Comment - Unlucky number four

In China, Korea, Vietnam and Japan the number four is considered unlucky by many people because it sounds like the word "death". Buildings either have no fourth floor or use the letter F instead and some product lines avoid the number four, skipping from version three to version five. Camera manufacturer Fuji has done this, but Nikon has never appeared superstitious, producing both F4 and now D4 cameras. Today it appears that may be about to change. 11 weeks after the product launch and a week after the first units reached dealers, Nikon UK astonished customers by announcing the original price had been a "systems error" and increased the RRP by £500. Both Jacobs and Jessops immediately raised the price of the camera to £5289 and other dealers have now followed. That's US$8394 against the US price of US$6000. That's quite an error. You'd think someone would have noticed before now? It's hard to see how this can be anything other than a PR disaster for Nikon. Time for a four letter word?

Update 26 March: Having spoken to both my dealer and Nikon Professional Services this morning it appears Nikon may yet honour the earlier price for anyone who placed an order before the weekend.