Nikon ZF price drop in UK - Is it necessary?

ClintGryke said:

Dibyendu Majumdar said:

skyrunr said:

Don't get me wrong, getting a good deal is fun, but I REALLY think Nikon needs to stop dropping the price of their products within a year of their release.

Click to expand...

I didn't think Nikon ever drops prices - it must be the dealers who stop raking in a big margin after the product's initial sales diminish.

Do you have evidence that Nikon actually changed the retail price of Zf?



Above is from Nikon UK.

Click to expand...

If you keep an eye on authorised UK dealer Nikon prices, you will see that they all go up and down during sales at the same time with similar or identical prices, and the Nikon store has similar or identical prices, so clearly Nikon is dictating the prices. For example, the Z8 is currently £3299 and all the major dealers have the same price. If the dealers were doing this, it would probably classify as price fixing which would presumably be illegal.

Click to expand...

This is not good evidence though as Nikon offers the same rebates to everyone so the fact that all prices reflect that during sales period does not prove anything.

However that is not to say that Nikon aren't giving dealers a lower price after 1 year; they may well be - I am just saying above is not good evidence for it.

I think that it is extremely unlikely that one dealer (Amazon) suddenly gives a big discount because Nikon gave them a special price. IMO when one dealer reduces prices, other dealers follow, and so several dealers start selling at the lower price, although you can still see some dealers selling at higher price.

So I did live long enough to see someone on a camera forum complain about lower camera prices!

wooders636 said:

According to Camera Price Buster this shows the lowest price over the past 365 days. Not sure where Nikon Rumors are getting their info from.

Click to expand...

Amazon UK :

skyrunr said:

Don't get me wrong, getting a good deal is fun, but I REALLY think Nikon needs to stop dropping the price of their products within a year of their release.

I don't mind paying a premium for pre-orders, but I can't stand losing 25% value on top of tax+used+fee reselling adjustments that quickly. Nikon dropped the price of the 70-180f2.8 by over $100 within a few months of release too. Please don't just reply that it has always been this way. Not in such a short time frame. This honestly make me tempted to return the Z6III. I don't mind investing in my hobby or some depreciation, but this just isn't sustainable.

I used to work for an album design software company. When the market started weakening the management team cut our price in half in desperation. It devalued the product, and new photographers were less likely to learn how to get the most out of it. Customers who paid MSRP for the product were disgruntled too. Photoshop used to be very difficult to use, but since you paid so much for it, you put the effort into it. Sort of like a gym membership. I've worked with several car dealerships over the years, and that is quite a mess too.

I really think that the ZF should have been the Z5's replacement around $1,500 anyway. A sort of discount for the lack of modes, recall settings, and bulkier design.

https://nikonrumors.com/2024/07/07/first-nikon-zf-camera-price-drop-in-the-uk.aspx

Click to expand...

It's a good news to customers who are in market for buying one. Is this official in UK? If so, it's pretty crazy and unusual to drop 500 pounds in just about 9 months after Zf's introduction.

It's barely passed its initial launch phase. I agree this is not a good repricing strategy for the brand. Such a deep price drop happens too soon to the model. It will potentially irritate customers who just paid full original price for the camera which is still considered as one of the newest introduced models by the brand. It's all about customer's expectation management. A smaller discount ( say 10%) is more appropriate after 1 year mark if the company wants to reposition the product according to its product cycle and it's new lineup then, just like what they did to Z5, Z6II and Z7II etc.

I am new to Nikon and I just got mine a little over a month. I enjoy the camera very much and like it more every time when I use it. So, I am okay with the price drop but I don't understand why such a rush of price drop is justifiable at this stage of the cycle when the camera is still very popular.

--
https://www.flickr.com/photos/183079213@N06/

Traditionally excluding Sales Tax Nikon UK prices have started 2.5-5% higher than USA, and then they have dropped further quicker.

The current dilemma is on many items introduced relatively recently the street price has fallen by around 20%.

A product launch premium is one thing, a premium of £ ($ equivalent) of 500/1000 on many items is quite another.

I am "interested" in the Z6 III but at £2,600 and on back order everywhere in the UK a fall to around £2,000 by UK Christmas/January sales on my part may be somewhat optimistic.

With YEN devaluation against US dollar expect more camera price reductions? Also Americans loaded with cameras; perhaps not buying so many cameras? To keep the wife happy. Retro Nikon Zf was never positioned at the sharp end of Nikons Z strategy. The consumer usually prefers to buy the latest camera. For me Nikon Z6III more attractive camera (despite the price) than Nikon Zf with mixed reviews. If only my Fuji XT cameras worth much in any trade-in? Pennies on the Pound or cents on the euro?

skyrunr said:

I really think that the ZF should have been the Z5's replacement around $1,500 anyway.

Click to expand...

Huh? At $1999 USD, the Nikon Zf is already one of the best new camera prices out there. The camera is ridiculously good. I cannot see your reasoning here.

John Gellings said:

skyrunr said:

I really think that the ZF should have been the Z5's replacement around $1,500 anyway.

