Nikon D700 500$ price reduction in US from March

timethief · Feb 25, 2012

Here is the link to the news at nikonrumors ....in case you guys don't know already.

With the 500$ price reduction the D700 is looking to be the better option for me at the moment than the D800.
I want to go full frame and the D700 will do everything I want.
The D700 will probably be testing my limits rather me testing its limits. And the extra 500$ can go into the next lens i suppose.

....unless there is a D700s in the pipeline. T.Hogan seems to think there is gap that needs to be filled

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]...The interesting thing is that there are two missing cameras from Nikon's DSLR lineup: a high end DX model, and an entry level FX model. The D7000 doesn't satisfy the high-end DX side primarily because of its buffer. That, coupled with the new "top" for DX being 24mp (Sony A77, NEX-7), means Nikon doesn't have a true competitor at the top of the DX line at the moment. I can't see Nikon foregoing that, so it's easily imaginable that the D300s replacement is a 24mp DX D400. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]On the other hand, there's that strong demand for a D700s. Curiously, Nikon announced that they'll continue to build the existing D700, but they didn't change pricing at all. That seems like a "patch," not a solution. Either the D700 needs to come down to a price one full step below the D800, it needs to get the D3s sensor, or both. [/FONT]

Derrel · Feb 25, 2012

That price reflects a lot of camera goodness for $2,199.95. Nikon did a similar, but even more-extreme price drop on the D2h. As I recall the D2h went from $3199 to $1499. Overnight. with no advance notice, not even a rumor site leak. Recent buyers were incensed. New buyers were thrilled.

2WheelPhoto · Feb 25, 2012

$2195 for a D700 is a WIN!

timethief · Feb 25, 2012

With this price reduction the D700s seems unlikely to me. It would just be creating in house competition against the D800. Don't you think so ?

timethief · Feb 25, 2012

hmm..

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Almost on CueFeb 25 (news and commentary)--Dealers on Friday got some new pricing from Nikon, specifically on the D700. The new suggested price is soon going to be US$2199 (currently US$2699). But here's an interesting kicker: there apparently won't be a minimum advertised price (MAP) associated with that, which would mean we'll likely see someone drop under the US$2000 mark.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]So today Nikon is actively soliciting Coolpix users to upgrade to CX (Nikon 1). CX users will be solicited to upgrade to DX. And DX users, well, it's only natural to upgrade them to FX. But if the entry FX body is 3x the price of the top DX body, that's a pretty big money leap. Entry FX can't be more than 2x the top DX price if it is to encourage upgrading. Indeed, it probably should be 1.5x (which would be about US$1800). That puts us right at the likely D400 pricing, which is one reason why I think the D400 could go either way (DX or FX). [/FONT]

you should read the full article on his website.

jamesbjenkins · Feb 25, 2012

At that price point, I might be tempted to grab another D700 instead of snapping up a used D3s, and use the leftovers for a nice new 85mm 1.4g. WIN.

Josh220 · Feb 25, 2012

If the price will be $2199 and some may be able to drop that below $2000, should we expect used prices to be somewhere between $1400-$1700?

Derrel · Feb 25, 2012

Josh220 said:
If the price will be $2199 and some may be able to drop that below $2000, should we expect used prices to be somewhere between $1400-$1700?

Good question! Just last week or so, Thom Hogan was speculating that D700 prices would remain rather high, based on a number of factors. One of the factors is that the short supply of new D700 bodies, and the actual capabilities of the camera, have both kept it VERY much a high-value used body, with used and new prices really,really CLOSE to one another! I am pretty positive that he did not anticipate this new $500 price drop strategy--NO ONE, and I mean NO ONE, had said a single word about a $500 end of life price drop.

As to the end of life statement...Nikon itself announced that they were not ceasing production of the D700...Hogan speculated that Nikon had/has parts to make a certain number more D700 bodies, and that they would continue making D700 bodies until those parts were exhausted. Looking back to the Canon 5D classic model, similar pricing strategies were invoked by the manufacturer...Canon allowed the street price of the 5D to get down pretty low, through the use of rebates and bundling,and so on. Of course, the two cameras, 5D and D700, are not the same. The 5D was always a slow,slow seller...it was always being rebated and or price-cut, from Day 1. The D700 on the other hand was always a pretty good seller for a full frame body, and it also never came onto the market over-priced, like the 5D did...it has always been $2999, or less. Nikon's sudden, totally unanticipated, price drop on their D2h is more akin to this new $500 price drop on the D700.

Nobody really knows for SURE what Nikon's plans for the D700 are; they*could* continue to make it for another two years. And at $2199, it would probably be a good, steady seller. In fact, dropping it to $2199 might be one of the smartest decisions Nikon could make! At that price, it could shift MANY first-time FX buyers Nikon's way. Anyway, I'm all in favor of the D700 dropping to $2199. While some think it might just be what is called a "channel-clearing move", I think it is something ELSE; the channel is in NO WAY "flooded" with D700 bodies; these bodies are just being made, right now...so, this is not the "normal" price cut for an EOL body...something weird is going on here...

Nikon_Josh · Feb 26, 2012

Ah WOOHAY!

This means UK USED prices will drop aswell if we get the price drop here, I worry though because manufacturers price different for US and UK markets. Canon famously charge much higher prices in the UK than the USA.