a700 price drop?

[dw fletcher]

I pretty much have what I need and don't buy equipment too often, so it's hard

for me to know how long a body is generally on the market before its price

drops. I bought my 7D right when it came out (like a moron...paying too much

and having back-focus issues) and haven't wanted a new camera until the 7D was

replaced.

 

Now that it has been, I'd rather not pay a premium for it. Do you guys think

the price will fall by, say, March or April? Or do you think the price will

remain stable until they introduce the a900? I seem to remember the 7D falling

pretty quickly not long after I bought it, but I was trying not to look, haha.

 

Basically, I have no dire need for the thing so I can wait if it will save me a

little dough. But at the same time if it's not going to drop much before the

Rangers are out of the pennant race I may as well go ahead.

 

Thanks.

[steve_c.5]

I'm certainly no "early adopter" myself, but I bit the bullet for the A700, and it's so much better than my A100 (and the previous KM 5D) in so many respects (mainly high-ISO noise) that I don't want to even pick up the A100 again. The battery grip was a nice addition too, highly recommended. Go for it. You'll love it.

[julioamendoza]

I would expect the price of the A700 lowered, not dropped, at least 6 to 8 months after introduction. Hard to know how much less though; my guesstimate would be at most $200 off the first decrease.

 

I remember the price of the A100 around $1,000 when it came out; then I saw it decline little by little aprox $100 less every 3-4 moths. Now after the new A200 model was introduced for $700, the A100 price will actually drop. I do not see similar scenario happening soon with the A700, because the next model (A900 or whatever) will be a different model and I don't think it would replace the A700.

 

If you are patient, not only will you not pay a premium but also will skip the common "early model problems" if any. If you wait at least 6 months you will get a better (or corrected, if any hardware or software issues are found) product at a better price. (Remember a DSLR is an electronic equipment and they may have defects however small).

 

I've read the A700 reviews and it seems really good to me. You won't believe I'm still shooting with my Maxxum 7 because I prefer full frame and cannot afford the DSLR's price (too much money to fool around with the master pieces in my portfolio). I am expecting the next Sony DSLR model to be full frame, and if so, it will be very tempting/unreachable to me because full frame comes with a full price tag.

 

For the Rangers you can very well use your Minolta 7D, you will do just great with it.

[._._z]

The A700 is $1300 right now, and if it drops it will only be by $100 or so. IF you want it buy now, or wait until the end of the month when the A900 (and anything else) is announced.

[dw fletcher]

Well, I wouldn't waste shutter actuations on the Texas Rangers. I predict they'll be out of the pennant race by mid-May, and that was just a coincidental time frame. I can't picture myself waiting much longer than that.

 

So it it's not going to get cheaper before then, I guess I'll start putting money back.

 

The thing is, I'm still using PS 8.0 and I guess I need to upgrade that, too. I'm not sure what Adobe Light Room is, but one on-line retailer was offering a discount with the purchase of an a700. I think it was B&H.

[steve_c.5]

Just my opinion on software, but you could hang on to PS 8.0 for awhile longer and try ACDSee Pro 2 (www.acdsystems.com). Free download to try it out. It's $130 (much cheaper than Lightroom) and I think has so many useful pro features, it's the best bang for the buck. I tried Lightroom and didn't like the interface and workflow. It was not intuitive to me. I use ACDSee 95% of the time for my post-production.

[dw fletcher]

I've been using photoshop for so long I don't think I could learn anything else, haha. I just bought a used computer with CS3 already installed, though. That will be good enough for me.

[girgis]

I need to buy a new sony and i want to know the best equipment for digi still, any help?