Street prices for Alpha? -redux

[robert_paul1]

I received an email from Amazon.com today for the Sony A100 with 18-70mm lens.

Their price for the kit is $905.44. Other stores on Amazon are selling it for

about $894. I like Amazon because they pay for the shipping and there are no

taxes.

 

Now that the A100 is 'old news', I wonder what other posters have seen the

A100 going for? What's the street price in your area?

[peterblaise]

.

 

Sony Alpha DSLR-A100:

 

Prices as of 2006-09-26, with and without shipping, depending on source:

 

Street: $900-1,000US

 

Internet: $850US

 

Remember, it uses all the same lenses, flashes and accessories as all the years gone by of Minolta Alpha/Dynax/Maxxum and Konica Minolta Alpha/Dynax/Maxxum SLR and DSLR cameras!

[cmphoto1]

B&H this weekend was $800 for the body and $900 for the kit. Plus shipping.

 

Word is that sales were better than Sony expected. Good news.

 

chad

[robert_paul1]

Chad, thank you for giving me some useful info.

[craig_gillette]

Since California "street" prices would include taxes of about 8%, a $900 item would cost $72 over a similarly priced item out-of-state. Canoga is showing $849.94 and $899.94 with lens. Samy's "call for price."

[._._z]

Sony and Pentax seem to have the price/performance lead going into Christmas 2006.

[chris_harley1]

Where's the rest of the system ?? No lenses, no accessories. I know some weren't scheduled until now and November but I've not seen much on the internet for sale. I'm not trying to be down on Sony but it hasn't been the blitz I was expecting. Surely rebranded lenses only need to be ordered not designed, these old Minolta jobs should be on the high-street by now! ? I just want to be able to plan my next purchases ;)

[cmphoto1]

I am frequently dealing with new peoduct components that require 16+ week leadtimes, no matter how much money you throw at the supplier. I am also sure that KM management ran inventories down as low as posible before handing over the keys.

 

I am sure it is taking sony some time to wet the line.

 

chad

[robert_paul1]

Chris, I would suspect that Sony is planning a big roll-out of the lenses at Photokina. However, as only three lenses are new, the Sony booth could be quiet. Hopefully they will have the second DSLR that they are planning to come out with on display. Or, at least they could show it behind closed doors. This delay in release of supporting equipment doesn't speak well of Sony's effort to stay in the DSLR market.

 

Sony's effort so far, looks an awful lot like Konica/Minolta's efforts in their dying days. I got the new edition of Popular Photography, and the Sony ad, while taking up a whole page, didn't say much, very boring.

[chris_harley1]

Chad , you're right that manufacturing can take 16 weeks between order and fulfillment but surely Sony were aware they were realeasing a DSLR this year ?? Of course they would not know how well their camera would sale but I have not even seen the lenses listed as for sale or sold out or awaiting stock. They simply don't exist in the marketplace.

[cmphoto1]

Chris, the only thing I could say to that is that Sony needed to know whcih lenses they were going to sell before. I am surecost was a major factor in that decision. Who knows what KM shared and when as cost info is typically highly proprietary.

 

To date, nothing Sony has done shocks me or causes me any concern.

 

chad

[bill_force]

Remember, it uses all the same lenses, flashes and accessories as all the years gone by of Minolta Alpha/Dynax/Maxxum and Konica Minolta Alpha/Dynax/Maxxum SLR and DSLR cameras!

 

Right on Peter. I don't understand why everyone is getting their knickers in a knot so soon when you can buy everything you need from the majors labeled K/M. I bought a K/M remote release identical to the Sony listing for $10 LESS at B&H?

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[robert_paul1]

R.F.- You miss the point. Sony bought the rights to the K/M DSLR and the accessories. They should be able to market a complete 'system' now. If they aren't able to produce the accesories, there is no sense in them coming out with a body. They're not in the market to help K/M get rid of old inventory. Are Sony DSLR buyers expected to go to the used equipment market to outfit their newly bought body? If Sony's goal is to drive business to the independent lens makers, they're doing a good job.

