Camera Labs

So why is it that the 5D mkll has increased in price by around 10% from January this year? It has gone from around £2,000 with the 24-105 L lens to over £2,250 in a very marked rise over only one week:

http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/prod728.html

If it is down to the tsunami in Japan then the rise is a year late and the Thailand floods were several months before.

Generally when a new model comes out the previous model falls in price. The 5D mkll has uniquely gone against that trend.

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Canon 40D, EF-S 17-85mm IS USM, EF 70-300 IS USM, EF 50mm f/1.4, Speedlite 430EX II, EF 70-200 f/4L IS USM, EFS 10-22mm.

My guess is the Yen is pretty strong right now, and Canon is a Japanese company.

Indeed the Yen has risen quite sharply since January but it has fallen overall over the last two years:

http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=GBPJ ... z=m&q=l&c=

So that doesn't explain why the price had been steadily falling over those two years only to very sharply rise in January. The Yen was significantly stronger in April 2011.

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Canon 40D, EF-S 17-85mm IS USM, EF 70-300 IS USM, EF 50mm f/1.4, Speedlite 430EX II, EF 70-200 f/4L IS USM, EFS 10-22mm.

It's never that simple. The price of the old model only continues on a downward trend if there is a surplus of the old model that isn't shifting. The 5D3 is almost double the price of the 5D2, and given the underwhelming impression of the 5D3, I think a lot of people who were waiting have decided on the 5D2. By observation, I find the lowest prices tend to be just BEFORE the new model is announced, with a gradual rise as the last units are shifted.

The yen is strong relative to the pound, but it hasn't budged significantly in a long time so I don't believe that to be a direct factor here.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

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I'm not seeing the graph the same way. There was a sustained lowest price of £2100 during the run up to Christmas but it's difficult retrospectively to know whether that was very widespread or even UK stock. Variation in the average price has been much less volatile and is now only a few pounds higher than the pre-Christmas value. That said, I thought Canon had reduce the SRP of the 5D2 now?

Bob.

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OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

I have to agree with Popo.... Its true for any product thats considered a LINE....

So with things like Televisions, or maybe point and shoot cameras, it doesnt work. But with things like iphone, sport car lines, and SLR cameras, lines are affected by pricing differntly.

Items dont HAVE to be cheaper after a new one comes out - Apple stop selling and buy back old model phones b4 a new one is released so they can maintain the same price and prevent the old phones from selling cheaper.

Cars ALWAYS maintain the price of a sports car - And then they take it out of sale to prevent people buying a old model for new.

Cameras in my time selling them, we always see big sales and rebates, promotions, and temporary price drops when rumour of a new release is out... and over a period of 1 year, you will see the price go up and down... down during sales and up when theres a promotion of like, buy this camera, get this bag or something.

Then just as the new model is released and goes on sale two things happen.... If a store has lots of surplus, they sell it as quickly as they can for reduced cost and sometimes Canon and Nikon and Oly and Pana reduce the stock price of them to help retailers get rid of old stock.

If a camera is popular and theres not many in circulation, the price goes up - and sometimes it goes higher than RRP by a small margin - it happened here in Australia with the D300s... the price of the D300 went up about 150 bucks.... I remember that price because a week before a customer wanted the D300, I gave him a quote, he came back the week after and I had to add 150 to it. He was very mad at me and I even showed him all the prices around the area that it had gone up..... 5 weeks later he bought it reluctantly and swore at me saying I Was ripping him off. (He only came back because I was a few dollars cheaper than the competition... Even some online stores were charging a little more for Aussie customers.)

PErsonally, I dont see it as a dirty trick from the Company - its a retailer phenomenon. JUst kinda sad though - I was actually planning to get a D300 but I Was also too late - I sometimes never liked seeing the weekly memos from Head office telling us the new prices for the week etc. lol

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1) Olympus OM1 [Zuiko Auto-S 50mm f/1.8]
2) Pentax MZ-60 [Sigma 28-90 & 100-300]
3) Canon 7D [EF-S 15-85 & 70-200mm f/4 IS]

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