(news & commentary) Updated
Nikon today dropped the prices on 25 Nikkor lenses today. Here’s the full list:
DX Lenses
- 12-24mm f/4 US$1147 (US$75 drop)
- 17-55mm f/2.8 US$1497 (US$40 drop)
- 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3 US$697 (US$20 drop)
FX Zoom Lenses
- 14-24mm f/2.8 US$1897 (US$100 drop)
- 16-35mm f/4 US$1097 (US$160 drop)
- 24-70mm f/2.8 (old version) US$1797 (US$90 drop)
- 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 US$497 (US$100 drop)
- 24-120mm f/4 US$1097 (US$200 drop)
- 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 US$947 (US$100 drop)
- 70-200mm f/2.8 US$2097 (US$300 drop)
- 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 US$497 (US$90 drop)
- 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 US$2296 (US$400 drop)
FX Fixed Focal Length Lenses
- 24mm f/1.4 US$1997 (US$200 drop)
- 35mm f/1.4 US$1607 (US$100 drop)
- 35mm f/1.8 US$527 (US$70 drop)
- 50mm f/1.4 US$447 (US$35 drop)
- 58mm f/1.4 US$1597 (US$100 drop)
- 85mm f/1.4 US$1597 (US$100 drop)
- 85mm f/1.8 US$477 (US$20 drop)
- 105mm f/2.8 US$897 (US$85 drop)
- 200mm f/2 US$5697 (US$300 drop)
- 300mm f/2.8 US$5497 (US$400 drop)
- 400mm f/2.8E US$11197 (US$800 drop)
- 800mm f/5.6E US$16297 (US$1600 drop)
Plus TC-17EII US$397 (US$150 drop). Curiously, the 18-200mm DX lens got a US$50 price increase. Most of the camera/lens combos were dropped in price to in amounts that reflect the new lens prices.
One might say “about time.” Nikon has up to this point played last year’s decline in the yen against the dollar very tight to the vest. Canon lowered a number of their lens prices long before Nikon got around to it. Even with these adjustments, there are a lot of lenses that aren’t involved in the re-pricing (the 500mm f/4E is noticeably missing, for instance).
Of the price drops, not many really stand out as making a lens now a bargain. The US$400 price drop on the 80-400mm is a meaningful one, and perhaps reflects Nikon’s worry that the new lower-priced 200-500mm might steal some of its sales. The 35mm f/1.8 is getting down near the US$500 mark, while the 85mm f/1.8 drops below it, and both are excellent lenses. Frankly, I’d tend to buy them before their f/1.4 siblings, anyway, and the new prices make them even more tempting.
I’m suspicious of some of the other drops. Particularly because of some of the offerings I expect from Nikon in early 2016. I’d be hesitant to buy the other two DX lenses at this point. Nikon has promised more DX lenses in the future, and I’m once again getting word from Japan that the on-again, off-again D400 is on for the first half of 2016. If so, it would make sense to couple that with new DX lens offerings above and beyond the 16-80mm f/2.8-4. Likewise, the 70-200mm f/2.8 is a lens Nikon revisits often—especially near pro model introductions—and the D5 is due in January. Finally, the 70-300mm is probably the lens most in need of a performance boost on the list, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see something new in that space in the not-too-distant future.