 

Perhaps they're having second thoughts about staying in the business due to their problems. As I see it, Sony is not giving me any confidence that they are serious about the DSLR market. Let's see what they're showing at Photokina

[robert_paul1]

I looked at the pictures of Photokina and from what I see, Sony didn't have anything really new. I did notice that the sample of one of the Zeiss lenses at their booth has a serial number of '000000'. Does this mean it's not yet in production? I didn't any word about anything being shown under glass or behind close doors.

[cmphoto1]

If by "nothing new" you mean nothing previously announced, you are correct. It was posted here before, Sony's Photokina was going to be all about selling the A100.

 

Interesting how two people can look at the same thing and one can see nothing while the other sees something. Because I did see 3 new Zeiss lenses. From what I hear, these were the first samples shown to the public. (these lenses are not released yet). I also saw pictures of the 70-200SSM and the 300mm SSM being used,

 

Sony is doing exactly what they said they were going to do. I am sorry that their failure to do more than that has consistently disappointed you.

 

chad

[robert_paul1]

Chad, it has been over a year now that Sony and K/M announced that they were co-developing DSLRs, and around 9 months since Sony announced that they would buy certain assets from K/M and come out with DSLRs on their own.

 

At this point in time, all Sony has to show is one lower-end body and a handful of lenses, many of which are harder to find then hen's teeth. So, when Sony actually does show another body and actually ship the new lenses, will we be in 2007 or 2008? They are making K/M look good in the tartiness between announcing new product and actually getting it to market. In the mean time, the competition has very little lag time between showing a new product and its release to market. If I were new to the DSLR market, not having any existing lenses, I wouldn't appreciate having to go hunt for lenses and accessories from the used equipment market or having to buy from an independent manufacturer.

[peterblaise]

.

 

Earlier: "... all Sony has to show is one lower-end body ..."

 

Hmm ... did I miss something? Did Sony already announce yet another camera body lesser than the 10mp anti shake Sony Alpha A100?

 

Click!

 

Love and hugs,

 

Peter Blaise peterblaise@yahoo.com Minolta Rokkor Alpha DiMage

http://www.peterblaisephotography.com/

[robert_paul1]

<<Earlier: "... all Sony has to show is one lower-end body ..."

 

Hmm ... did I miss something? Did Sony already announce yet another camera body lesser than the 10mp anti shake Sony Alpha A100?>>

 

Peter, you definately are missing something, but that's a subject for another post. ;-)

 

In all seriousness, it is well know that the A100 is a DSLR aimed at the lower end of the market, even though it may not seem like it, with all its features. It's like buying an economy car now days. In the past, power windows were something that you found in a luxury car, not a small car destined for the rent-a-car parking lot. However, today, just about every car on the showroom floor has power windows.

[peterblaise]

.

 

========== cars.net ==========

 

I drive a 2001 Daewoo Lanos 3-door -- I seem to go for the underdog who then goes out of business.

 

What kind of cars does everyone else drive?

 

I guess this has become the theme here.

 

Daewoo, by the way, was the only profitable division of GM and now sells re-badged American cars in Korea. Daewoo's built in Korea can also be had under Chevy, Pontiac and Suziki nameplates.

 

I don't think there's an appropriate point to this, but I'm wiling to give it a whirl.

 

So, everyone, how do you compare your car to your camera?

 

========== photo.net ==========

 

The Sony Alpha A100 is the first APS 10mp DSLR, not a come-on 6mp, which is the current market entry DSLR. Sony has no camera in the entry level DSLR range at the moment. Though everything competes with everything, no one calls the new Nikon or Pentax 10mp entry level -- why only the Sony?

 

So?

 

Click!

