It seems odd for a company to make a statement that they’re not raising their prices, but when every other camera manufacturer on the planet seems to be raising theirs, it kind of makes sense to take a public stand. In a chat with Amateur Photographer, Panasonic Europe has confirmed that all of its cameras and lens ranges, both full-frame and micro four thirds, will not be increasing in price.
This includes recently released cameras like the Panasonic Lumix GH6, which was announced in February. This year we’ve seen price increases on cameras, lenses and other photography-related products from Canon, Nikon and Fuji due to supply chain issues, which comes after price increases in the second half of last year from Zeiss, Canon and Leica.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Panasonic Europe confirmed to Amateur Photographer that:
We are pleased to say all cameras across our G-Series Micro Four Thirds and S-Series Full Frame ranges will not be increasing in price.
And when pushed on whether that price freeze applied to lenses, they were told:
There are no price rises for lenses either.
The driving force behind the price increases is the global silicon shortage, part availability and logistics & shipping as a result of the covid pandemic. And in Europe and the UK specifically, the impact of Brexit. Whether this price freeze is limited to just Panasonic customers in Europe and the UK is unclear, but I haven’t yet seen a statement along these lines from Panasonic USA or Panasonic global HQ in Japan.
OM Digital Solutions also told Amateur Photographer last week that while they’ve increased the prices on some lenses, camera bodies will not be going up. So, if you’ve been thinking about picking up the new OM-System OM-1, then you might not need to rush to put in your order.
Panasonic aside, whether or not these high prices across the industry are here to stay or if they’ll drop once things start to ease up a little bit is unknown. No companies have yet to make a statement in that respect. Given the commitment from ASUS to reduce the prices of its graphics cards from the beginning of this month, maybe there’s some hope for our wallets in the photography industry’s future, too.
[via Amateur Photographer]
FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!