Anyone Else Hear About a Canon Lens Price Increase?

[Petepix]

I posted this in 'Market Watch', but I think that this is a more appropriate placement.

I spoke to my shop where I've bought before. They did not have an answer for the Spring Rebates, BUT they said the Canon rep informed them that the price of Canon lens' was going up as of May 1. I've been looking at a longer telephoto, 400mm or 500mm. They believe that these will increase about $200. If this is the case, I'm not waiting for the rebates. Anyone hear anything on their end?

[AngryCorgi]

Hrmmm... Could be... the dollar is in an unusually weak state right now, so it may result in more $$$ to match the value of the lens. I do not know how the dollar is fairing against the yen, but in general it is down.

[AngryCorgi]

Here is the 2-year trend of Yen-to-USDollar...

...it shows almost a 20% drop in value of the USD over the past 6 months, and by far the worst trading rate in 2 years.

[John_TX]

I posted this in 'Market Watch', but I think that this is a more appropriate placement.

I spoke to my shop where I've bought before. They did not have an answer for the Spring Rebates, BUT they said the Canon rep informed them that the price of Canon lens' was going up as of May 1. I've been looking at a longer telephoto, 400mm or 500mm. They believe that these will increase about $200. If this is the case, I'm not waiting for the rebates. Anyone hear anything on their end?

Tough call, especially if you shared that you might be interested in a 400 or 500mm pretty soon. I could see a situation where a shop employee might say something about a price increase in order to make a sale, especially if you've bought from them before.

Who knows, but from an economic stand point, the price of a lot of stuff around here has gone up, especially consumer staples like food. For example, frozen pizzas have always been 2 for $5 for the last couple of years, just last week, they raised the price to $7. Same thing with a couple other items I specifically remembered.

I'm sure a combination of the falling dollar and higher fuel prices have/will raise the price of most products.

This brings me to another unrelated point, do people in the US pay VAT in Europe if they order, say, a camera from one of the European dealers and have it shipped to the US?

The reason I ask is the 40D is going for a little over $800 US in Europe right now and that's pretty dang tempting if all I had to pay was overseas shipping.

[CoolToolGuy]

I heard some chatter about price increases from a Canon rep on Saturday, so it could be true.

And it would be coincidental if the rebates came out shortly afterward. . . ;)

Have Fun,

[mrLEE]

which site sells the 40D for around $800?

Tough call, especially if you shared that you might be interested in a 400 or 500mm pretty soon. I could see a situation where a shop employee might say something about a price increase in order to make a sale, especially if you've bought from them before.

Who knows, but from an economic stand point, the price of a lot of stuff around here has gone up, especially consumer staples like food. For example, frozen pizzas have always been 2 for $5 for the last couple of years, just last week, they raised the price to $7. Same thing with a couple other items I specifically remembered.

I'm sure a combination of the falling dollar and higher fuel prices have/will raise the price of most products.

This brings me to another unrelated point, do people in the US pay VAT in Europe if they order, say, a camera from one of the European dealers and have it shipped to the US?

The reason I ask is the 40D is going for a little over $800 US in Europe right now and that's pretty dang tempting if all I had to pay was overseas shipping.

[John_TX]

A week ago, Amazon Europe had it for £619 minus an additional £100 for the Canon cash back on just the body. That comes in right at $815 US. It might be lower as well as I'm not sure how VAT works & if Amazon includes that in the price (I assume they do).

There were a couple other shops I saw from another link that had it a bit lower if I recall, but I don't remember where they were.

That's a good $300 US less than B&H after rebates. Figure $60 for shipping and it's still not bad. Only thing is I don't think they'll let us in the US claim those rebates. Maybe you could sell your receipt & UPC to someone in the UK to claim.

[jimmyfingers]

I was told in my local camera shop that Canon will be increasing their U.K. lens prices by 20% in January! I don't know if it was just a ploy to maximise December sales, but looking at the exchange rates this could very well be about to happen.

[Collin85]

Anyone hear anything on their end?

I'd say it's legit - mainly because it has already happened to some areas of the world. Down Under, we got rumours of a 30% increase from reps two or so months ago and it's already hit. I recently saw an official %increase chart from Canon.. 85L seemed to have gotten hit the hardest.

So if you're in the UK or US, I'd treat this 'warning' as very serious. Basically, if you need to acquire a particular lens.. do it soon.

[Stems]

I asked a local store about this a while ago and they said it is very likely to see a 10% price increase once the rebates expire on the 31st. Being in Canada it all depends how the dollar does the next while.

[cherrymoon]

Here in France, websites show this increase. The deal is to buy in UK, cheaper !!

Example with this 17-40L that increase from 714€ to 764€ (click "variation de prix") :
http://www.digit-photo.com/infosproduit.php?&refinfos=OBCA8806A003&fami=&id_produit=OBCA8806A003&qte=1&search_prix=&search_cat=&rechmotcle=canon%2017-40&ordre=1&operateur=AND&limit=20&debut=0&refp=&alerte=CANON%2017-40%20mm%20F4%20L%20USM%20(Livr%E9%20avec%20Paresol eil)&orr=0

[RavenG]

I was waiting to buy Canon 400MM F2.8 IS, I suppose I waited alittle too long, price went up about $250.00.

Shame on me.

[valdore]

I was looking to raise this issue as well. The local camera store had told me Canon and Nikon are busy raising their prices right now. And out of curiosity I checked the price of the 17-40L right now - a good $50 to $100 more now than when I bought mine in late 2007. That issue with our weak currency does make a lot of sense as far as I understand.