Lens Prices

[lionofjudah]

Has anyone noticed any price rises in DSLR lenses recently?
If so - is it mainly due to weaker pound?

 

[Riz_Guru]

Has anyone noticed any price rises in DSLR lenses recently?
If so - is it mainly due to weaker pound?

Prices are generally going one way, and that is up..... and yes it is a combination of the weaker pound and also Brexit price hikes.

 

[desf]

2nd hand prices also seem to be rising. I guess shops push up these prices to maintain a similar diferential with the new items.

 

[gman]

Sure I also read about natural disasters in Japan not helping either?

 

[Alastair]

The Pound crashed out against the Yen in 2008, from 2012 it started a gradual recovery and then in mid-2015 it started a rapid slide. It's currently around 30% down on 2 years ago - a rise in prices of goods from Japanese manufacturers was inevitable. Squeezed margins could only be held for so long.

http://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=GBP&to=JPY&view=5Y

 

[magicaxeman]

its been purely the weaker pound, there was no as such "brexit" price hike, it was merely to take into account the drop in the value of the pound after the vote, this has been good news for British manufacturers who have seen increases in exports, but of course means we have to pay more for imported goods, as Alistair said, there is only so far retailers can squeeze their profit margins.
We have been lucky for many years enjoying relatively cheaper prices thanks to the buying power of the pound at the time, but now we're more on par with what other countries are paying for their gear.

Now it's starting to make us think about our purchases even more, do we really need that lens or body, tripod or new light rig?

I myself have always found it hard to raise the cash for my gear due to my circumstances and having just ventured into full frame with an older model bought cheaply (for what it is) find that I'm asking myself IF I actually need any lens other than the 50mm F1.8 I have and if I do, what exactly do I need? Like most I would love to go out and get a few lenses covering varying focal lengths but I can't justify that, even more so in todays climate.


Oddly enough when growing up I had just a 50mm for many years, my feet where my "zoom" if I wanted a wider shot, I stepped back if I wanted a closer shot I walked forwards, maybe in a perverse way its not a bad thing to be unable to afford the luxury of grabbing new lenses as and when you want without too much thought or internal debate.

 

[woof woof]

We've had cycles in prices before. Going back a few years to when I changed from APS-C to FF DSLR and then to Mirrorless I actually sold a couple of lenses for more than I paid so higher prices today is really nothing new but what may be new is that the trend now seems to be towards better performing bigger heavier and more expensive lenses as the whole industry or at least parts of it attempt to go upmarket.

 

[lionofjudah]

So I've noticed. I was looking at sigma 150-600 contemporary and that seems to have increased about £80+ in price

 

[frod]

Yeah, thank our friends who believe lies writ large on buses.