msadat wrote:
produce prices are local, items imported are not locally priced unless taxes and price gouging is in play. two major thing happened for all usa prices on cameras to go up, tariffs and the devaluation of dollar. USA use to be much cheaper to buy camera equipment but our fearless leader had other plans
The dollar has been devaluing since the 1970s when it was taken off the gold standard. It accelerated a few times such as post 2008 financial crash when they started to print money and things became real nasty after the COVID shutdowns. I remember the FED then telling us about "transitory inflation" when inflation was hitting hard. But if you want to blame one guy for all your problems well that's your choice.
cbass wrote:
The dollar has been devaluing since the 1970s when it was taken off the gold standard. It accelerated a few times such as post 2008 financial crash when they started to print money and things became real nasty after the COVID shutdowns. I remember the FED then telling us about "transitory inflation" when inflation was hitting hard. But if you want to blame one guy for all your problems well that's your choice.
There being other factors doesn’t mean that tariffs have not had a very real impact on prices. And I am not going to pretend that I don’t know who is responsible for that.
mgscheu wrote:
There being other factors doesn’t mean that tariffs have not had a very real impact on prices. And I am not going to pretend that I don’t know who is responsible for that.
Agreed, tariffs are a part of this, but I suspect that many Canadians have a greater reason to complain about tariffed goods that are then routed via a US distributor to Canada. For me, my tax burden greatly decreased due to new tax policy in the U.S., and in many cases manufacturers/importers absorbed part of the tariff fees, so in the end, I had more disposable income to purchase goods. Some perspective is needed here, but ultimately the market determines prices charged. I have many Voigtlander lenses and before that Cosina produced Zeiss lenses. Today, the products that we have are better in almost every way and the value that we receive is higher than in decades past. We have so many good choices from many manufacturers. Overall, for a niche hobby/profession, we are well supported and the future looks very interesting.
Voigtlander USA is ripping us off
