Zeiss prices will be going up in the USA and Canada

Rob Skeoch · Nov 22, 2009

It looks like Zeiss M mount lenses in Canada and the USA will be seeing a jump in price in early Dec.

Mostly related to the US dollar dropping.

I haven't received the new pricing yet... just that they will be going up.

-rob

Mike1234 · Nov 22, 2009

It's not going to get better either but much worse in the coming years. Hyper-inflation is going to eat US alive...

Xmas · Nov 22, 2009

Cosina Voightlander lenses ditto, same reason

Noel

Ektagraphic · Nov 22, 2009

Better to hear of prices going up than hearing that they are closing up!

Mike1234 · Nov 22, 2009

New prices are going up but used prices continue to flounder... for now anyway. What are we going to do when new prices (on everything) triples and our incomes don't keep up?

sangetsu · Nov 23, 2009

Glad I'm in Japan, the yen keeps rising. In a couple more years European gear will be free here (I wish).

chorleyjeff · Nov 23, 2009

Mike1234 said:
New prices are going up but used prices continue to flounder... for now anyway. What are we going to do when new prices (on everything) triples and our incomes don't keep up?

I didn't realise things were so bad in the USA that you expect prices to triple. That's hyper inflation. At least here in the UK prices are stable - although taxes will go up in 2011/12.

Cheers
Jeff

Xmas · Nov 23, 2009

Mike1234 said:
New prices are going up but used prices continue to flounder... for now anyway. What are we going to do when new prices (on everything) triples and our incomes don't keep up?

Hi

Adopt to the times or, join the soup queue.

Learn not to elect presidents that are all hype and cannot pound sand into a rat hole.

Noel
P.S.
I can can hear the blues singer in the background

'... buddy can you sapre a dime...'

the difference is that 'dollar' or 'ten' does not have the same prosody.

Mike1234 · Nov 23, 2009

^^^ I voted against that idiot lunatic both times. Besides, the USA two-party system is set up to fail the populous. They're run by big business and big government. All we can do is vote the lesser of two evils.

Yes, I expect prices to triple... not in the next couple of years... but in ten perhaps. With thirty trillion dollars of national debt (and growing) our economy will burst. If one does the math our debt is one hundred thousand dollars for every man, woman, and child here ($30T/300M) . Take into account that's assuming all of us are tax payers... of course we're not. Too, those who make enough money have ways of getting out of paying taxes and those who make too little pay very little or no taxes. That leaves the brunt of this debt on maybe one third of the populous. How are we citizens in that unlucky tax bracket going to pay off three hundred thousand dollars of debt each?

So yes, we may all be in the soup line... again... and soon.

Xmas · Nov 23, 2009

chorleyjeff said:
- although taxes will go up in 2011/12

Hi Jeff

You are gonna vote for a tax increase? More liberal expenses for MPs?

I think you will find that new and 2nd hand CV lenses prices have been creeping up in the UK, I'd imagine ZM are the same, the £ has slipped a bit against the far east currencies...

Noel

Xmas · Nov 23, 2009

Hi Milke

Our CV and ZM 2nd hand prices are indeed holding up well, tracking the new prices. People in the trade say it is the M9 effect, more lenses are needed as Leica captures a bigger % of the market, twice of 0% is still not large, but it (M9) is sucking up all the lenses as well. Think the wides are hardest hit i.e. most in demand.

This is bleeding over to older LTM lenses and Canon Ps, to my great annoyance.

In the UK we also have the problem that lots of our dealers are WWW.dealer and there is not a customs barrier with the rest of Europe (in the CM) so people are buying UK kit with euros.

You spotted I was not blaming the current incumbent as well, - thanks. He will/should be easy to judge by the size of the debt before and after, 100k $ per capitia is not large provided it is decreasing, debts need to be repayed.

Sometime is is hard being a cynic.

Noel

redrockcoulee · Nov 23, 2009

When I bought my first 35mm camera , a Pentax Spotmatic F, it took me about 70 hours of working construction to pay for it. Even in today's economy does it take a construction worker 70 hours (before taxes) to buy a new film camera like the FM10? I think not. We have become spoilt by decades of falling prices and being able to buy bigger and better of most consumer goods for the same price. Labour costs will rise in the third world as it becomes less of a third world and rising costs, more demand for raw materials and products in the entire world and exchange rates will play a larger part in pricing than will who is the leader of 5% of the world's population. And it is only supply and demand that affects the price of used equipment. The reality is that we have to finally face reality and IMHO politics is no where near the largest factor in this. A walk through a big box electonics store today and try to think what was available twenty years ago and what those prices were in comparision to our wages and I think we are for the most part better able to purchase stuff now then back then. In the future we in some parts of the world may not be able to say we could do the same as we could in 2009, i do not know. But I think Rob would have recieved his price increase regardless of who those south of the border or across the pond elected as their leaders.

