Nikon's MASSIVE price-hikes coming

RichA wrote:
This is off dpreview, from a poster there. Will likely happen in Canada
as well because the dollar has dropped 17% in the past three months,
against the American dollar.

Received this e-mail from Nikon Australia.
Thought it may be of interest.

Have also included part of an attached XL spreadsheet with body and some
lens prices as of 01.02.2009, First price is invoice price ex GST, second
incl. GST, third is Recommended Retail Price.

Dear Nikon partner,

Nikon has experienced an amazing year of growth. New levels of exposure
for the Nikon brand has been achieved through activities such as the
Nikon INDY 300, Westfield promotions and continued advertising and
consumer promotions. This combined with amazing new products has been
driving consumers into your stores and has ensured Nikon’s ongoing health
in the Australian market.

Nikon has continued this strong success despite the challenges facing
businesses in the current financial climate. The nature of these market
challenges has meant that costs have significantly increased and
accordingly there is a need to review the current prices available from
Nikon Australia on many products.

However, in recognition of the growth being achieved we have decided to
postpone the increases until February 1st, 2009. The proposed February
price list and summary of changes is supplied with this letter.

Nikon is committed to ensuring the momentum continues. To help achieve
this, the current supply price on all existing backorders placed before
February 1st will be honoured by Nikon until March 31st, 2009. Any
existing backorder will maintain its price in our system and new orders
that we cannot immediately supply will be backordered at current price.
After this date all issued products and backorders will be converted to
the new price structure.

If you do not wish for these items to be supplied at the higher price you
will need to change the orders prior to them being shipped after April
1st, 2009. Due to an expected increase in demand Nikon Australia cannot
guarantee supply of all items prior to April 1st, 2009. We will of course
endeavuor to supply all backorders as soon as possible.

I encourage you to take advantage of this chance to give outstanding
value to consumers across the Nikon range and capitalise on future profit
opportunities.

If you have any questions about this revision or wish to place an order
at this month’s prices please contact your account manager.

Thank you for your support in 2008. We look forward to supporting you
during this all important period and throughout 2009.
Regards
?
Nikon Australia

D3X Body only VBA190CH NEW! D3X Basic Kit: D3X Body, $11,199.20
$12,319.12 $13,999.00

D3 Body only VBA180AH 018208913565 D3 Basic Kit: D3 Body, $5,999.20
$6,599.12 $7,499.00

D700 Body only VBA220AH 018208915484 D700 Basic Kit: $3,839.20 $4,223.12
$4,799.00
D700 + 24-120mm VR 791071 $4,559.20 $5,015.12 $5,699.00
D300 Body only VBA200AH 018208913404 $2,188.31 $2,407.14 $2,799.00

D200 Body only VBA130AH 018208910670 D200 Basic kit: $1,679.91 $1,847.90
$2,199.00

D90 Body Only VBA230AH 018208915712 D90 Basic Kit: $1,328.31 $1,461.14
$1,699.00
F6 FILM Body only FAA410NA 018208803439 $3,125.50 $3,438.05 $3,995.00
FM10 FILM Body + 35-70mm FAA310AA 018208801701 $474.05 $521.46 $659.00
?
DX NIKKOR LENSES (for DX Digital SLR's only)
AF DX Fisheye 10.5mm f2.8G ED $968.35 $1,065.19 $1,299.00
AF-S DX 12-24mm f4G IF ED $1,490.16 $1,639.18 $1,999.00
AF-S DX 16-85mm f3.5-5.6G ED VR $819.25 $901.18 $1,099.00
AF-S DX 17-55mm f2.8G IF ED $1,862.89 $2,049.18 $2,499.00
AF-S DX 18-70mm f3.5-4.5G ED $516.95 $568.65 $669.00
AF-S DX 18-105mm f3.5-5.6G ED VR $498.71 $548.58 $669.00
AF-S DX 18-200mm f3.5-5.6G IF ED VR $968.35 $1,065.19 $1,299.00
AF-S DX 55-200mm f4-5.6G ED $308.32 $339.15 $399.00
AF-S DX 55-200mm f4-5.6G ED $308.32 $339.15 $399.00
AF-S DX 55-200mm f4-5.6G ED VR $346.95 $381.65 $449.00

