+1 with Canon on this subject.
Alot of people said:
1. " early adopters always pay for premium price tag"
2. " You get to play wiith camera before us"
3. " Demand and supply law"
I say if you think $3500 is too much for 5D III then switch to Nikon. or get the mrk II.
Allowed 20%ish price drop on new & hot body is unacceptable. Canon needs to keep their reputation as leader in this market.
Have to agree wholeheartedly with Dylan777 on this, just read a review of 4 HD digital cameras in the December issue of HD Video Pro (the Arri Alexa vs RED Epic vs Canon EOS 5D Mark III vs Sony F65) and the reviewers conclude that the 5D3 @ $3500 is an ABSOLUTE STEAL given the improved S/N ratio, clean footage up to 12,800 ISO, lack of line skipping, reduced moire and aliasing over its predecessor the 5D2 and so on.
I know that many photographer's out there would like to buy this DSLR for about a grand, but you know what you cannot get a Porsche Turbo for twenty grand. Lot of tech = higher price. And there are enough people out there who will pay full retail for this Canon product w/out complaining.
Canon have to control the prices of their products (to a degree), not just to create a level-playing field amongst retailers, but to preserve residual values....otherwise they will have zero incentive to spend R&D on new tech. If all dslr prices were to continuously fall, then Canon could not charge full retail price on new products => lower sales => lower R&D spend (as R&D is a fixed set % of net sales). If you want $99 digital 12MP cam, buy P&S.
Price-fixing is illegal, so is operating a price cartel, but these MAP are neither, as Canon has not changed the cost of these products to the wholesaler/retailer, instead just ensuring that they (Canon Inc.) dictate selling prices and not allow a French discount electronics hypermarket like Boulanger (for instance) to set Canon's prices for them (as has happened recently e.g. €2,700 for a 5D3 or 800 euros less than elsewhere in Europe). Boulanger did not spend a dime developing the new 22.3MP sensor in the 5D3, so why should they dictate price for the market, just because they can buy in bulk and are willing to 'box-shift' product as a 'loss-leader' then hoping to make profits on lens + accessories?
I believe in cause and effect. Do you not think that recent price discounting like the aforementioned on both sides of the Atlantic has had anything to do with Canon's new MAP? (clue: no such thing as a double-coincidence in life or nature).