Canon 5D Mark II Price Drops March 4, 2012

[Axilrod]

I suspect the 5DII will be $1999.99 and the 5DIII will probably have an MSRP of $3499.99 with a street price of $2999-$3299.  Then maybe $3999 with the 24-105.

But definitely not $3500 for lens and body, they aren't going to include a lens that is less than $1k by itself...so assuming $3500 WAS for the body/lens that would put the price of the 5DIII at +/- $2500, which just isn't happening. 

[capertillar]

i personally never bought into the whole 3500 body+kit pricing... and as such, i see this as a plus, since i wonder if canon will really drop the 5dmk2 price to 2000 and then release a 5dmk3 at 3500... 1500 more for a new body is a bit over the top (feels like)... a 1000 increase could be reasonable if the body actually does feature that much new technology, not to mention 3000 puts it in direct competition with nikons d800... so hopefully the price will come down to 3000 for the body

wonder if we'll even see a kit for the 5dmk3 when it comes out... maybe a bit later after all the rush pre-orderers are done

pure speculation, who cares, we'll know hopefully by friday

[tt]

From B&H
5DMkII +24-105 = $3200 / £2300
5D Mark II alone = $2400 / £1700
24-105mm alone = $1100 / £950

$800/£600 more to get as part of the bundle or $1100/£950 separately (store price) - a discount of $300/£350 by buying as a bundle. Doesn't that fit the back only/lens bundle rumored figures quite well?

In the UK they could easily £200, as that's how much they raised the prices after the price drop around Christmas.

[jbwise01]

The most important part of this message for me is that canon is still very concerned about pricing. They do not want to lose FF consumers to Nikon, or anyone else. This price drop timing could be for a few reasons:

• the 5d3 will in fact debut at $3500, canon thinks new FF consumers would be more willing to buy the value priced 5d2 rather then spend the extra 1k on a d800, current 5d2 users would be less likely to switch considering their investments in lenses, and those looking for a bump in performance would be likely to spend the extra $500 over switching to Nikon , canon would lose a minimal number of current and potential customers this way, but the drawback would be lower 5d3 sales than 5d2's
• canon is starting to clear some inventory to make way for the 5d3, canon will likely price the 5d3 lower than the d800 to not only get new FF buyers but also sell a high number of 5d3's in the process. Using this method, canon is likely to sell more 5d3 cameras than described above, they would not only be targeting new  FF buyers but upgraders as well.
• canon is looking to aggressively take on Nikon in the FF camera market. By lowering the 5d2 and introducing a 5d3 at an aggressive price point ($2999) canon will look to move a large number of customers over to the canon system. The 24-70 mm L II signals a shift towards higher priced lenses to make up for lower margins in camera sales. Canon will follow a proven method demonstrated by Nikon , that consumers will pay premium prices for manufacturer lens and canon will attempt to balance profit by higher margins on lenses than cameras

I think scenario 3 is most likely , hoping for a sub $3k 5d3

[capertillar]

generalizing, it certainly makes more sense for them to offer cheaper bodies but making it all back and more in lens sales... first, get ppl to buy the body, as that's step 1. once theyve bought the body, and need other stuff to buy, they'll start looking at the lenses, many will even look at the obscenely priced ones like the 24-70 II.

nobody's satisfied buying a dslr and then being limited to a single lens... thats just no fun at all!

[papa-razzi]

But yeah $3500 body only will be a lot tougher to fund if they instantly drop price for new copies of 5D2. You would think they would realize this and not dump the price on it right away but I guess they want to clear them out before it is too late.

I don't think Canon is all that concerned about how much existing 5DII owners sell their used 5DMII for.  They care about sales of new cameras.

The question is - will the 5DII stay around as a part of the product line for a reasonable length of time.  Does Canon think there is room in their product line for a $2,000 FF Camera?  Maybe the Christmas pricing was not completely about bleeding down inventory, but also was a test market for the $2,000 price point.  A lot of people jumped at that pricing, even knowing a replacement camera was around the corner.

Entry level price for FF starting at $3,500 would leave a significant portion of the FF market behind, and that would be bad for Canon.  If those entry-level FF buyers go with Nikon, then they will buy Nikon glass and it will be much harder for them to switch over in the future - if ever.

As others have mentioned, you get into a SLR system with your first FF camera and eventually start building a lens collection - and then you are somewhat locked into the manufacturer.

It would be a mistake for Canon to ignore this market segment, so lowering the price of the 5DII and having a solid entry level price point makes good sense to me.

[LetTheRightLensIn]

But yeah $3500 body only will be a lot tougher to fund if they instantly drop price for new copies of 5D2. You would think they would realize this and not dump the price on it right away but I guess they want to clear them out before it is too late.

