Yeah. That's what I mean. However Nikon is handling orders and shipments is odd. Look how long you waited for yours from a local shop. Smething's not smelling right.
Nikon 180-600mm lens ship date
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Cameron T
Well-known member
Well, unless we know more, we're only at maybe 8.5k lenses in the wild in a month and some. That's not a lot. I tend to think nikon just isn't making that many, and the ones that are being made are being shipped all over the world so it's like a trickle (especially in the US, since there's just more of us in general here I think that shoot nikon, but I could be wrong).
Sure. They're too busy designing and selling that Plena.
Garfield
Well-known member
s/n is 200321xx
Cameron T
Well-known member
Thanks. Annoying that we're still under 8.3k lenses then at this point, considering it's a prosumer lens (and not a super exotic, or pf). I have no idea what nikon is doing.
They just don't care. 'Nuff said.
I used to buy from only one store, had a great relationship with them. Owner passed and his son took over and I moved to B-H. I contacted that store today and they claim they have received only 5 lenses and all were required to be sold to Nikon NPS users. I could get on the list, but it is 'a mile long'
Cameron T
Well-known member
Yeah, NPS got the entire first batch in the US to my understanding, minus a few that got out otherwise.
John Navitsky
Well-known member
that presumes they have the ability to effect that in a meaningful way. and i'm pretty sure they don't have the ability to get production up to the level everyone (including them) would like.
on the fairness front, i think it's hard to design a fair system that will be both fair to everyone and be perceived as fair to everyone. the other part of that is we don't know how it works, we don't know the numbers, so most of our feeling about unfairness is based on our perception based on very limited data
I'm sure Nikon knows how many orders B&H sent to them. That said, if someone goes to the Nikon USA website and orders a lens afterwards, they should not ship a lens to that person, unless if they're NPS. Even before a person who pre-ordered one directly from them. But, this is what I'm hearing is going on.
Yeah, but I have read several non NPS saying they received their lens direct from Nikon. I now wish I had dealt directly with Nikon. Wait is about over..
I have heard this as well.
Other than NPS my "local" dealer has not received a single lens - having ordered eight at inception. Unfortunately at number 8, I doubt receipt prior to leaving November 14th.
Cameron T
Well-known member
I think we might see another batch out to stores in a week or week and a half if my gut instinct is right.
IMHO, Nikon totally underestimated the popularity/demand for this lens when they announced it. But, when they did know, and I'm sure they did, they should have upped production as much as they could, which does not at this time, appear to be the case. Instead, they were busy developing and making other lenses.
I still don't expect to see mine in the near future.
Warren D
Well-known member
My smaller dealer has said they have only received a small number and all were for nps. It would appear that Nikon is filling some non-nps orders along with B&H. It would appear that Nikon is taking care of themselves and B&H first.
As for pre-orders requiring pre-payment, not for me especially with Nikon's track record. It wasn't great pre-pandemic but it's gotten much worse. Seems like Nikon is apologizing for short supply with every release.
My dealer has said the same thing over the last several years, he never knows when or how many Nikon is sending until he gets the shipping notice. I doubt that any dealer knows more so when I read that a dealer is reporting "in stock" dates, I get suspicious.
As for pre-orders requiring pre-payment, not for me especially with Nikon's track record. It wasn't great pre-pandemic but it's gotten much worse. Seems like Nikon is apologizing for short supply with every release.
My dealer has said the same thing over the last several years, he never knows when or how many Nikon is sending until he gets the shipping notice. I doubt that any dealer knows more so when I read that a dealer is reporting "in stock" dates, I get suspicious.
Cameron T
Well-known member
I agree for the most part here. They either knew, and underproduced, or didn't know (and someone in market research needs to get fired).
Hopefully you do, it's been a rough time for all of us, especially since this lens was one of the big draws for me to stay with nikon (instead of jumping to canon and adapting, but nikon has filled the first party lenses extremely well, so I'm happy).
First, development of lenses doesn't take away from the production of other lenses.
More importantly, we all need to have a little humility and realize that we aren't the only ones who deserve a chance at the things we want. There are plenty of people who have been wanting a 135mm lens for years, for instance, and so if producing more 180-600s was really possible at for example the expense of producing the Plena lens, I don't think it's a great attitude for those of us who want the 180-600 to say they should have put everything into "our" lens and to neglect people who wanted that other lens. Then they could make the same complaint that you're making now - or worse, since there wouldn't even be any lenses for that group.
