Camera prices – Have the Japanese taken leave of their senses?

[Andrew Reid]

Pre-tarrifs and recent inflation up-tick, I was wondering how sustainable $7000 was for a flagship mirrorless camera, or $3200+tax for a mid-range camera like the S1 II ($4k with kit lens), and now we have the first joke camera with bad AF for $850 thanks to Fujifilm.

https://www.eoshd.com/news/camera-prices-have-the-japanese-taken-leave-of-their-senses/

Now we're about to add more inflation and tarrifs to these numbers, so it's possible that by the end of the year a new mid-range full frame camera will be released to the market for over $4500, and that the Sony a1 III might cost $9000.

At what point does the line get crossed for you guys, when will you stop buying?

[Tim Sewell]

The only brand new cameras I've bought (in the digital age) were the GH4 and, more recently my FX30 (which is exceptional VFM). Unfortunately I've just had to sell the FX30 because I can't afford a decent Sony B-cam for it and instead bought 2 secondhand S5s.

The only thing I've seen recently that I've thought was well-priced was the XM-5, but too much for a fun purchase even then.

It's not only bodies, though. Prices for even fairly quotidian lenses are just laughable these days.

[Phil A]

It's quite wild how the prices are going up. I'm a hobbyist so I'm too cheap to spend more than 2k, maaaybe 2.5k-ish, on a camera body. I'm always waiting for the inevitable massive price drops that come just a few months after release or try to find a used one. With the S1 II going up so far and the US tariffs, I wouldn't be surprised if a Sony A7V will go over 3k too.

An additional point of frustration is that I picked Fujifilm and their cameras are just straight up not available to buy. X100VI? Sure, for a 500 EUR mark-up from a scalper. X-M5? Never really materialized. I'm holding on to my X-T4 as a second body next to the X-H2s because I couldn't find a X-M5 when it came out. A brand specific issue is also that they have just too many models with not real focus. X-Pro, X-E, X-M, X-S, X-T (in two flavors), X-H, X-Hs.

Zero interest in the new gimmick they released, I can honestly not see who this is meant for. If you love INSTAX (which I do and own), this does not scratch that itch.

[PannySVHS]

Used S5 cameras are being sold for used GH5 prices. Great value! @Tim Sewell

Anyone using an A7IV, how is battery life, overheating, S35 readout and 4K quality, codec and noise characteristics at lowlight and higher Isos?

S1II has flagship specs and a mid tier body, selling for a flagship price. So it seems okish, wheras the og S1 and S5 felt like bargains back then.

It will be interesting to see if used cameras like Lumix S line will rise in reaction to the higher priced new models.

[Tim Sewell]

1 minute ago, PannySVHS said:

Used S5 cameras are being sold for used GH5 prices. Great value! @Tim Sewell

Got them around £600GBP each - one in excellent condition, one as-new. So yeah - great value. And apart from ease of use (the FX30 has such great ergos, I think) I don't really feel like I've lost anything (apart from video AF, which I don't really use except for family fun vids, which the S5 can still keep up with). I even had some money left over after selling the FX30 and the A6600 which allowed me to complete my Takumar set with the 85mm, get the Lumix 20-60 kit lens, a bunch of batteries and some extra cards. So I'm not complaining at all.

[eatstoomuchjam]

At the high end, I have no idea right now what would convince me to buy anything.  I kind of have what feel like "endgame" cameras.  What will improve on the Ursa Cine 12K?  Especially if it gets AF (I think BMD hinted that there are phase detection pixels in there somewhere).  Improve on the Ronin 4D?  Maybe if they released a new one with both PDAF and LIDAR.  For something lighter than UC12K, but still set up for sticks?  I have my K-X.  Want something even smaller/lighter?  I have an R5 and the OG Komodo.  For travel, the GFX 100 II for photos and very nice video - or the R5/Pocket 3 if I want to carry nothing bigger than a 12L backpack.

When the R5 II is a lot cheaper, I could see trading in my OG R5 toward it.  No rush there at all.  When the Pyxis 12K hits the used market, maybe I'd swap out something else for it?  The R5 is in many ways the nemesis of me buying small cameras like the S9.  Every time I think about it, I look one one of the sites that lets you compare camera sizes and realize that the only reason the R5 is bigger is that it has an EVF (which I like) and a grip (which matters less with small lenses, but I don't dislike having it with them either).

But part of my plan in the first part of this year was to stack my stuff before tariffs hit in force since prices for everything would be going up.  Now my wallet is crying and no real reason to get any sort of new camera for a while.  Even the Insta360 X5 - I bought it, played with it, decided it won't give me $700 of enjoyment that my older One RS 360 edition isn't giving me, and it's back in the box and getting sent back for a refund today.  If it'd been closer to $300, I'd have kept it and sold the other.  But $700, going past the emotional moment of playing with it and having fun, is silly for something that will still have much worse quality than the Pocket 3.