these current prices.
globalkiwi wrote:
I think unfavorably shifting foreign exchange rates have as much to do with price fluctuation as any "strategy" on Canon's behalf.
I do business in Asia extensively. You are certainly correct about the exchange rates. I still don't believe that is the sole cause of the shift. Transportation is way down, manufacturing costs should be level to slightly less.
Doesn't make the lens worth 20% more to me, though. My dollar is already buying a lot less locally than it did a few years ago. I'm sure I'm not alone there. An 85mm 1.8 feels pretty good on my camera for now, especially when you could buy 5 of them for the cost of the 1.2. I'll envy the 1.2 from afar for now.
john_edwards wrote:
Allen's. No web site, phone: 215 547-2841 They are in Levittown, PA just north of Philly. Great little store, they have lots of my money.
John
+1 Very nice to deal with and they are cheaper than the NYC stores.
sperraglia wrote:
+1 Very nice to deal with and they are cheaper than the NYC stores.
Love this store one of my favorites and his prices are really good. So good I just ordered the 70-200 2.8 IS for $1649 this price is less than I am seeing go used here for a newer lens and maybe 75 to 100 more than an older lens here. I have been buying from Allens for several years now and he has always treated me very well. I always deal with him directly and have sent a lot of business his way and no one has ever complained
Another great thing about Allens is he will accept two cards. You may not know this but I do a lot of selling here and it goes into my PP account. Well sometimes I don't have enough in my PP account to buy a piece of gear I am looking for so my PP is short. What do I do? I call Allen tell him what I want give him my PP debit card tell him how much to take out then I use my banking debit card. As far as I know he is the only place that will do this. I know for sure Canoga, J&R, B&H and Adorama will not do this
Only draw back about Allens his shipping is usually a little higher because he doesn't get the breaks as the big boys do
That's correct, "faulting" anyone serves no practical purpose. They (and all of us) run their (our) businesses in a way which is aimed to maximize gains/minimize losses.
However, I am not clear on who did what to whom. I am guessing that Canon has caused lens shortages in the USA market. Perhaps they cut their manufacturing costs that way.
Thus the lens demand might have exceeded the lens supply. Big retailers responded by raising prices in an attempt to mainatain their profits despite a lower sales volume. Lo and behold, higher prices are causing lower demand....so now we might have an oversupply of lenses. This latest miniscule price drop might be indicative of that demand shrinkage. And on it goes. ...Show more →
I'm not clear either on who's responsible for what but the same logic would apply to Canon. Demand dropped due to the economic mess and they had to cut manufacturing costs, resulting in supply issues (which may or may not be the main reason prices have gone up - I'm sure Canon has quite a bit of leeway on prices for lenses given our propensity to continue spending.) To try to get their overall profit back up to "acceptable levels" when selling fewer lenses they probably bumped price a bit (perhaps along with retailers doing the same for the same reason) figuring -- accurately -- that people buying high-priced lenses weren't going to curtail their purchases for very long.
I'm sure somebody out there knows who's responsible for exactly what over the last year but the ones who know ain't saying!
Maybe after Christmas...
and it goes into my PP account. Well sometimes I don't have enough in my PP account to buy a piece of gear I am looking for so my PP is short. What do I do? I call Allen tell him what I want give him my PP debit card tell him how much to take out then I use my banking debit card. As far as I know he is the only place that will do this. I know for sure Canoga, J&R, B&H and Adorama will not do this