Ten or twelve years ago we bought a 27 inch TV. The same size TV is half the price and the larger ones are up to 70% less in price. The same for computers and other electronics, digital cameras etc. Do we expect that all manufactured goods will be able to do this?

Mike1234 · Nov 23, 2009

You've made some very good points. However, I was only pointing out that inflation will eat us alive in the ensuing few years which will drive prices up thereby greatly depreciating our "current" economic buying power. Your choice of comparing electronics, though valid, is less somewhat accurate, IMHO, than comparing analog/mechanical devices because the electronics industry has been the fastest growing of any other. Before anyone cries "foul"... computers are part of the electronics industry. Your Spotmatic/FM10 comparison is a good one.

Xmas · Nov 23, 2009

No I suggest these are extraneous points a CV40mm f/1.4 new or 2nd hand has increased in price a lot over the last 18m in UK.

The £ has slipped against most everything but the $.

The £ has slipped e.g. because of the government printing £ like the Veirmar Republic, in post WWI Ge, this did not seem like a good idea then.

Similarly in the USA...

http://zfacts.com/p/318.html

Indicates that the fed gov is borrowing money (again), you will have to pay interest until you pay this back, interest is taxation and eats into your spend power independent of exchange rate. A part if the money is from the PRC, who are intrested in replacing the USA dominance both in military and commercial spheres. You are borrowing money from an adversry. The only good news is that you will be paying back in inflated dollars...

If the fed gov needs more money or needs to keep borrowing the same amount it will only be able to borrow it at a higher interest rate, it will seem like you are swimming with lead bouyancy aids, tormorows will be depleted uranium.

Noel

Rob Skeoch · Nov 27, 2009

I thought the Leica M8 gave a boost to the sales of M lenses in the very wide range... with the crop factor and all people picked up the 25mm from Zeiss.
Now with the full-frame M9 people are calling about the 35mm and 50mm once again.

-rob

Rob Skeoch · Dec 10, 2009

I just received the price changes from Zeiss. Most rangefinder lenses are going up a fair bit. The price change is next week.

Here are a couple examples....

21mm F2.8
Current Price $1108
New Price $1340

25mm F2.8
Current Price $969
New Price $1117

28mm F2.8
Current Price $877
New Price $1055

35mm F2
Current Price $877
New Price $1055

If you want to order anything you can contact me through my website at www.bigcameraworkshops.com or send me an email.

-Rob Skeoch

Mike1234 · Dec 10, 2009

Well... that's only 20 percent in one jump. Not too bad considering what's eventually to come.

RichA · Dec 18, 2009

The mythical spectre of global warming

Mike1234 said:
Well... that's only 20 percent in one jump. Not too bad considering what's eventually to come.

Is soon (with Obama's help) to bankrupt the U.S. while making many Third World dictators very happy. Still, I didn't think the con about the dollar dropping was any more believable last year (when some lens prices from Nikon and Canon shot up 30% in three increases over four months) than it is now. What is happening is that manufacturers are slamming pre-existing customers with unjustifiable lens price increases because they aren't gaining new customers fast enough.

JimCouch · Dec 19, 2009

Mike1234 said:
New prices are going up but used prices continue to flounder... for now anyway. What are we going to do when new prices (on everything) triples and our incomes don't keep up?

Learn to live like the rest of the world. We have had it far to good for a long time, at the expense of much of the rest of the world. Things are starting to balance out. Won't be pretty, but that's life.

Mike1234 · Dec 19, 2009

JimCouch said:
Learn to live like the rest of the world. We have had it far to good for a long time, at the expense of much of the rest of the world. Things are starting to balance out. Won't be pretty, but that's life.

That is precisely what intend to do. I'm tired of having to pay for a big city house and all the bills that go with it. In ten months I'll have paid off the current loan on my 401K at which time I will take out another loan to pay cash for a small home in the country away from big city taxes. It will have a water well, septic tank, green houses for veggies, full set of on-the-grid photovoltaics, generator backup, etc. My living costs will be practically nada. Property taxes for something like this at the moment are $200-300 per year. My expenses will be so low I can repay my loan in about three or four years and begin investing like crazy in a separate Roth IRA. Now that's independence.

Jedidiah Smith · Jan 26, 2010

Mike, that's one heck of an idea!

Mike1234 · Jan 26, 2010

^^^ I think so... but I no longer have a significant other or dependents to consider. If I did this when I was 18 years old I would've been a multi-millionaire extraordinaire long ago... maybe even a billionaire.

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