ZOOM NIKKOR LENSES
AF-S 14-24mm f2.8G ED $2,278.77 $2,506.65 $2,949.00
AF-S 17-35mm f2.8D IF ED J $2,235.62 $2,459.18 $2,999.00
AF 18-35 f3.5-4.5D IF ED $819.25 $901.18 $1,099.00
AF-S 24-70mm f2.8G ED $2,201.50 $2,421.65 $2,849.00
AF 24-85mm f2.8-4D IF $856.53 $942.18 $1,149.00
AF-S 24-120mm f3.5-5.6G IF ED VR $819.25 $901.18 $1,099.00
AF-S 70-200mm f2.8G IF ED VR $2,471.95 $2,719.15 $3,199.00
AF-S 70-200mm f2.8G IF ED (Grey) VR $2,471.95 $2,719.15 $3,199.00
AF-S 70-300mm f4.5-5.6G IF ED VR $856.53 $942.18 $1,149.00
AF 80-200mm f2.8D ED $1,415.62 $1,557.18 $1,899.00
AF 80-400mm f4.5-5.6D ED VR $2,011.98 $2,213.18 $2,699.00
AF-S 200-400mm f4G IF ED VR $8,479.20 $9,327.12 $10,599.00

STANDARD NIKKOR LENSES
AF-S 50mm f1.4G $670.16 $737.18 $899.00
AF 50mm f1.4D $431.62 $474.78 $579.00

TELEPHOTO NIKKOR LENSES
AF 85mm f1.4D IF J $1,490.16 $1,639.18 $1,999.00
AF 85mm f1.8D JAA $580.71 $638.78 $779.00
AF 105mm f2D DC $1,415.62 $1,557.18 $1,899.00
AF 135mm f2D DC $1,639.25 $1,803.18 $2,199.00
AF 180mm f2.8D IF ED $1,154.71 $1,270.18 $1,549.00
AF-S 200mm f2G IF ED VR $6,079.20 $6,687.12 $7,599.00
AF-S 300mm f2.8G IF ED VR $6,799.20 $7,479.12 $8,499.00
AF-S 300mm f4D IF ED $1,676.53 $1,844.18 $2,249.00
AF-S 400mm f2.8G IF ED VR $11,599.20 $12,759.12 $14,499.00
AF-S 500mm f4G IF ED VR $11,199.20 $12,319.12 $13,999.00
AF-S 600mm f4G IF ED VR $13,599.20 $14,959.12 $16,999.00


TELECONVERTERS*
TC-14E II 1.4x $617.41 $679.15 $799.00
TC-17E II 1.7x $617.41 $679.15 $799.00
TC-20 E II 2x $617.41 $679.15 $799.00

SPECIAL PURPOSE NIKKORS
24mm f3.5D ED PC-E $2,819.68 $3,101.65 $3,649.00
45mm f2.8D ED PC-E MICRO $2,742.41 $3,016.65 $3,549.00
85mm f2.8D PC-E MICRO $2,858.32 $3,144.15 $3,699.00

ASKING is one thing......GETTING is quite another. :-)
Maybe they haven't yet heard about the worldwide recession.
Even mighty Toyota lost money last year.
Bob Williams

Bob Williams wrote in
:

RichA wrote:
This is off dpreview, from a poster there. Will likely happen in
Canada as well because the dollar has dropped 17% in the past three
months, against the American dollar.

Received this e-mail from Nikon Australia.
Thought it may be of interest.

Have also included part of an attached XL spreadsheet with body and
some lens prices as of 01.02.2009, First price is invoice price ex
GST, second incl. GST, third is Recommended Retail Price.

Dear Nikon partner,

Nikon has experienced an amazing year of growth. New levels of
exposure for the Nikon brand has been achieved through activities
such as the Nikon INDY 300, Westfield promotions and continued
advertising and consumer promotions. This combined with amazing new
products has been driving consumers into your stores and has ensured
Nikon’s ongoing health in the Australian market.

Nikon has continued this strong success despite the challenges facing
businesses in the current financial climate. The nature of these
market challenges has meant that costs have significantly increased
and accordingly there is a need to review the current prices
available from Nikon Australia on many products.

However, in recognition of the growth being achieved we have decided
to postpone the increases until February 1st, 2009. The proposed
February price list and summary of changes is supplied with this
letter.

Nikon is committed to ensuring the momentum continues. To help
achieve this, the current supply price on all existing backorders
placed before February 1st will be honoured by Nikon until March
31st, 2009. Any existing backorder will maintain its price in our
system and new orders that we cannot immediately supply will be
backordered at current price. After this date all issued products and
backorders will be converted to the new price structure.

If you do not wish for these items to be supplied at the higher price
you will need to change the orders prior to them being shipped after
April 1st, 2009. Due to an expected increase in demand Nikon
Australia cannot guarantee supply of all items prior to April 1st,
2009. We will of course endeavuor to supply all backorders as soon as
possible.

I encourage you to take advantage of this chance to give outstanding
value to consumers across the Nikon range and capitalise on future
profit opportunities.

