I'm writing this post mainly to criticize Canon for it's recent outrageous pricing policies, and to simply say that they cannot keep doing what they are doing.
I was one of the first people to support Canon's new higher pricing due to the yen/dollar conversion, which in a way justified it, but now Canon seems to be actively trying to destabilize the market for their gear and alienate all of their customers.
The specific issue I am talking about are the huge price cuts and markups on their older and newer bodies.
Let's talk the last 3 months because this is the most relevant time frame.
3 months ago, buying a new 5D Mark III for $3400 was a bargain, and buying a new 5D Mark II for $2050 was a bargain, and buying a T4i for $750 was a bargain. So I got my 5DIII & 5D II (but waited on the t4i)
How much are these cameras worth 3 months later? $2500, $1300, & $480, and I picked up a new T4i for $480 today.
That's $1920. Gone in 3 months. In depreciation. On $6000 of cameras.
Let's compare Nikon on the other hand. 3 months ago, the D800 new for $2800 was a bargain, now it's a bargain for $2450. With the Nikon D700, 3 months ago it went for $1650, now it's $1550, the D7000 went for $860, 3 months ago and now it's $780.
That's only $520 in depreciation. Which is nearly 4 times less than $1920.
Wow.
This means I could theoretically own nearly 12 Nikon bodies for what it costs to own 3 Canon ones with their new insane mark ups and mark downs.
Why is Canon seemingly actively screwing over it's buyers with insane price cuts, and equally insane introductory mark ups? The only reason I can come up with is that they want to lose customers and lose credibility.
Considering this insanity, I just don't feel comfortable buying any Canon gear any more. Based on this trend, the 24-70mm Mark II should hit $1600 by March, and then it's perfectly believable that when the 24-70mm f/4.0 IS Macro comes out, the 24-105mm which now sells for $750 will be sold for $520 within weeks or months from now. The 35mm f/2.0 IS which I was also interested in which goes for $849.99 now should go for $499 in March as well.
Canon may think themselves smart for playing pricing games, but they are trading brand loyalty and credibility for profit, which is not a sustainable strategy in the long run.
Many of us who bought 5D MK III at 3499 needed that camera ... we do not care if Canon decides to drop the price after a few months, so many others can also buy them. From what I can understand in your post is that you could have waited for the price to drop and did not really need the camera when you purchased it ... but if you really needed the 5D MK III and bought it at $3499, you have nothing to crib about. Canon are smarter than you think, they sold 5D MK III for $3499 because they knew that there was a demand and sure enough they were right. The official price drop for 5D MK III is only $500 ... you cannot blame Canon if some grey market outlets or limited special deals are selling it for a lot less.
Moral of the story: next time do not buy things when you don't need them. But if you do need something and paid a premium for being one of the first few to get it, then do not crib.
I totally agree... It happens with everything, offer and demand.... They can do it because they have demand for the product, I remember it was even difficult to get one... If you are dropping Canon just because of that, then may be you can do it, sell all your glass and bodies, lose more money on the operation, and buy all new again from Nikon... And see it dropping in price too... At the end you might even lose more money. Clever? Or just angry?
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