We have seen that the Canon RF 35mm f/1.4L VCM hit the dreaded stock shortage list from Canon Japan almost immediately. We don't think anyone was surprised in the slightest.
The good news is, the RF 35mm f/1.4L VCM has starting hitting retailer stock rooms, We do know that one retailer received about 50% of their initial order, which is pretty good. We didn't get the same input from other retailers, but Canon's allocations tend to be pretty fair across the board, though there are always outliers.
Retailers will have to hold the lenses until June 27, 2024, per Canon's official release date rules. Though, there are some ambiguous rules about 2 day shipping, so we expect that some retailers will start sending them out to customers on June 25, 2024.
As always, some of you may get lucky and the lens will make its way out to you a little bit early. Overall, if you're on the right side of the preorder list, you should be shooting with the new lens by next weekend.
Preorder the Canon RF 35mm f/1.4L VCM
I'm pretty happy with the Sigma 28mm f/1.4 but if I'm going to trade over to 35mm this would be the time to do it I guess.
*** You pay 253,000 yen for the lens, and receive 25,300 points, which have a value of 1 yen for future purchases. A tourist may not be able to use such points but a resident can. On the other hand, a lot of their goods are a bit more expensive than Amazon so I always have the dilemma of using 9000 of the stupid points to buy a printer cartridge vs. 7950 cash on Amazon, etc. So, you can effectively consider the actual purchase price to be 90% of the headline purchase price, but with those pesky restrictions.
CANON RF 35MM F1.4 L VCM - not before 05.07.2024
Just my money moved on in the meantime ....
When lenses are new and demand is highest, the price will be the same (after points) at almost every shop. Looking on kakaku.com, the prices are 227,700 at all the typical shops. That works out to $1423 including tax, or $1293 before tax. The before tax price is what people in the US see on sites like B&H so it's a fair comparison. ("Consumption tax" is 10% in Japan, for those who may not know.)
However, if you wait a little for the initial rush to pass, you will often find more competitive pricing on the various shops on kakaku.com than at the big chains like Yodobashi and BIC. Canon is much more aggressive about controlling price competition than Nikon or Sony are, but there can still be savings. Third party glass from Sigma or Tamron, should it ever actually arrive on RF, will be much cheaper on kakaku than at Yodobashi or BIC. Basically Yodobashi or BIC always price at MSRP while the smaller shops will sell for less.
Finally, Amazon Japan gives you points when you spend points. So if you buy something for 10,000yen that has 500yen of points, you still get those points even if you pay entirely in points. (Amazon tends to have lower prices and fewer points, but for some products such as watches, Amazon's prices & points tend to match Yodobashi or BIC, but Amazon points have more value.) Because neither Yodobashi nor BIC (nor anywhere else in Japan that I am aware of) give you points if you spend points, this reduces the effective value of Yodobashi or BIC points. You get 10% points, but the real value is about 9%. Important to keep in mind.
Oh, and "one more thing"... If someone visits Yodobashi or BIC and makes a brand new point card (like a tourist or example), in the past they could not spend the points on the same day. This MAY have changed but I do not know. This obviously sucks for someone who may be on a tight schedule as returning to the store the next day to spend points is not always practical or possible. This is only the case when the card is brand new, after that you can spend points on the day you receive them.
Lens hood is sold SEPARETLY !!!!
Note that the lens hoods for L lenses are also sold separately. People do lose them.
They also sell replacement lens hoods separately.
Today my bank notified me that my card has been charged for the cost of the RF 35mm f/1.4L by Adorama.
I did pre-order 1 hour after the announcement.