Is the D300 price dropping?

[K1W1]

I just noticed that my favourite Australian vendor now has the D300 body only listed at Aus$2079.00. From memory that's several hundred dollars less than when it was released so am I imagining things or is the price on the way downward already?

[Rooz]

thats over $300 cheaper than when i bought it. i think the drop was inevitable. only so long you can get suckers to pay premium prices.

[K1W1]

There hasn't been enough of a change in the exchange rate to explain $300 so I guess maybe it's just the market settling.
I wonder how the US prices are going, the way their exchange rate is at the moment prices should be rising there but the flat economy may be holding them down.
You never know we may end up with cheaper cameras then them. :D

[Rooz]

i spent some time a couple of weeks ago with the guys at European Cameras in Drummoyne, (nikon specialists), who were guessing that an "offical" price drop would come around Nov which is about the time the suspected d90 will be available in Oz following sept Photokina. interestingly they were more convinced a d40x replacement, (assuming the d60 is a d40 replacement), would be coming rather than the d80 replacement.

who knows at the end of the day ? i hope that by Sept/ Oct next year the d3 comes down a grand or so. i really hope sony's new pro lineup is a killer camera to force Canikon to drop their pro range prices.

[Rooz]

btw: i note most retailers are still guaging prices. while d-d are at $2079, ECS are still at $2585 and the big guys like paxtons etc are even higher than that. unbelievable.

[K1W1]

Go past a Teds and pick up their latest brochure thingy from the front door and see what they want for D40/D60/D80 bundles. Unbelievable.

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

Westfield charge Teds and others a fortune for those high profile storefronts. They've got to recoup it from somewhere. Glad it wasn't me:)

I couldn't believe the store price difference between the D40/X/D80 in Aust and the US when I was shopping. From memory I think it was about 2x the price!

By not looking at the D300 price I can convince myself my new toy hasn't really depreciated like computer gear does.:mad:

[Visual Reality]

2 down, 1 to go...bring on the D90!

[rawpaw18]

Doesn't seem to be making much of a move here in the states

[Screenclutter]

Doesn't seem to be making much of a move here in the states

Well, North America tends to have the cheapest prices anywhere. A bit unrealistic to expect price drops here.

In Canada, the in-store prices for the D300 seems to be $1800.
http://www.adencamera.com/index.asp?Category=6&Manufacturer=1&page=2
http://www.adencamera.com/prod-overview.asp?ProdID=2050&Category=1

It's even on sale. At the sale price in the link, I'd think it is getting rather close to the price of any potential D90 release.

[Firedog28]

The body-only prices haven't come down in the States, but everyone's offering $300 off on the D300 w/ the 18-200 zoom...Exactly what I bought 3 months ago...Oh, well...Us early adopters have always paid the price...

[Rooz]

so its more like retailers in Oz have just come down to "normal" prices from their ridiculous price guaging from before. we have the biggest bastard camera retailers around.

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

You're right instore locally the cameras do appear to have come down.
Teds now list their prices on the net btw.

Teds now sell the D300 w 18-200 VR for the bargain price of $3,800 Australian only $600 more than I paid for it a month or two ago:D

Australia D60 w 18-55VR for $1,200
and the D40X for $1,100.

In the US on the other hand B&H sell the D40 w 18-55VR for $700

We sure get charged a premium

[Screenclutter]

Oh, well...Us early adopters have always paid the price...

Yeah, but if you used it massively since you bought it, the extra cost may be worth it.

I'm guessing that prices in Europe are higher too.



Teds now sell the D300 w 18-200 VR for the bargain price of $3,800 Australian only $600 more than I paid for it a month or two ago:D

Australia D60 w 18-55VR for $1,200
and the D40X for $1,100.

In the US on the other hand B&H sell the D40 w 18-55VR for $700

We sure get charged a premium

How come a D40 body only costs $450 here? Are lenses/flashes also more expensive elsewhere?

[BLWNHR]

According to the camera store manager I spoke to when inquiring about the D300 there will not be a significant drop for 4-6 months in Australia. I am pretty confident this is right because he has a great relationship with Nikon Aus and tried to get them down as low as they would go on price and also asked if they could do it better in a month or so and they said no.

[rawpaw18]

Well, North America tends to have the cheapest prices anywhere. A bit unrealistic to expect price drops here.



Being American, by default I am unrealistic:) I can start to complain about gas prices if you like too.:eek:

[T06]

may as well.... very true post.!!!!

[cpaussie]

Just had my first look at the d300 yesterday at Michaels, wow, all those buttons! So many options in the menu setting, very overwhelming. My husband told me not to worry, he said I should be able to learn how to use it.:)
The salesman quoted me over 3,900 for the camera with the 18-200mm lens.:eek:
Digital Camera Warehouse Australia have the same combo for $3469.

[K1W1]

The salesman quoted me over 3,900 for the camera with the 18-200mm lens.:eek:
Digital Camera Warehouse Australia have the same combo for $3469.

