When the Pentax K-1 was first announced, potential customers around the world celebrated the launch of a competitively-priced full-frame DSLR, costing just US$1,796. 95. The K-1 was comparatively a bargain against competitors such as the Nikon D810 and Canon 5D Mark III, which cost US$2,796.
95 and US$2,499 respectively.
Now Pentax have seemingly ordered a price increase, and online retailers B&H and Adorama have both raised their prices by US$200 to US$1,950, although curiously Amazon have kept the prices of their K-1 stock at the original price. Perhaps once they sell off their current inventory and replenish K-1 units the prices will rise, but until then, interested parties should take advantage of this discrepancy.
It’s an interesting move for Pentax, and camera companies in general, since historically prices go down after launch, not up. Pentax isn’t alone in raising prices, however, and in July we reported that both Sony, Nikon, and Canon will also be increasing their prices due to the effects of the Kunamoto Earthquake in April, and the rise of the Japanese Yen.
The K-1 is still a great deal cheaper than its competitors, and remains a solid choice for anyone interested in the K-mount, but interestingly, its new price of roughly US$2,000 puts it in the same price bracket as new flagship mirrorless models from Olympus and Panasonic.
The Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II and the Panasonic G5, were both announced at Photokina 2016, and are highly anticipated by consumers. These two products respectively should be big sellers for their respective brands, and herald a new era in the capabilities of mirrorless cameras.
However, rumours indicate that both the OM-D E-M1 Mark II and the GH5 will astonishingly be priced at around US$2,000. When the G5’s predecessor, the GH4 was first announced in 2014, it was sold at US$1,700, and has dropped now to $1,500. The Olympus E-M1 was launched for US$1,400 in 2013, and is now just $1,100. So if we assume that the value of both cameras will fall around US$300 dollars over three years, there’s actually very little devaluation.
Fans who intend to buy either camera shouldn’t bother waiting too long, or hoping for a big price drop. Both of these cameras have fantastic specs in terms of video and speed, but they also only have 4/3 sensors, which are far smaller than the full-frame sensor found on the K-1.
Obviously all three cameras are vastly different, and each genuinely have their own strengths and weaknesses. But the market is becoming incredibly competitive now between camera brands, so consumers should be tightening their belts for the long journey ahead. When Fujifilm announced that the XT-2 would be US$1,700, many photographers complained that the price was a little ambitious for an APS-C camera. Now the ante has been raised yet again, perhaps since Sony showed that people are willing to shell out for top spec mirrorless cameras.
. digitalrev.com
2016-10-7 03:00