Ultima Edge eyepiece

[Andrew_B]

1 hour ago, bomberbaz said:

I stand corrected and apologise for my wrong assumptions. I would have thought there is some illicit copying going on but obviously not as widespread as I may have presumed. 

No apology necessary. You made a good point about the issue of cloned products or poor quality kit that masquerades as better quality gear. It's not an issue in this case but people should be aware that it can happen and they shouldn't support the practice even if it would mean getting a bargain.

[bomberbaz]

1 hour ago, Andrew_B said:

No apology necessary. You made a good point about the issue of cloned products or poor quality kit that masquerades as better quality gear. It's not an issue in this case but people should be aware that it can happen and they shouldn't support the practice even if it would mean getting a bargain.

Thanks Andrew, not that buying poor quality products would give a real bargain but that isn't always how things appear at first when one see's a lower priced alternative. 

[Louis D]

1 hour ago, bomberbaz said:

Thanks Andrew, not that buying poor quality products would give a real bargain but that isn't always how things appear at first when one see's a lower priced alternative. 

I'm thinking early adopters like myself helped reimburse Marcus for his UFF R&D expenses.  After that initial period of higher prices, it appears that the line will be offered at lower prices by others.

A similar thing happens in the pharmaceutical industry.  It can cost billions to bring a single new treatment to market when accounting for all of the dead end ones that get shelved.  As a result, these R&D companies have to make that money back while their patents are still valid.  After they expire, the generic manufacturers jump in, manufacture them, and sell them at slim margins since they don't have very much R&D expenses to recover.

[Andrew_B]

23 minutes ago, Louis D said:

I'm thinking early adopters like myself helped reimburse Marcus for his UFF R&D expenses.  After that initial period of higher prices, it appears that the line will be offered at lower prices by others.

A similar thing happens in the pharmaceutical industry.  It can cost billions to bring a single new treatment to market when accounting for all of the dead end ones that get shelved.  As a result, these R&D companies have to make that money back while their patents are still valid.  After they expire, the generic manufacturers jump in, manufacture them, and sell them at slim margins since they don't have very much R&D expenses to recover.

Have APM reduced their prices since those early days? I notice that while there are bargains to be had in the shorter focal length eyepieces if you shop around for less well known brands, the APM 24mm and 30mm models are no more expensive than the competition and in some cases are quite a bit cheaper.

[Louis D]

The 24mm and 30mm APM variants appear to be selling at about the same prices they were introduced at despite recent inflation and (dare I say it) newly added, targeted tariffs.  The list prices in the US have increased, but the selling prices have remained more or less constant.  I can't recall EU pricing, so someone else will have chime in on them.

Edited November 19, 2021 by Louis D