This is a bit of an odd announcement. Well, partially odd. Nikon Japan has introduced new price revisions for a number of accessories with “open pricing” for the majority of Nikon Nikkor lenses. The announcement comes with Nikon saying pretty much what everybody has been saying since the start of the pandemic. It’s a result of the ongoing global silicon shortage and the increased costs of raw materials.

The list of products for which prices are going up seems to be limited to a handful of accessories and a couple of Coolshot laser rangefinders. But what’s particularly interesting and a little bit unusual is the second list. It contains a very large list of Nikon Nikkor lenses for both the company’s Z mount mirrorless and F mount DSLR camera systems. These lenses are shifting over to an “open pricing” system, letting retailers put whatever price on them they want. But can’t they already do that?

[Read More…]