With regards to photo.net : photo.net Discussion Forums : photo.net"this thread,"
-- Jim Harrison (hphoto@earthlink.net), February 21, 2000

Answers

OK, that was dumb. If the link works, then that is the thread I'm talking about in the photo.net Q&A forum. If not, then I'm sure you can find it.

I spoke with the inventory manager of a large catalog dealer here in the US. He was certain the price of this lens would be less than $1000 US. Siegfried Boes said the 80-400 lens would be around $2000 US in Germany. While it is not my intent to discredit neither my acquaintance nor Siegfried, I do want to point out that different prices seem to be floating around.

Come to think of it, if I had to guess in the dark, knowing Nikon, I'd side with Siegfried.

Regards, Jim

-- Jim Harrison (hphoto@earthlink.net), February 21, 2000.

Jim, my experience has shown that not much is cheap in Germany. It's quite possible that both "sources" are "correct". Also, any new item from Nikon usaually starts at a high price which then slowly becomes more "reasonable" (remember when the F5, F100 and AF 24-120 3.5-5.6 all first came out).

-- Geoffrey S. Kane (grendel@nauticom.net), February 21, 2000.

And it'll eventually depend on supply and demand. Most likely the initial price will be high. If this lens remains a "hot" item for a while, there is no reason for Nikon nor the camera stores to reduce the price. However, if demand slows and stocks starts piling up, expect the price to go down.

Since this is Nikon's very first VR lens, I wouldn't be all that surprised that there will be some technical glitches in the early samples. I would wait at least a few months to let someone else discover the bugs and evaluate how good this lens really is.

-- Shun Cheung (shun@worldnet.att.net), February 21, 2000.

"I would wait at least a few months to let someone else discover the bugs and evaluate how good this lens really is."

-- Shun Cheung (shun@worldnet.att.net), February 21, 2000.

It's a 5:1 zoom! How good can it possibly be?

-- Terence Danks (danksta@ns.sympatico.ca), February 21, 2000.

Terry, put it this way: I would be a lot more skeptical about the optical performance of a 5:1 zoom that goes from wide-angle to telephoto (such as the 24-120mm Nikkor) than a 80-400 zoom which is all in the telephoto range. A similar lens in the Canon product line is the 100-400mm IS. Some people claim that Canon lens is as good as prime lenses while some others dislike it so much that they return theirs to the store.

IMO, a 80 or 100-400mm zoom is excellent for birds-in-flight type shots, and that why I am somewhat interested in this new lens. But I don't think it is fair to discuss its optical performance at least until it is available and has gone through some tests.

-- Shun Cheung (shun@worldnet.att.net), February 21, 2000.

Siegfried Boes said the 80-4000 would be about $2000 in Germany, same as the AF-S zooms. If that is true, we might get some idea of its US price from the cost of AF-S zooms in the US. The 80-200 goes for about $1350 grey, or $1450 US warranty. The 17-35 about $1500 US warranty, and the 28-70 about the same. So ~$1500 is probably not a bad guess for the lens' market price in the US. If the lens cost $1000 or less, I'd be highly surprised. Nikon has never charged less than $1000 for a lens with more than one ED elements.

Also, I don't see how the Nikon lens could be dramatically cheaper than the Canon equivalent without also being significantly more shabby in construction or optics. I certainly hope that is not the case. I am already a little annoyed by Nikon's failure to including a Silent wave motor with this lens. :-(

-- chuck (chaohui@msn.com), February 21, 2000.

I misunderstood what Mr. Boes was saying about the price of the lens...I apologize for my confusion. I suppose we'll have valid prices when the lens becomes widely available, same with the optical quality.

Jim

-- Jim Harrison (hphoto@earthlink.net), February 21, 2000.

You'll find the exact price of the 80-400 VR (3649 DM ~ approx 1865 EURO = more or less the same in US$) at this page: http://www.fotojank.de/objekt.htm The price of the F80 is around 1000 DM or 500 US$ (found in several websites).

-- Ivan Verschoote (ivan.verschoote@rug.ac.be), February 22, 2000.

oh, a whole thread because of a simple comment :)

As Ivan wrote the price is published on a German web-page, and you are right that the prices will go down ... in the states and in some stores in Germany (many shops will have fixed prices). But that will take a while, the original question was somebody looking for a lens in the near future. I would not expect that the will go down below 1300 - 1400 US (with current exchange rates).

I would not say that a 5:1 zoom must be bad, there is the 35-350 from Canon and the 50-300 (?) from Nikon, which have a high reputation.

-- siegfried boes (boes@first.gmd.de), February 22, 2000.

I asked a Nikon representent here in Canada and he told me about 2000-2300$ CDN.

-- Erick Lamontagne (meteo.ygp@globetrotter.net), February 22, 2000.

Nikon did have a P&S a number of years ago using VR. I know nothing of it4s technical quality, though. Called the VR700 if memory serves me right.

Karl Johan

-- Karl Johan Borgis (kjborgis@telia.com), February 22, 2000.

If you don't mind a bit of advice from a Canon owner I would suggest waiting a few months before purchasing this lens. First, as Nikon's first VR lens it may have a few bugs in it that Nikon will have to work out. Remember the F5 and the EOS3? Early owners got to bring them in for updates to correct exposure problems. Since I purchased my EOS3 about a year after introduction, I avoided those problems. I also paid less. Nikon's first VR lens is bound to be hot for at least 6 months. No doubt there is much pent up demand for this lens and it will soon be released. That will keep the price up for a while.

-- Stanley McManus (stanshooter@yahoo.com), February 29, 2000.

Yesterday I was 'officially' quoted $2300 Canadian, by a reputable photo dealer here in BC. The quote was based on numbers provided by the Canadian Nikon rep. Would be interested in hearing more on this from other buyers-in-waiting to see if I'm getting a reasonable price on this lens.

-- Ted Zimmerman (zimmerma@netbisto.com), April 07, 2000.