If you have any questions about this revision or wish to place an
order at this month’s prices please contact your account manager.

Thank you for your support in 2008. We look forward to supporting you
during this all important period and throughout 2009.
Regards
?
Nikon Australia

D3X Body only VBA190CH NEW! D3X Basic Kit: D3X Body, $11,199.20
$12,319.12 $13,999.00

D3 Body only VBA180AH 018208913565 D3 Basic Kit: D3 Body, $5,999.20
$6,599.12 $7,499.00
Just like to add, England is in the same boat, suffering a large
devaluation of the Pound against the American dollar.
They could see price "adjustments" to. For those of you who don't see
this happening, I can tell you that it DID happen with the Nikon D3x
pricing. It came in at $9400 Can, considerably more than the U.S. price
so the 18% adjustment was definitely included. However, the D300 (as an
example) and the D90 are UNDER U.S. prices in Canada at this moment,
likely because stocks were bought prior to the dollar value drop. I
don't see it lasting.

RichA wrote:
[]
Just like to add, England is in the same boat, suffering a large
devaluation of the Pound against the American dollar.
They could see price "adjustments" to. For those of you who don't see
this happening, I can tell you that it DID happen with the Nikon D3x
pricing. It came in at $9400 Can, considerably more than the U.S.
price so the 18% adjustment was definitely included. However, the
D300 (as an example) and the D90 are UNDER U.S. prices in Canada at
this moment, likely because stocks were bought prior to the dollar
value drop. I don't see it lasting.

There's never been a better time to buy Nikon!

G

David

"RichA" wrote in message
.. .
This is off dpreview, from a poster there. Will likely happen in Canada
as well because the dollar has dropped 17% in the past three months,
against the American dollar.

Received this e-mail from Nikon Australia.
Thought it may be of interest.

Have also included part of an attached XL spreadsheet with body and some
lens prices as of 01.02.2009, First price is invoice price ex GST, second
incl. GST, third is Recommended Retail Price.

Dear Nikon partner,

Nikon has experienced an amazing year of growth. New levels of exposure
for the Nikon brand has been achieved through activities such as the
Nikon INDY 300, Westfield promotions and continued advertising and
consumer promotions. This combined with amazing new products has been
driving consumers into your stores and has ensured Nikon's ongoing health
in the Australian market.


Isn't it odd?
At a price point close to Canon, Nikon start to dominate the market and then
.... as if they have this self destruct button built into their profit and
loss schedule, they shoot themselves in the foot.

How about Canon's masterpiece? Separate their pricing from the US dollar.
Pick up a few peanuts when the buck sinks and then, shoot themselves in the
foot too!

About the only stable camera company is Pentax. Let's hope the Samsung thing
doesn't sink 'em.

Olympus keep making under powered, over priced crap or consumer crap in drag
with lenses priced out of contention and controversial sensors that
guarantee no serious Pro will look at the range again.

Pretty soon the promised Pentax 645 digital is either going to surface or
prove a myth. If it does surface and they can control the price/quality
thing, plenty of Pros with MF pentax glass sitting in the cupboard are all
to willing to exit the absurd Nikon/Canon debacle and go back to Pentax.

Thin ice out there in DSLR land right now. Meantime back at the drug store
come discount department store, P&S cameras are still selling faster than
the shelves can be restocked.

How many is it now? 80 million?

How frightening to think 80 million flashes could be popping uselessly
taking grossly underexposed pictures as the kiosks reap in mega bucks
printing them!

Bob Williams wrote:

ASKING is one thing......GETTING is quite another. :-)
Maybe they haven't yet heard about the worldwide recession.
Even mighty Toyota lost money last year.

This is true. Time and again we've seen various industries try to impose
price hikes that haven't stuck because they are unwilling to decrease
the supply to prop up prices. We've seen this in oil, cars, hotels, etc.
The airlines have succeeded in decreasing supply and raising prices
for now.

I find it very interesting that Nikon would raise their prices when the
economy is in the dumper. This is the second time in several moths
(November) when we have heard this rumour.

I would have thought that they would have 'discounted' their prices to
encorage folks to buy considering that camera and photo gear become a
discretionary purchase when times are bad.

I for one has been holding off buying a D90 because of the economy, I also
feel that the price is too high when compared to other DSLRs as far value
for money goes and a price increase would deter me from buying the camera
anyhow. There are features on the D90 that I could use over the Nikon DSLR I
am using now. But I have a problem deciding if those features are worth the
extra cost.

My 2 bits for what its worth.

"." wrote in message

I find it very interesting that Nikon would raise their prices when
the economy is in the dumper. This is the second time in several moths
(November) when we have heard this rumour.