Photo Buff have the same combination for $2949.00. (http://photobuff.com.au/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7_13&products_id=376)

Yes, it's grey market but Nenand will give after sales service every bit as good as Michaels and $1000 is a long way towards feeding NAS.

[tizeye]

You're right instore locally the cameras do appear to have come down.
Teds now list their prices on the net btw.

Teds now sell the D300 w 18-200 VR for the bargain price of $3,800 Australian only $600 more than I paid for it a month or two ago:D

Australia D60 w 18-55VR for $1,200
and the D40X for $1,100.

In the US on the other hand B&H sell the D40 w 18-55VR for $700

We sure get charged a premium


You really do get ripped off in Australia. You are essentially at parity with the US$=1.07, particurally when you consider our sales tax is around 7% depending on location.

Your $700 pricing for the D40 at B&H seemed a little high so I looked it up. B&H didn't have the "VR" lens, but the D40 18-55 is US$480 = AU$514

Likewise at B&H:
D60 w 18-55VR US$723 = AU$775
D300 body only US$1800 = AU$1928
D300 w 18-200VR (before $300 rebate) US$2540 = AU$2720

B&H, while a great store and I have ordered from them, they tend to be the upper ceiling on pricing. With some searching you can usually find better pricing. Even our local camera store advertised the D300 body for $1699 in Saturday's paper.

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

Your $700 pricing for the D40 at B&H seemed a little high so I looked it up. B&H didn't have the "VR" lens, but the D40 18-55 is US$480 = AU$514


Yep I missed an X on D40X (I think it was very early morning typing syndrome).:)

K1W1/Cpaussie Digital camera warehouse should be grey market too so it's still an apples/apples comparison.

this is where I got mine, same price as K1W1's $2,930.
http://www.d-d-photographics.com.au/nikond300.htm

The huge rip off of the D40/X and even D80 in Australia relative to the USA is a primary factor in why I forked out a bit more for the D300 where I could get more comparable prices. Stupid reason I know.

[cpaussie]

I looked into dd and photo buff they seem pretty good value. I looked up the Nikon offical website and it shows Digital camera warehouse as one of their suppliers. Here is a link.
http://www.nikon.com.au/pagearticle.php?pageid=64-76142d4dbc

[Rooz]

yes, thats why they're $400 more expensive. they think that being an authorised supplier gives them a right to rip people off.

lets face it aswll, this is only a 12month warranty we're talking abotu aswell. if they were offereing 5years like the USA then it may give me moment for pause but for 12 months ? not worth the extra dollars.

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

Oh and that B&H price in the USA is ridgy didge product (not grey market) so its got the warranty and all.

From memory for the D300 ridgy didge USA is 10-20% cheaper than grey market in Aust.:mad::mad:

Japanese company profiteering from Australia, roll on Friday.:)

[K1W1]

Japanese company profiteering from Australia, roll on Friday.:)

I think that's a bit harsh. Do you want to maybe reconsider?

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

Dumb comment K1W1, I appologise.

But I used to work for a (european) multinational and we definately engaged in price descrimination between markets to maximise company revenue. The web iss a definate threat to that kind of price descrimination.

[K1W1]

The reality is that Australia is the size of the continental USA but has a population not much more than half of that of California it's also a relatively high wage and high cost of business country.
Simply put prices must be higher in Australia to support any given infrastructure because the return on that infrastructure is going to be less on a per sale basis.
I'm not going to argue what the level of increased cost should be or even whether Australian consumers are being gouged because I don't know the facts but I will argue that it's wrong to expect the same prices here as in places like the USA or Asia.

[Rooz]

incidentally did everyone know that Nikon Australia is actually a fully owned subsidiary of Nikon Asia ? Nikon Australia as a "private entity" died when maxwell's gave up the license about 6 yrs ago.

so that may explain some of the price difference. we buy off nikon asia rather than direct thru nikon so i guess NAsia want a slice of the pie too.

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

A very level headed argument K1W1. I was having a cheap shot when I shouldn't.

I accept that a level of price discrimination is justified for a smaller remoter market. I can even accept that 20% might be justifiable for my camera.

When the 20% comes out of my pocket though I'm inclined to pay it because I have to and take cheap shots forever after.:D

As Rooz points out the reasons could be as simple as extra internal middlemen, each profit centre making a profit. That was certainly one factor why my old company had higher prices in Aust. The other reason was because we could get away with it of course.

[Rooz]

screw 'em DPR. kiwi's in an arty farty phase right now. its doing wonders for his pics but he's getting too soft. lol

[K1W1]

incidentally did everyone know that Nikon Australia is actually a fully owned subsidiary of Nikon Asia ? Nikon Australia as a "private entity" died when maxwell's gave up the license about 6 yrs ago.

Nikon Australia was only set up in around mid 2006 - 2 years ago not 6.

[K1W1]

kiwi's in an arty farty phase right now

Says the guy who wants to know about sports photos. :)
What are we looking at here? 10 years of secret practice so you can suddenly present under 12 Rugby League shots to us?