Oh Canada, Lens Prices Have Gone Crazy in the Great White North

Not sure if the lube is included but one thing that is not is the 13% or 15% sales tax we will have to pay on top of those price!!!!

I sue B&H in the past for gear that I can't get in my town but i might look at them again...Was starting to save up to buy a full frame and the lens to go with it...Now third party lenses, buying from US or even switching brand might be options as well...

Increase to match the market is one thing but I don't recall price going down when the canadian dollar is strong...but a the same time, it is always like this for consumer goods...
 
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I suspect that dealers have plenty of old inventory that they stocked up on before the price increase. If you missed out on the advance warning, talk to your dealer.

Canon sets the MAP (Minimum Advertised Price), but not the selling price.
 
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I've got all great glass now and so all this price increase means that if I want an extra lens to play with I'll look at a 3rd party item without even considering Canon.

Perhaps they are protecting their US market but they've just pushed the Canadian market to 3rd parties and with that the core reason to stay with Canon at all which is their glass. 3K for a 70-200 is beyond what it is worth by a long shot even though it is a fantastic lens.

Not of fan of doomsayers but are things really so bad in the US market that they need to abandon the Canadian market?
 
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That does seem steep. Jessops a large Canon dealer are selling the EF 17-40mm f4L USM for £ 498 = Can $ 922.72
Canon UK lists the lens at £ 640 = Can $ 1185 so I doubt the retailers in Canada will be selling at the Canon Canada list prices.
 
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Bad move coz' the first ones to suffer will be the brick and mortar stores in Canada. It will drive people to buy either hold off buying, buy from grey market or go to the US. Don't think store sales in Canada are doing fantastically well. Canadian dollar was very low then when they made the announcement for April increases. Recently the Canadian currency has moved up quite a bit. Will Canon re-adjust the rate if and when the Canuck dollar once again reaches over the 80 cents mark?
 
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TWI by Dustin Abbott said:
That's a big ouch! But you know who is celebrating today? The third party brand distributors here in Canada. All of a sudden those new Tamrons and Sigmas are priced more competitively.

except they'll be doing the same. Nikon and Sony I believe jacked up their prices today too.
 
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Takingshots said:
Bad move coz' the first ones to suffer will be the brick and mortar stores in Canada. It will drive people to buy either hold off buying, buy from grey market or go to the US. Don't think store sales in Canada are doing fantastically well. Canadian dollar was very low then when they made the announcement for April increases. Recently the Canadian currency has moved up quite a bit. Will Canon re-adjust the rate if and when the Canuck dollar once again reaches over the 80 cents mark?
+1
The market value of the CAD changes daily while the store prices won't react that fast.
As soon as CAD goes up, I buy some green and just ask a friend to bring the lens when visiting the US, which happens almost every week.
 
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kevl said:
I've got all great glass now and so all this price increase means that if I want an extra lens to play with I'll look at a 3rd party item without even considering Canon.

Perhaps they are protecting their US market but they've just pushed the Canadian market to 3rd parties and with that the core reason to stay with Canon at all which is their glass. 3K for a 70-200 is beyond what it is worth by a long shot even though it is a fantastic lens.

Not of fan of doomsayers but are things really so bad in the US market that they need to abandon the Canadian market?

You should spend more time thinking that through.

if a lens was selling in canada for 2100 CAD, and for 2000 USD across the border. the one in canada is selling for $500 less in USD.

so americans buying up lenses out of canada causes a huge problem for Canon USA (who owns Canon Canada), as they are basically giving everyone a 25% discount AND upholding the warranty

it's essentially causes a large problem as canon canada becomes a grey market supplier for Canon USA.

and the canadian market is pretty much nothing compared to the american one.

I'm sure the large resellers such as amazon, bh and adorama wanted this problem fixed. as alot of their business started to go to camera canada, vistek, henry's,etc. that would allow US orders.
 
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TWI by Dustin Abbott said:
That's a big ouch! But you know who is celebrating today? The third party brand distributors here in Canada. All of a sudden those new Tamrons and Sigmas are priced more competitively.

Celebrating? A Tamron 85 1.8 is selling for $1099 CAN$ and it is $749 US$ that's over 45% more.
 
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Christ... I'm glad I bought my 600mm f/4 II from Canada several years ago...back when the deals were still stellar. And frick, I should have picked up the 300mm f/2.8 II last month! :'(

On a side note...is Canon not just going to reverse the problem that existed before? Won't Canadians now just buy US instead? These prices are a LOT more expensive in CAD than in USD. It's not a level playing field. Seems it would still be more economical to buy a superprime in the US and ship it over the border, enduring any of the fees.
 
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