Click to expand...

Huh? At $1999 USD, the Nikon Zf is already one of the best new camera prices out there. The camera is ridiculously good. I cannot see your reasoning here.

Click to expand...

Me neither. It's basically the same kind of performance as a Lumix S5II in a smaller body... with slightly better AF even !

The S5II has active cooling, but a the price of a larger size. It has better video features as well, but that's mostly when it comes to codec. Both cameras record pretty much teh same video with the same readout speeds.

Yet I don't see anyone say that the S5II is overpriced?

John Gellings said:

skyrunr said:

I really think that the ZF should have been the Z5's replacement around $1,500 anyway.

Click to expand...

Huh? At $1999 USD, the Nikon Zf is already one of the best new camera prices out there. The camera is ridiculously good. I cannot see your reasoning here.

Click to expand...

Yes….and if you don’t need high fps…the sensor slightly beats the Z6iii for DR so for some it is best Nikon 24MP overall.

skyrunr said:

Don't get me wrong, getting a good deal is fun, but I REALLY think Nikon needs to stop dropping the price of their products within a year of their release.

I don't mind paying a premium for pre-orders, but I can't stand losing 25% value on top of tax+used+fee reselling adjustments that quickly. Nikon dropped the price of the 70-180f2.8 by over $100 within a few months of release too. Please don't just reply that it has always been this way. Not in such a short time frame. This honestly make me tempted to return the Z6III. I don't mind investing in my hobby or some depreciation, but this just isn't sustainable.

I used to work for an album design software company. When the market started weakening the management team cut our price in half in desperation. It devalued the product, and new photographers were less likely to learn how to get the most out of it. Customers who paid MSRP for the product were disgruntled too. Photoshop used to be very difficult to use, but since you paid so much for it, you put the effort into it. Sort of like a gym membership. I've worked with several car dealerships over the years, and that is quite a mess too.

I really think that the ZF should have been the Z5's replacement around $1,500 anyway. A sort of discount for the lack of modes, recall settings, and bulkier design.

https://nikonrumors.com/2024/07/07/first-nikon-zf-camera-price-drop-in-the-uk.aspx

Click to expand...

It could be the Zf is just a slow mover in that market...?

The price drops depend on the market though I think, as the US market it's still full price ($1999).

It is possible though that Nikon does do their pricing with the intention that they will drop the price and still make their target margins, so they are priced to be discounted basically. And I think that is what happened with the Z6 III honestly, even though it hasn't been discounted, OR on the other hand, they price some bodies more than others to take up slack for price drops on other bodies. For example the Z6 III might be subsidizing the Z8 a bit since the Z8 is still $500 off, but the Z6 III is on the higher-end of its price region ($2500 being top I'd say for that segment as that's where the R6 II sat when it came out, roughly).

But the other thing is that it's summer, everyone has camera sales going on, and Nikon is just competing with the others. The R6 II (which has been out for about 2 years now) is about $500 off (so $1999). So it's just the season for discounting I guess.

Just buy what you need/want now and enjoy it. I bought the Z8 when it came out and while you could say I paid $500 more than someone who bought it recently at $500 off, I don't regret paying full price for it when it came out. I've had an extra year to shoot with it. Sometimes you end up wasting more time (and money) trying to find the cheapest deal or waiting around in some cases. Sometimes it pays off, but you also have to look beyond just dollars that you're wasting too by obsessing about sale pricing.

When I buy gear, I try to wait until it drops to a point where I think it's a good deal and pull the trigger. If it goes down in price later, I'm not that worried unless it's like a massive drop like $500-$1000 off a week later.

--
PLEASE NOTE: I usually unsubscribe from forums and comments after a period of time, so if I do not respond, that is likely the reason. Feel free to PM me if you have a questions or need clarification about a comment I made.

If you can still return your Z6 III, you can buy a Z8 for not a lot more and it is a better camera than the Z6 III and was introduced just a year ago. Couple of weeks ago, I bought a "like new - 10 rated" Z8 from B&H while the current $500 off sale is still on. It cost $3150 i.e. 10 percent off the discounted price of $3500. When they say it is like new, it is practically indistinguishable from a new camera and packing and had total shutter count of 160. Shortly after the intro, it would have cost me $4k.

skyrunr said:

Best reply so far. I just don't like these games, $500 is a lot more to some people than others. Someday I'll stop pre-ordering, but this was not the day. I do feel like the Z6III is worth the premium, and I'm enjoying it. These days most clearance sales aren't even 25% off. LOL

If I keep waiting a year, another camera will be announced, and I'd never buy anything. I lost a lot on the Z7II, but I'm still glad I had it and sold it before the Z8 came out. I did very well selling my f-mount gear during Covid.

Click to expand...

whoosh1 said:

If you can still return your Z6 III, you can buy a Z8 for not a lot more and it is a better camera than the Z6 III and was introduced just a year ago.

Click to expand...

According to "skyrunr's previous gear" list, the Z8 is one of the many cameras he's already owned and sold.