35/1.2 Nokton price raise?

It really is a shame about the price hike, but like others have said it's his business and he will run it as he sees fit. To me though it's reminiscent of what B&H and others did for a few years awhile back. Anytime a rebate came out the prices magically jumped for the amount of the rebate and as soon as they ended the prices came back down. Oh well back to Amazon for purchasing, at least I get to use my Amex reward points to help defray costs.
 
These are not computers, there is no way of knowing if Cosina will come out with a new one, or if it will be as good as this one. My worst fear is that it will be "different", since optically this lens is as good as it gets to my eyes.

Someone will make money on these lenses. I tell you, the moment they're sold out, they will pop up in the classifieds here with prices higher than what we are seeing now and some tearful story from the would be sellers, telling us how much they're gonna miss it. We've seen this with Leica lenses, but also M-Hexanon's and other manufacturers. Hell, that tearful seller could easily be me: I flipped a Zeiss Ikon I paid 300 Euros for, made the easiest 500 Euros in my life. I'm not even gonna pretend to be one of the innocent guys.

Even though I own this lens in both chrome and black, it's sad to see it leave the production lines. That, and the fact that the information of it being discontinued had to come from a member with only a handful of posts. This member gave those of you without this lens a heads up.

I can only speculate why the information about the discontinuation of such a popular lens didn't come directly from a dealer...
 
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emilsand said:
These are not computers, there is no way of knowing if Cosina will come out with a new one, or if it will be as good as this one. My worst fear is that it will be "different", since optically this lens is as good as it gets to my eyes.

Someone will make money on these lenses. I tell you, the moment they're sold out, they will pop up in the classifieds here with prices higher than what we are seeing now and some tearful story from the would be sellers, telling us how much they're gonna miss it. We've seen this with Leica lenses, but also M-Hexanon's and other manufacturers. Hell, that tearful seller could easily be me: I flipped a Zeiss Ikon I paid 300 Euros for, made the easiest 500 Euros in my life. I'm not even gonna pretend to be one of the innocent guys.

Even though I own this lens in both chrome and black, it's sad to see it leave the production lines. That, and the fact that the information on it being discounted had to come from a member with only a handful of posts. This member gave those of you without this lens a heads up.

I can only speculate why the information about the discontinuation of such a popular lens didn't come directly from a dealer...
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Very good points indeed
 
Actually, I ordered the black one two days ago, hours before seeing this thread about the price hike. Went straight to eBay and bought it at the old price with free shipping :)
 
Maybe when the lens was discontinued the US dealers had an opportunity to buy the remaining factory stock, but only at a certain price. This is another possibility that doesn't seem to have been considered? Anyway, I agree with those who say it doesn't really matter–the price is the price, and if you're willing to, then pay it. Unethical would be to advertise at one price then charge another when you place your order.

And regarding the Cosina/Zeiss issue, they are two different companies. Even if Zeiss contracts out its manufacturing to Cosina, they have their own marketing and distribution channels, thus their products will end up in the places where they have relationships, and Cosina's where they do. It's not a matter of Zeiss mandating anything, I expect; if B&H saw a profit in holding large stocks of C/V rangefinder lenses, I'm sure they would do it.

Anyway, it's too bad about the price rise/discontinuing of the lens... it'll be interesting to see what replaces it!
 
emilsand said:
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1506806&postcount=22
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1506887&postcount=30
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Thanks, not sure how I missed that.

semordnilap said:
Maybe when the lens was discontinued the US dealers had an opportunity to buy the remaining factory stock, but only at a certain price. This is another possibility that doesn't seem to have been considered?
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Seems very plausible to me, which might help explain why the dealers who had lower prices a few days ago are now out of stock.
 
If we were meant to know I'm sure Stephen would have said something by now. Somehow I think he doesn't feel it' our business to know, and really it isn't. It's his.
 
Well, if a new version comes out with exactly the same signature but with no onion rings in the bokeh and smaller in size, then it'll be nice :)
 
semordnilap said:
It's not a matter of Zeiss mandating anything, I expect; if B&H saw a profit in holding large stocks of C/V rangefinder lenses, I'm sure they would do it.
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The word "mandate" was used in a contractual sense, as in you "shall," keep separate cosina and zeiss manufacturing and assembly from intermingling, and/or you shall not introduce a competing product that would otherwise infringe upon design patent and copyrights of Zeiss products.

It's well known that Zeiss glass is manufactured inside Cosina's factory.
 
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It should be a note to all that the rise in rare earth prices will impact the cost of glass because low dispersion glass etc. contain rare earths.
 
umcelinho said:
Well, if a new version comes out with exactly the same signature but with no onion rings in the bokeh and smaller in size, then it'll be nice :)
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Well, dont you know that (according to some) CV 35/1.4 is the best 35mm lens out there - better than Ultron, Nokton 1.2 and everything else? ;)
 
I am on my way now to buy a BNIB black 35mm Nokton 1.2 for about 943 USD.....I don't plan on using it because I already have and use a chrome one.....it will be interesting to see what happens in the future.....

The best thing is, if I ever need a second one for some reason, I'll have one on hand.....

Cheers, Michael
 
michaelbialecki said:
I am on my way now to buy a BNIB black 35mm Nokton 1.2 for about 943 USD.....I don't plan on using it because I already have and use a chrome one.....it will be interesting to see what happens in the future.....

The best thing is, if I ever need a second one for some reason, I'll have one on hand.....

Cheers, Michael
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I would do the same thing, if I could afford a second one!
having a chrome and a black copy seems cool too.
 
Thanks Simon, I'm glad to know that I'm not the only person who would do this.........I actually have some left over money from my trip to Myanmar and........one of my most used lenses, my 28 elmarit just got 'broken' in Myanmar.....I am going to get it fixed... But I know that 'sh@t happens' and it will be interesting for me to see what happens in the future with this lens......

Cheers, Michael
 
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