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I guess we are now seeing the first supply problems on Panasonic lens after the earthquake in March.
The very popular Panasonic 20mm lens in now out of Stock in every US online store I checked: Amazon, Adorama, B&H and J&R! Adorama says “We have no estimated time of arrival for this item“. Third party resellers on Amazon are selling the lens for $799.95 (Click here)! And the price of the lens also increased on new items on [shoplink 14796 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
The image on top shows the price increase of the lens in Germany. As you can easily see the price increased a few days after the earthquake. All European Amazon stores do also list the lens as back ordered. I guess this is the first sign that Panasonic can’t supply worldwide stores with new stock of 20mm lenses. It may not be casual that this lens is the first to be out of Stock. It’s probably the most popular and requested lens from Panasonic. I didn’t notice any supply problem on other lenses. Drop me a line if you notice supply issues on cameras and lenses. Thanks!
P.S.: Those are all the links to the 20mm lens ordered by country:
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12 Responses
Could it be that stock is running low because Panasonic is about to announce an updated 20/1.7 with faster AF and C-AF? The current lens is certainly not the fastest nor quietest focusing lens in Panasonic’s lineup.
That price rise of 20 euros looks more speculative to me. I can’t believe the stocks of shops that sold it for 330 euros emptied couple of days after the earthquake and only the shops that charged 350 have it now.
Quite interesting, the 20/1.7 seems to be holding its value quite well. I bough mine when it first came on the market, for exactly 350 €, and it’s still going for about the same price. Well, it’s a very good lens after all, and the only reason I’m keeping the E-P1 next to my M8 🙂
In the US, I still see many stores carrying the lens and the price is still reasonable $369 is the lowest I see…..
Where do you see it for $369 in stock? A search with google shopping finds many shops, but none have it in stock (including panasonic.com).
Remember the end of last year, when stores were selling the GF1+20mm for around $500 to move stock in anticipation for the GF2? Those were some good times. Now, the GF1, if you can find one, sells for about $1000, and the 20mm, while still at a reasonable price, is backordered everywhere…
Please… GF1+20mm combo goes for around $700-$750 on US ebay. Deduct Count in Ebay and Paypal fees, shipping, etc. and your net will be closer to $620-650. Without that _force majeure_ earthquake combined with tsunami, people who were holding those cameras would only make profit if they got them under $300-400.
It’s available for about $11 more at a number of shops, the one for $369 requires a drop ship, but they can sell it to you in the U.S.
One of them went for $480 USD on eBay the other day!
In Japan atm and there are still plenty of them here. From Osaka, Kyoto to Tokyo, almost all stores that I’ve visited have the 20mm, although they are selling it for around $450USD (38800 – 42000 yen).
the 14mm were out of stock briefly on amazon. about 1-2 days. back in stock now, though.
There’s a 20mm f1.7 on Amazon right now for $800! Maybe I should sell mine too and get the Nokton f/0.95 lol