Plans for the future: February 2009

The dreaded Global Financial Crisis has struck again. My original plans for manufacturing this lens on a reasonably industrial scale have exhausted my potential investors, who were among the most influential in the market. Sadly, their funds did not match their enthusiasm. They prefer to buy (and continue to sell) ready-made European lenses at three times the price of the Horizon.

Lately, people whose opinions I respect have suggested custom-making a small run of these lenses for the discerning buyer. Each lens would be hand-crafted and assembled. I'm inclined to try it out, but in these tough times I realise discretionary spending, especially on high-end optics, is drying up.

The price I would have to sell these lenses for (to make a profit and cover the costs of a sufficiently large order for the glass) is about A$6,500. Considering that in Australia imported lenses are getting to around $12,000-plus, for what I'm told is lesser image quality, I believe this is a reasonable price in the current circumstances.

For Australian buyers, my production costs have increased by 50%, as the Australian dollar has dropped by approximately one-third... but this price increase is at the wholesale level. Imported anamorphic lenses to Australia have increased in price by 50%... at the retail level! Absorbing increased costs at the wholesale level is called "import substitution"... if you're buying from Australia you get a good deal.

For potential U buyers, A$6,500 in US dollars is about US$4,300 at current exchange rates, for the lens alone. Add in some freight and throw in a basic a slider and you're getting a superior performance optical device for about US$5,500 complete. That's another way of looking at the equation.

In any case, if you want to contact me and either encourage me to go ahead, or tell me my price is far too high (or that I'm mad!), please do so.

Email your criticisms/encouragement to me at cashcam[insert the "at" sign here]ozemail.com.au .

I'd be interested to hear the opinion of Constant Height HT aficianados out there.

P.S. sorry to take so long to update this blog, but I've been working on another project (survival!) for the past four months and have had to shelve the Horizon temporarily due to the original investors dropping out. Now that things are on more of an even keel, I feel I can think about making these lenses again... if there's a market for them.