Avoiding possible price rises caused by earthquake

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I'm also worried about the price increases that will possibly be coming. I was planning on upgrading my camera body in the next year, but I am tempted to buy one now due to this issue.

The poster has asked a legitimate question - be wary of your response. See this post for additional information in a related thread:

https://photography-on-the.net …p?p=12031059&po​stcount=30

LOL...us photographers can come up with some great excuses to justify that new gear purchase

It's a complex question. On one hand, some dslr/lens factories have been closed, at least temporarily, which impacts the supply market. But on the other, the exchange rate of the yen against the dollar is also falling.

Which will impact the price more? Will they even each other out? Will consumers rushing to purchase things, thinking supply is about to dwindle, also make an impact? Don't know. I would advise staying abreast of the price/supply market. An inching of price either way may help you make a decision.

I wonder if folks will go ahead and buy new cameras and equipment while they are still available. Fortunately, I don't need anything right now and I am an amateur. But professionals must be a bit nervous and I would imagine news agencies are stockpiling cameras, media cards and lenses as fast as they can. It may be months before the factories are open again and who knows when Japan will have full power back?

Not really nervous, but aware of the situation.

I'm pretty well fitted with equipment. However, I have been holding off buying a 85 prime for about 2 years now. That is what attracted me to this thread. I am going thru the same decision, i.e., current events being the catalyst to make a decision.

And that's the whole problem: me and people like me. There are probably thousands, if not tens of thousands of people out there thinking the same way right now.

My gut feeling is that this will result in a reduction or depletion of supply and a resulting inflation of prices.

Depending upon when production of bodies and/or lenses is resumed to normal levels, this could also mean an increase of prices in the used markets.

There could be a drop in production on the short term if their production facilities were impacted. Neither Canon nor Nikon would want to be seen as capitalizing on a bad situation and someone will have to blink first. If you look at any catastrophe in the world you always see price hikes on the short term but these are generally for more essential services.

The other way to look at this is that if they can maintain a production rate close to what they have been doing there could be a glut of cameras available as I don't see alot of discretionary spending by people in Japan on the short term. It appears to me that Canon is trying to maintain production rates as outlined in this press release by using facilities that were not impacted by the earthquake.

Personally I would hope this doesn't impact the release date of the 1DsMKIV which is longer overdue, imo. I have all the confidence that Canon will make the best efforts they can without gouging the public but certainly supply and demand will come into play. Shopping around may be more necessary than previously as there will undoubtedly be some retailers who will use this as an opportunity to do their own markups.

Never thought about it until this post. Another question is once production starts back up would it be best to wait a while before buying as the existing material could be a bit tainted.

BlindGuyTakingPictures wrote in post #12040876
Never thought about it until this post.

I was waiting to see if the prices would go back down after the "rebate" is over, but I'm worried that the current state in Japan may most definitely affect the prices.

I was hoping to purchase a 70-200 f/2.8IS II by the end of the next month .

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There might be a price increase, but they will reduce it when everything goes normal.

KY707 wrote in post #12047154
There might be a price increase, but they will reduce it when everything goes normal.

Maybe. I'm not that confident. Or, if they do go down, they may not go down as far as they went up.

Loose analogy: I can point to several items in the grocery store that jumped in price dramatically a few years ago when fuel prices were high for awhile. We were told it was due to increased transportation costs, and would be only temporary as long as fuel prices remained unnaturally high. Eventually, fuel went back down to where they were previously... and stayed there for a couple years... yet these prices in the grocery store didn't even budge in a downward direction.

Conspiracy theorists unite!