G
Guest
Interesting discussion on the ND. I hope I can offer some comparison material and reflection. Just a personal opinion.
I bought a Nikon Coolpix some 6 months ago (April 2002). The sharpest price for it in the Netherlands was then about 1500 Euro.
I was not prepared to pay this much, so I took my chances when I was in Singapore and bought it for 1400 Singapore dollar, or 900 Euro; good deal and it is actually a nice camera, works fine, but guess what . . . . . . It eats batteries, just like any other digicam or SLR. Paying import duties (some 170 Euro) reduced the benefit, but still . . .
The Coolpix 5000 has gone steadily down in price, faster since the successor the Coolpix 5700 has been introduced and just today, on the largest computer show in Holland I saw it on offer for 950 Euro (not one but hundreds in stock). So now the 1000 Euro barrier is also broken. Last week the price in Singapore was only about 1200 Singapore Dollar (so also down but not that much). Note that this price reduction in Holland is equal to a net discount of 550 Euro or just over 35% and the bottom is not in sight. I think before year-end the thing will be available at 800 Euro, or half of what it cost in April this year.
Nikon is a respectable brand, just as Contax, but for a different audience and for different reasons maybe. But their products seem to behave the same.
For a major part this is the result of the crazy product innovation cycle, both in cycle times and in functional performance that we consumers have pushed onto the manufacturers, each one desperately fighting for markets share, the prime requirement for survival. The latest, the greatest and in fact the newer model has features and performances that we may not require that much, but the magazines lead us to believe this and we buy. Every now and then, a product gets into the market and is introduced too early, with all the sad consequences for the parties concerned: the consumer suffering from a Monday morning product, the manufacturer suffering from high maintenance and possibly recall cost and the market from a general lack of trust that is resulting. And the early adapter customers are always the most vulnerable: larger chance of a poorly engineered product and certainly experiencing the steeper part of the price drop curve. Such a miss or near miss is usually not the result of a devious plan (as I believe was expressed in one of the earlier mails in this thread), but exposes bad management (marketing and new product development).
The innovation and market share fight is not very much different in the business to business high tech world as I experience on a daily basis in my professional life. Marketing makes the customers "crazy"; the customers in turn lure the manufacturers into innovation cycles that cannot be sustained without major sacrifice.
So back to basics maybe the solution. If you are happy with the camera you have, keep it and use it. This goes for the ND as much as any other camera.
By the way: for the Contax G2 users among you.
A nice set of a titanium G2 with 90 and 45 mm lenses and TLA 200 flash is now also 50-60% of the price of about 1 to 1 1/2 year ago. You can check this on the Internet sites of some German resellers. So even with the renowned high end products this is happening.
I was in Tokyo last week and saw G2 and G1 in second hand stores for about 350 Euro and 150 Euro respectively. Lenses (35 mm and 45 mm) varied from 150-175 Euro (one Euro is equal to one dollar). The best of the best for 500 Euro (G2) and 300 Euro (G1).
Many "exited" customers after some meditation will be more than happy with such a set and have to train themselves to forget to buy the newest and greatest.
Having said all this, I am in the market for a TVS digital. I will (have to) control my eager to get it until I know it is a good product and the first price peaks have been eroded. So not before summer next year, I guess.
Peter
I bought a Nikon Coolpix some 6 months ago (April 2002). The sharpest price for it in the Netherlands was then about 1500 Euro.
I was not prepared to pay this much, so I took my chances when I was in Singapore and bought it for 1400 Singapore dollar, or 900 Euro; good deal and it is actually a nice camera, works fine, but guess what . . . . . . It eats batteries, just like any other digicam or SLR. Paying import duties (some 170 Euro) reduced the benefit, but still . . .
The Coolpix 5000 has gone steadily down in price, faster since the successor the Coolpix 5700 has been introduced and just today, on the largest computer show in Holland I saw it on offer for 950 Euro (not one but hundreds in stock). So now the 1000 Euro barrier is also broken. Last week the price in Singapore was only about 1200 Singapore Dollar (so also down but not that much). Note that this price reduction in Holland is equal to a net discount of 550 Euro or just over 35% and the bottom is not in sight. I think before year-end the thing will be available at 800 Euro, or half of what it cost in April this year.
Nikon is a respectable brand, just as Contax, but for a different audience and for different reasons maybe. But their products seem to behave the same.
For a major part this is the result of the crazy product innovation cycle, both in cycle times and in functional performance that we consumers have pushed onto the manufacturers, each one desperately fighting for markets share, the prime requirement for survival. The latest, the greatest and in fact the newer model has features and performances that we may not require that much, but the magazines lead us to believe this and we buy. Every now and then, a product gets into the market and is introduced too early, with all the sad consequences for the parties concerned: the consumer suffering from a Monday morning product, the manufacturer suffering from high maintenance and possibly recall cost and the market from a general lack of trust that is resulting. And the early adapter customers are always the most vulnerable: larger chance of a poorly engineered product and certainly experiencing the steeper part of the price drop curve. Such a miss or near miss is usually not the result of a devious plan (as I believe was expressed in one of the earlier mails in this thread), but exposes bad management (marketing and new product development).
The innovation and market share fight is not very much different in the business to business high tech world as I experience on a daily basis in my professional life. Marketing makes the customers "crazy"; the customers in turn lure the manufacturers into innovation cycles that cannot be sustained without major sacrifice.
So back to basics maybe the solution. If you are happy with the camera you have, keep it and use it. This goes for the ND as much as any other camera.
By the way: for the Contax G2 users among you.
A nice set of a titanium G2 with 90 and 45 mm lenses and TLA 200 flash is now also 50-60% of the price of about 1 to 1 1/2 year ago. You can check this on the Internet sites of some German resellers. So even with the renowned high end products this is happening.
I was in Tokyo last week and saw G2 and G1 in second hand stores for about 350 Euro and 150 Euro respectively. Lenses (35 mm and 45 mm) varied from 150-175 Euro (one Euro is equal to one dollar). The best of the best for 500 Euro (G2) and 300 Euro (G1).
Many "exited" customers after some meditation will be more than happy with such a set and have to train themselves to forget to buy the newest and greatest.
Having said all this, I am in the market for a TVS digital. I will (have to) control my eager to get it until I know it is a good product and the first price peaks have been eroded. So not before summer next year, I guess.
Peter