 

Love and hugs,

 

Peter Blaise peterblaise@yahoo.com Minolta Rokkor Alpha DiMage

http://www.peterblaisephotography.com/

[robert_paul1]

Peter, my point is that as certain features are added to an item, that feature will trickle down the price chain, until it becomes expected to be found on even the least expensive model. Another example, and perhaps one you'll understand better, is indoor plumbing. Way back when, only the rich people had indoor plumbing, the poor people had to go to the outhouse in the back yard. Now you find indoor plumbing in every house.

 

(Oh, since you asked, I drive a 2006 Honda Civic EX sedan. It is my fifth Honda, but my first Civic. All the others were Accords EXs, and the last two were V-6 with leather. I got the Civic because I wanted to save money on my gas bill, and the Accord started to get too big for my needs, too hard to park. I was going to get the LX, but it didn't have a moon roof or alloy rims. I don't miss the leather seats, but I do miss the leather wrapped steering wheel, as I've gotten spoiled.)

 

As to why I say the Sony A100 is an entry level DSLR is because Sony themselves have said that they are targeting the lower-end market. I'm sure Sony could have come out with a 6 MP 'entry-level' DSLR, but then, it would have been pooh-poohed by the press as a 'been there, done that' camera. I doubt that Sony or any other DSLR maker will come out with anything less than a 10 MP camera in the future, unless it is a radical departure of present technology. The good thing about digital photography is that it is still new technology, and advances keeps coming out faster and faster, and prices keep dropping. Who knows where the entry-level DSLR will be ten years down the road.

[cmphoto1]

Robert,

 

I keep reading your expectations for Sonys rollout, all the way back to your assertion that Sony needed to show a sample of an upcoming dSLR during PMA before the sale of KMs photo division was completed. And I am struggling to reconcile the basises for your expectations with business processes.

 

So I ask, in your mind, when it comes to inventory, intellectual property (i.e. designs), and supplier relations, how does a transfer like this go down?

 

chad

[robert_paul1]

"So I ask, in your mind, when it comes to inventory, intellectual property (i.e. designs), and supplier relations, how does a transfer like this go down?"

 

Chad, the announcement of the join development of DSLRs was over a year ago. We do not know, nor are likely to ever know, if the DSLRs that Sony and K/M were planning to be clones or different from each other. If I had to guess, I would say they would have been clones. I would think the differences would have been very minor.

 

When K/M announced that they were getting out of the photo business, I think it occured before actual production of the new DSLRs started, therefore K/M didn't have any bodies of their version of the A100 to dump. K/M probably had to decide by a certain date to commit or drop out. Therefore, the only changes that needed to be made was for all the future lenses and accessories to carry the Sony name only. Minolta probably stopped production of lenses and flashes with their name at that time, if not sooner. I believe someone on this forum said that machinery was being sent to China, which might account for some of the delay. (Has anyone checked to see where the Sony-labelled lenses and flashes are made?) However, as much of the carried over items are cosmetically identical to the K/M version, the only change is the name on the item and the name on the panel with the company name. The name change only takes a few hours as it is 'screened' on the item. The other change takes a day or two, as a master die has to be made, not a big deal with CNC machining.

 

From what was posted on this forum, many lenses carrying the K/M name were hard to find in the period after K/M dropped out and when Sony released the A100, so that would indicate that K/M wasn't sitting on large inventories of soon to be orphaned equipment.

 

And even if there was, I doubt that any agreement between Sony and K/M would call for Sony to wait for K/M to deplete their inventory before they could release product. K/M sold much of their left-over bodies and lenses to either B&H and/or Ritz. It is also possible, but not likely, that the left over K/M labelled items in K/M's warehouse was relabelled or in the case of the lenses to be re-chipped so they would be 'D' lenses.

 

Finally, I doubt that Sony would have had any problem with whomever supplies the products or components for their products. Can you imagine someone who actually makes the flashes asking Sony to fill out a credit application?- "Sony? Never heard of them. Fill out this credit application, and let me see two forms of IDs, then it'll be a few weeks to check out your credit, before we can ship."