I would have thought that they would have 'discounted' their prices
to encorage folks to buy considering that camera and photo gear
become a discretionary purchase when times are bad.

Note that the list came from Nikon Australia. The AUD has dropped through
the floor in the past couple of months. Now that distributors cleared out
old stock at Christmas, price rises are expected for everything from
consumer electronics to furniture.

On Sun, 4 Jan 2009 16:26:41 -0800 (PST), frank
wrote:

On Jan 4, 1:31*am, "D-Mac" wrote:
"RichA" wrote in message

.. .



This is off dpreview, from a poster there. *Will likely happen in Canada
as well because the dollar has dropped 17% in the past three months,
against the American dollar.

Received this e-mail from Nikon Australia.
Thought it may be of interest.

Have also included part of an attached XL spreadsheet with body and some
lens prices as of 01.02.2009, First price is invoice price ex GST, second
incl. GST, third is Recommended Retail Price.

Dear Nikon partner,

Nikon has experienced an amazing year of growth. New levels of exposure
for the Nikon brand has been achieved through activities such as the
Nikon INDY 300, Westfield promotions and continued advertising and
consumer promotions. This combined with amazing new products has been
driving consumers into your stores and has ensured Nikon's ongoing health
in the Australian market.

Isn't it odd?
At a price point close to Canon, Nikon start to dominate the market and then
... as if they have this self destruct button built into their profit and
loss schedule, they shoot themselves in the foot.

How about Canon's masterpiece? Separate their pricing from the US dollar.
Pick up a few peanuts when the buck sinks and then, shoot themselves in the
foot too!

About the only stable camera company is Pentax. Let's hope the Samsung thing
doesn't sink 'em.

Olympus keep making under powered, over priced crap or consumer crap in drag
with lenses priced out of contention and controversial sensors that
guarantee no serious Pro will look at the range again.

Pretty soon the promised Pentax 645 digital is either going to surface or
prove a myth. If it does surface and they can control the price/quality
thing, plenty of Pros with MF pentax glass sitting in the cupboard are all
to willing to exit the absurd Nikon/Canon debacle and go back to Pentax.

Thin ice out there in DSLR land right now. Meantime back at the drug store
come discount department store, P&S cameras are still selling faster than
the shelves can be restocked.

How many is it now? 80 million?

How frightening to think 80 million flashes could be popping uselessly
taking grossly underexposed pictures as the kiosks reap in mega bucks
printing them!

Yeah, but a lot of people don't want to invest the time to learn how
to do good photography, either learn how to use a camera or buy a
decent kit. For kids at a birthday party, P&S are great. For concerts,
airshows, pretty much useless. How many have been places getting the
shot and watching people with P&S shooting over and over again trying
to get a good shot and failing? Been there, done that. At least with
digital, there's the immediate response that you blew it.

Someone needs to learn how to use cameras. The only thing that you just revealed
is that you're a royally ****-poor photographer. It's not uncommon for someone
who doesn't take photography seriously to invest as little as possible to obtain
photos. Whereas in the hands of a real pro a well-designed P&S camera can be
like playing the finest violin. Amateurs, wannabees, and pretend-photographer
trolls in newsgroups will never realize this nor know this. They can't. Their
ignorance and stupidity is excusable. Annoying, but excusable.

"." wrote in message
...

I find it very interesting that Nikon would raise their prices when the
economy is in the dumper. This is the second time in several moths
(November) when we have heard this rumour.

The question is, Are they really raising their prices, or only adjusting to
more inflated currencies?


I would have thought that they would have 'discounted' their prices to
encorage folks to buy considering that camera and photo gear become a
discretionary purchase when times are bad.

I for one has been holding off buying a D90 because of the economy, I also
feel that the price is too high when compared to other DSLRs as far value
for money goes and a price increase would deter me from buying the camera
anyhow. There are features on the D90 that I could use over the Nikon DSLR
I
am using now. But I have a problem deciding if those features are worth
the
extra cost.

Buying a D90 gets you a price break on that new 18-105 VR, though.

RichA wrote in
:

This is off dpreview, from a poster there. Will likely happen in
Canada as well because the dollar has dropped 17% in the past three
months, against the American dollar.

Oh well, the coming recession sure does have those moneyhungry mongrels in
a panic.

Too bad for them.
Good for us.

One really does wonder if the name brand has anything to do with pricing.

Like "Nike" vs. any old generic sneaker brand name




--
SneakyP
To reply: newsgroup only, what's posted in ng stays in ng.

Some choose to swim in the potty bowl of nan-ae rather than flush it
down :0)