The bottom line is that scarcity is a reality of goods and resources and we all need to wait sometimes to have what we want. None of us have some kind of exclusive right to be first in line all the time.
I've been happy with Nikon and the equipment I've gotten from them since my first D40 in 2008. That said, I will never, ever pre-order anything new. From them or anyone else. If it's not available on the shelf, I will just put it out of my mind. No more. So done with this. I think they've really dropped the ball on this one. If I ran a business and treated customers like this, I'd be out of business in no time. But, since I own thousands of dollars in Nikon stuff, I can't afford to jump ship now. So, I'm stuck with their evidently poor customer care.
They sold the Z8. Then they had numerous recalls regarding it, causing me stress trying to figure out how to safely pack it up to send it back to them to be fixed. This was not a cheap camera. Granted, they supposedly fixed the issues that I never experienced. Now there's this. Makes me think Nikon no longer thinks much about their customers. Granted, they, for the most part, make wonderful cameras. I love my Z9. My Z8 I haven't used as much, but I've been happy when I have. My D850 was great and gave me the opportunity to capture many photos when paired with the 500 PF.
I'm just sad I'm feeling this way now.
Rolands <<http://www.photosynthesis.co.nz/nikon/serialno.html#Z_Zoom>> reflects 8670 units verified through serial number 2003367x. I do not think there is a way to know when batches are produced.
But, they had orders for this lens. People who ordered expecting to get it in a reasonable amount of time. IMHO, they should honor those orders first. I don't expect to be first in line, but I don't expect to wait months and months for a lens (I understand they did this with the Z 800 too.)
Cameron T
Well-known member
As a counterpoint, a lens on the roadmap for 4 years that will sell quite a bit more than a 135 that's 2x the price that was on the roadmap for a shorter period of time should take priority. but that's just me.
They are fulfilling the orders. The fact that it's taking longer than people may want doesn't mean they aren't honoring the orders, and nothing about pre-ordering would have been taken to guarantee or even to suggest a time-frame.
If you go into a restaurant and you're the only one there you can expect your meal faster than if you go in at the busiest time - and if you go into a McDonald's at the busiest time you are going to expect your meal a lot faster than if you go into a Michelin Star place at the busiest time. A camera lens, even a low quality one, is not a mass-produced item. There is a hand-made, artisanal characteristic to this sort of thing - especially a higher quality one like we all expect from Nikon. There's only so much they can increase production even if they put every last resource into making one product alone - and I don't think it's reasonable to expect a company to do something like that.
Think of it this way: say that they opened pre-orders on a lens and then literally every person on the planet ordered one. I'd think you would understand in that situation if they couldn't meet the demand very quickly. That's an extreme example, but the point is that at some threshold demand is going to outpace any ability to try to meet that demand. Remember when hand sanitizer was impossible to get for months and months in spite of multiple major international companies shifting most of their resources to producing the stuff? I can understand being disappointed and frustrated at waiting to get an item like this - I am waiting, too - but I don't think it is reasonable to think that the only possible explanation is negligence or bad faith.
@Patty15 - I share many of your sentiments. I think the problem in the camera world right now is the competition, especially from Sony and others competing for the Nikon #2 position. Nikon feels compelled to announce releases early to fend off competition and let its customers know that something is coming but not having sufficient manufacturing lines to produce in quantities sufficient to meet demand. Part of the compelled need for announcements is us, the customer base, that wants new products and to know that Nikon is not going to become irrelevant. I am certain Nikon understands the delay problems (you would have to be a total idiot not to understand) but Nikon also saw the flight of Nikon shooters to Sony mirrorless until Nikon started to get its act going. My perception is that Nikon saw the move to mirrorless happening at a slower pace than what actually occurred (probably plans for the D9 sitting around the Nikon HQ office). Having to wait for product production has been a persistent problem for Nikon "hot products" (I waited and waited and waited and waited for my D800). However, the wait times (and lines) have now gotten even longer. I know some of these manufacturing problems are tied to natural disasters but some appear to be poor planning. At a basic minimum I would think that Nikon would be more transparent and find ways to reward the loyal customers. Appearing to be an ostrich with its head in the sand does not help Nikon in the eyes of at least this consumer. [BTW Nikon, I purchase more product than many NPS folks yet you do not have an advanced amateur category like Canon does!!!]
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