Sony Won’t Confirm if Substantial Price Increases Are Coming May 19
Earlier this week, Photo Rumors (which did not cite a source) reported that a long list of Sony camera products will see a price increase on Monday, May 19. Sony has declined to confirm or deny the claims to PetaPixel.
There isn’t any particular reason to doubt these numbers since they are very specific and fluctuate between 10% and 35% depending on the product, which makes sense for how this would play out. While the full list of products and supposed price increases is very long, that is mainly because of the inclusion of accessories. The most important price increases photographers likely care about are cameras and lenses.
While the full list can be seen on Photo Rumors, some of the more notable affected products are the RX100 VII and the RX0 II — two compact cameras — and a host of lenses that include the 40mm f/2.5 G, the 18-105mm f/4 G, the 35mm f/1.8, the 15mm f/1.4 G, and the 24mm f/2.8. On the list of supposedly affected lenses, of which there are many, most are low- and mid-tier compact primes and zooms, although there are exceptions. Sony’s 400-800mm f/6.3-8 G and the PZ 28-135mm f/4 G OSS are also listed.
All of these lenses and more are supposedly set to see price increases on Monday from 13.8% through 33.3%, with most falling somewhere in the 20% range. For lenses like the 50mm f/2.8, that means it will be going up just $100 but for the Sony 40mm f/2.5 G, it is going up $200, from $599 to $799 while the the PZ 28-135mm f/4 G OSS is jumping more substantially to $2,999.99 from $2,499.99 — a $500 increase.
The Photo Rumors report says these price increases are due directly to the tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump, who instituted a blanket 10% tariff on all imported goods regardless of origin except for China, which got hit with a 145% tariff. However, earlier this week China and the US agreed to de-escalate tariffs to where the US will only charge importers 30% for products inbound from China. There are exceptions, of course, and the other changes, such as the de minimis exception and the lowering of customs declarations to $800 from $2,500, remain in place.
If this report proves to be true — and it is likely given that Sigma recently was forced to increase pricing, too — then there are two possibilities. One, the next shipment of products from overseas may see a price decrease similar to what Leica announced today. That is possible if these products are produced in China. However, not many Sony products are made there anymore. If these cameras and lenses are manufactured elsewhere — such as Thailand, where a majority of its factories are — then don’t expect the price to fall until the US lowers its blanket tariff of 10% back down to zero.
Earlier this year, Amazon canceled all existing pre-orders for the a1 II camera and removed its listing from its store, likely because pricing and availability for the already expensive camera could not be confirmed.
If tariffs remain in place, Sony anticipates a $682 million decrease in operating income.
Image credits: Sony
