Does anybody think the 1dx price will come down for the holidays...why?

[Northstar]

Looking to buy a 1dx but wondering about a price drop for the holidays.  Does anybody remember from past experience how long after release the 1 series bodies price declined?

[neuroanatomist]

Unlikely. It's not exactly a consumer product.  I asked my Zeiss rep about Christmas specials on confocal microscopes - he laughed.

[Viggo]

If remember correctly the mk4 dropped quite å lot much sooner than the 1d X, from my knowledge the 1d X is still limited in stores and I don't really see a reason for it to drop in general. But now even more due to the global price increase from Canon from November..

[nightbreath]

Just look at 1D IV price history:



Personally I don't see any reasons to wait. It's not about a thousand of dollars, it can be just 2-3 hundreds, but is that something you are going to wait for?

[Standard]

Looking to buy a 1dx but wondering about a price drop for the holidays.  Does anybody remember from past experience how long after release the 1 series bodies price declined?

Seriously, if you're considering the 1D-X as a purchase then I don't think money should be an issue. It's a pro camera for a pro user. It should paid for itself within the first few gigs. And no. I don't think Canon's flagship camera will be dropping in price over the holidays anytime soon.

[bdunbar79]

I don't recall any of Canon's flagships going down in price simply for the holidays. 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

There are deals to save you a few hundred dollars.
http://www.canonpricewatch.com/product/03792/Canon-EOS-1D-X-price.html
 
Prices drop due to supply and demand.  Canon may have a overstock built up, and, as the end of the fiscal Year approaches they need to drop excess stock and show better sales for the stockholders.
Its starting to happen already via ebay sales.

[charlesa]

Do not expect any price drops any time soon!

[jukka]

Unlikely. It's not exactly a consumer product.  I asked my Zeiss rep about Christmas specials on confocal microscopes - he laughed.

you can ask for a Nikon or Leica confocal microscope, they maybe have christmas specials

[Northstar]

Just look at 1D IV price history:



Personally I don't see any reasons to wait. It's not about a thousand of dollars, it can be just 2-3 hundreds, but is that something you are going to wait for?

This 1d4 history chart that you show is partly why I have this concern....the price dropped about 4-6 months after release, just in time for the holidays. 

Saving $200-$300 is not my concern, it's a drop to $5999 within the next few months that concerns me.   Before you say "not gonna happen", just remember that the 5d3 was available for $2999 from reputable dealers in the past few weeks.  (and I believe will be available again at that price for the holidays)  And that was a 15% drop ($3500 to $2999)   A 15% drop in the 1dX put's it at roughly $5999. 

That's $800 and the reason for my concern.   I know it's probably wishful thinking...but there's nothing wrong with that, right?

[Northstar]

The thing about the Holidays and December(in the USA) is this....people are in the buying mood/mode for large ticket items.  Canon (and retailers) know these well documented buying behaviors/attitudes.  A price drop for the 1dx and 5d3 would totally make sense IMO. 

Also...December is that month where a business owner or manager might have a little extra money in the budget that can (or must) be spent before year end..."spend it or lose it" happens in business...very common. 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

The thing about the Holidays and December(in the USA) is this....people are in the buying mood/mode for large ticket items.  Canon (and retailers) know these well documented buying behaviors/attitudes.  A price drop for the 1dx and 5d3 would totally make sense IMO. 

Also...December is that month where a business owner or manager might have a little extra money in the budget that can (or must) be spent before year end..."spend it or lose it" happens in business...very common.

You can sometimes negotiate by calling a large dealer (No e-mail, they will not put discounts in writing).  Try calling a few who have them in stock. 

[neuroanatomist]

Unlikely. It's not exactly a consumer product.  I asked my Zeiss rep about Christmas specials on confocal microscopes - he laughed.

you can ask for a Nikon or Leica confocal microscope, they maybe have christmas specials

Yeah, but no one has a 63x NA=1.4 Plan Apo objective as good as the one from Zeiss.   

