8x32 SE "limited production"? (1 Viewer)

I am curious about the phrases limited production or special order, in relation to the 8x32 SE.

I was talking to an optics dealer today who said that what it means is that Nikon waits until they get enough orders then does a production run. That may mean a wait of several months for the binocular.

I also have read threads on this forum that seem to say this model is still available from regular stock outside of North America.

Are one, both or neither true?

Jay all you have to do is look at the Nikon Global website for Sports Optics. The SE is still available worldwide ex North America. On the otherhand, the EDG binocular series seems to be a North America ONLY product. Certainly we would like to believe there is a master plan in the Nikon "madness" but I suspect it really is just because the overseas divisions operate with some autonomy from the home office.

cheers,
Rick

RJM said:

Jay all you have to do is look at the Nikon Global website for Sports Optics.

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Here's the link http://www.nikon.com/products/sportoptics/lineup/binoculars/nature/index.htm. I see they also list 8x30E II.

Is there a supplier, perhaps in Japan or Hong Kong, who will ship an order to USA?

No legitimate Japanese Nikon dealers will ship grey market. And I think the best discount prices of ~48,000 yen for the 8x30 EII and 58,000 yen for the 8x32 SE plus ~US$50 for shipping would tend to scare all but the most insistent.

cheers,
Rick

RJM said:

No legitimate Japanese Nikon dealers will ship grey market. And I think the best discount prices of ~48,000 yen for the 8x30 EII and 58,000 yen for the 8x32 SE plus ~US$50 for shipping would tend to scare all but the most insistent.

cheers,
Rick

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Rick,

$579 for an 8x30 EII and $690 for the 8x32 SE including the $50 shipping does seem high compared to what they sold for in the US, but when you consider it takes an alpha bin to equal their performance (without as much 3-D effect or as good edge performance as the SE or as wide a FOV as the EII), the prices don't seem as inflated.

Brits would probably experience less "sticker shock" with those prices than Americans since binoculars seem to cost more in the UK than here.

What's the used bin market like in Japan?

Do you see steep discounts on bins like I see on Amart (e.g., 8x42 LX in excellent condition for $400, 8x32 LX in excellent condition for $485, BNIB Zen Ray 8X43 ED2 for $275, etc.).

I found this auction site, which seems to be the Japanese equivalent of eBay (sekaimon):

http://www.sekaimon.com/ItemListReg.do?srch_keyword=Nikon+%E3%81%AE%E5%8F%8C%E7%9C%BC%E9%8F%A1&srch_category_id=12576&x=0&y=0&aoSearch=AND&page_mode=srch&disp_mode=srch&srch_seller_id=&srch_seller_cnd=&item_sort=&wayOfBid=ALL&srch_sekaimon=false&srch_min_price=&srch_max_price=&displayNum=25&reg_param=&page_number=1

Babelfish must have Tower of Babeled my translation because instead of getting Nikon binoculars, I got Nikon stereo microscopes.

Brock, I would say that given the current yen/$ prices for used bins would seem on the high side. Even when rates were more favorable, most all new premium class bins here have always been far more expensive compared to USA prices. Really the only exception has been the Nikon SE series. The 10x and 12x really don't cost much more than the 8x and they were ~12,000 cheaper a year ago before the price increases. Back when the yen was 124/1$ they were nearly half the USA price!

cheers,
Rick

RJM said:

Brock, I would say that given the current yen/$ prices for used bins would seem on the high side. Even when rates were more favorable, most all new premium class bins here have always been far more expensive compared to USA prices. Really the only exception has been the Nikon SE series. The 10x and 12x really don't cost much more than the 8x and they were ~12,000 cheaper a year ago before the price increases. Back when the yen was 124/1$ they were nearly half the USA price!

cheers,
Rick

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Rick,

A Nikon 10x42 SE in excellent condition sold in 60 seconds today on Amart for $525 shipped! The seller is in CA, so if he sold them to me, it probably would have cost him at least $20 shipping. So that means he would only make $505.

So even if I could get a 10x42 SE from Japan for the same price as they sell the 8x32s, I'd still make out better on the used market, particularly Amart (aka "BargainMart"), which is a buyers' market.

OTOH, add $50 to ship to Japan (if there are not additional duties for products coming into the country, remember "free trade"?) and a Japanese buyer would have made out on that deal (the ad doesn't say CONUS only). Even splitting the difference in shipping ($30), a Japanese buyer would pay $555.

The only thing is I don't know about Nikon's service policy in Japan. Here you can get any used Nikon serviced for $20.

You've got some guys on Amart who change bins more often than some people change underwear, and this group almost always sells their bins at steep discounts so they can quickly buy more bins.

Talk about "binoholics"!

Too bad I'm not "flush" now, I could have made out like a bandit this past year with all the bargains I've seen on Amart.

Keep watching that yen/$ exchange rate, because if the most pessimistic predictions are true, we may be in a slump as long as Japan was.