I don't think Canon is all that concerned about how much existing 5DII owners sell their used 5DMII for.  They care about sales of new cameras.

They will be if people can't sell their 5D2 for a high enough price to go and buy the 5D3 and give them new sales. 

It would be a mistake for Canon to ignore this market segment, so lowering the price of the 5DII and having a solid entry level price point makes good sense to me.

yes, but at least give us a little time to sell our 5D2 first

[Isurus]

I'm hoping this is a sign that the 5D X will be available relatively soon after being announced (not the 6+ month wait that we are experiencing for the 1D X).  Time will tell.

[Diego]

That will be good, i wanted a body, on december but invested the money in Strobes. When i got money again the price raised, and i decided to hold, but the price was floating up.

I will be checking the prices, on canonrumors,com camera price checklist.

[archangelrichard]

Isn't this a standard practice with Japanese companies, to reduce the price of a product to eliminate inventory then introduce a new product at or near that original price point?

It's called "defending the price point" in business; they have created an expectation of product X having a certain value so the replacement steps into that part of the lineup and they discount remaining inventory of the original (although in some markets - like CARS -  you do adjust for inflation)

Canon is just signalling that the days of the 5D Mk II are over, trying to help retailers clear their shelves and not get stuck with a bunch of Mk II's when the Mk III's (or "X" 's) come out as there are far too many people FAD oriented who just buy the newest, latest, and greatest regardless of what it's really worth, just to have it.

I always have to laugh at the people who carry around a 5D or 7D and ask me about my classes - they have no real idea how to use it except as a fully auto (green box mode) "snapshot" point and shoot camera and just had too much money and too little common sense

The 5D Mk II is a value at $2K, the Mk II will be a value at it's price and you decide how much value you need and can afford just like the difference between a 60D and a 7D.

For an idea of how soon this means the Mk III will be out look at the time it took from price reductions on the 50D to stores selling out to the 60D shipping

Get it?

[wickidwombat]

I've been saying for a while that I dont think canon will stop making the 5Dmk2 that instead they will just drop the price to $1999 and occupy that price point as the entry level Full Frame. It's a $1000 give or take difference which is a large gap. It's still a good camera, its still good value at that money and they will still sell tons of them
the model has most likely paid for itself manytimes over and keeping the model alive is just gravy for canon
look they kept the 550D around well after the 600D came out
nikon did the same with the d90
they are still cabable cameras just shift them into a new price point which opens up buysers that are looking in a lower price point.
I really think they dont give a damn about what happens to used prices as they have already made their money off them.
Thats just the reality of the marketing machine

 

[CJRodgers]

In the U.K the 5d mkii can currently be bought for £1500. It sounds to me like they might reduce the price to £1300 ish, then price the new camera at £2300 ish which is roughly the same as the nikon d800. This would make sense to me. Like some of you have said £1000 instead of £1500 sounds like a more reasonable upgrade price (depending on full specs being seen). It would also keep them very competitive with nikon, and this was the msrp of the 5dmkii when it was released (according to amazon u.k via camel camel)

[pakosouthpark]

120 fps @1080 will do the trick

you are dreaming right there! i think we are at least 2 years from that, on canon SLRs.. although sony might have it for next year!

[traveller]

Nikon are also rumoured to be going down this road with the D700; they have additional complications with the battery issue (but this doesn't affect overseas sales).  The question is (as others have previously asked) whether this is simply running down remaining stocks, or whether Canon intend to keep the 5D MkII in production for a bit longer.  Here is Thom Hogan's take on Nikons position with regard to the D700: http://www.bythom.com/

[Chuck Alaimo]

I said it before and will say it again, this is a good move by canon for all of us.  the mkii is a very good camera, but no way is it still $2500 good, not in the face of the mkiii and the d800.  And yes, it does correct the used market too.  used mkii's will be able to drop to a more reasonable price ($1400-1800).  I believe the used market was artificially high do to the combination of the new price going up, and people holding onto their bodies (scarcity = supply low and demand high).

In a way too, it may not lead to current mkii owners getting as much as they thought they'd get on their mkii (again, artificially high resale prices of $1900-2200) - but - it will lead to a quicker sale! 

I'm sure there are many out there in a similar place as me, on a 7d and looking to move to FF but watching the market and waiting for the right time.  I came close to pulling the trigger on a used mkii a few times these past 2 months, but just couldn't bring myself to spend 2K on a used body with who knows how many shutter actuation on it.  At that point, manswell just wait and save and get the mkiii.  So while you may be like, oh crap, there goes the resale value, once the market is flooded with mkii's, only the highest quality used bodies will be tagged at $1900 - and sorry, if you've had your mkii for 3 years and used it heavily, its not worth $1900... 

Now things may change though, with the new price being corrected down to $2100, and the mkiii about to be released - we should see more mkii's used for a reasonable price