[Northstar]

The thing about the Holidays and December(in the USA) is this....people are in the buying mood/mode for large ticket items.  Canon (and retailers) know these well documented buying behaviors/attitudes.  A price drop for the 1dx and 5d3 would totally make sense IMO. 

Also...December is that month where a business owner or manager might have a little extra money in the budget that can (or must) be spent before year end..."spend it or lose it" happens in business...very common.

You can sometimes negotiate by calling a large dealer (No e-mail, they will not put discounts in writing).  Try calling a few who have them in stock.

Mt Spokane...your advice was worth two Sandisk 90mbs 16 gb CF cards....thanks.

[RustyTheGeek]

My Magic 8 Ball says:  Try Again Later.  Damn.  Frickin' Ball!  Always pussin' out when I need a straight answer!

Seriously, IMO you *might* save $200-$300 by negotiating or get some extras thrown in free because the dealer wants your business.  Someone buying a 1DX is a potential "big fish".  Plus it looks good to sell one of those suckers.  (Wonder what the profit margin is?)

Northstar, what feature(s) of the 1DX are you looking at that makes you want to replace your 5D3 or add to your inventory of fine cameras?  I'm just curious because I gave that same question a lot of thought before I bought my 5D3.  Because I use my cameras outdoors a lot, I look at everything I buy as the next broken item due to drop or whatever can happen.  Even the 5D3 is a lot of money, more than I really should be spending as a non-pro.  Have you rented one?  Do you know or discussed it with someone who already has one?  What has you excited about it?

What are the reasons/benefits to buy a 1DX?  Well for sure durability, super badass speed and then the incremental differences about ergonomics, metering controls, etc.  If you absolutely gotta get that shot of Michael Phelps diving in, 12fps would be nice insurance!  However, if someone is paying out of pocket and unless the shots being taken are literally once in a lifetime, my ass is toast if I don't get them, why spend the money?  (You can bet I would buy two 1DXs in a minute if my career/reputation was over without shots it could provide.  But that rarely happens.)  In most cases, I would rather have at most a 5D3 and then several nice L lenses.

Semi-unrelated thought about the definition of "Pros"
As for the comments about pros... I'm not a "pro" but I am a small business owner and I have known some pros over the years.  All 'pro' means is someone charges money for their pictures.  So I'll go out on a limb and say most pros in the camera ecosystem are small business owners.  If you know pro photographers, most are not working with budgets handed down from accounting they have to use or lose.  And they usually don't buy anything more than a box of paper clips without mapping out the purchase to fit within the accounting limits of the business.  Esp if they have employees.  Those pros that buy things on a whim are usually out of business and heavily in debt within a year or two after they've blown that small business loan seed money.  Smart business owners are very conservative because it's a lot less stressful at bill paying time and frankly, they would rather eat and buy personal items than have big ticket business assets that might result in a cold house with hungry kids or wives.

Now with that said, there are myriad of other "pro" entities that are not small businesses, they are graphics production houses, ad agencies, publication companies with studios or photographer pools, etc, etc.  IMO, those are the entities with large budgets that consider camera equipment as assets and a lot of money gets thrown around so things like a 1DX with 5 L lenses each (or 3, or 5, or 10 sets of them) isn't a camera or a lens, it's just a number on a balance sheet in another dept and a decision is made and the pro photographer (employee, not owner) comes in to work one day and there are 20 cases of goodies sitting in his office.

I assume that when many people on this forum say 'pro' with regard to buying, they automatically think of the latter scenario?  (Or they think of the 1% of wealthy individuals that just like to buy expensive toys.)  But when I think of 'pro', I think of the first scenario where if a $7000 purchase is made, it better be paid for within the year because baby needs a new pair of shoes!!  I bet a lot of those pros buy 5D2 or 5D3 bodies and keep the rest of the money in the bank.  As long as their clients love their work, it makes zero diff how the image happened, it just looks lovely.  Here are your pictures and my invoice.  Thank you!