Well yaya - I was 'sold' an Aptus 75 because the Afi was only a few months away. I was 'told' that the Aptus would just go on to the Afi. 2 weeks after purchase your 75s was announced. I was told that I would be 'upgraded' at the same time as the Afi arrived for no cost - given the 'unfortunate timing' of my purchase.
Well I got tired of waiting after a year and half. I got angry that my free upgrade to 75s was no longer free. And I became very angry when informed that hmmm actually you cant use your back on the Afi. Then told that my camera was worth 1/3 of what I paid as a trade on the Afi.
This summarises a lot of to and fro.
Very disappointing.
There is more ..but well- what can I say except for those who wish to purchase these MFD systems - be very very careful who your dealer is.
Hope this helps yaya.
Best
Pete
These are words to the wise.
To clarify a couple things -
While I worked at PPR, we were told that the AFi would require a dedicated Aptus back, and would not be mountable from a previous generation Aptus. The issue that arose was the cost involved. And dealers knew about this right off, there was never any notion of a free upgrade. But once we saw the upgrade price, we knew the gravy train was over, and this was unexpected.
Regarding Aptus to Aptus S upgrades, there was never ever any mention of free upgrades there either. But while the Aptus to AFi unpgrade was a steep price, the Aptus to Aptus S upgrade was only $3,000 if ordered within the first 3 months, and then roughly $5,000 for the next 11 months after that.
With significant market saturation, much of the medium format product sold today is in the form of upgrades, perhaps 60% or higher. With that high a percentage, manufacturers cannot be profitable on the sweetheart deals of the past. And so, upgrade pricing has adapted within the last couple years to allow a more realistic profit to be made. Think about it. You trade in an Aptus 75S, and you would like to upgrade to an Aptus 10 for oh, say $5,000. Then Leaf owns the Aptus 75S, which has a street value of around $18k - $22K (just as an example). So, $22K plus $5K, how is Leaf going to make a profit selling a product which is $39K?
I have read multiple times of "my dealer promised that.......etc".
Any time you as a customer are holding your breath on a "promise" that is related to a yet un-released product or advancement, you should be very careful. For that matter, "promises" can be extracted from (for example), "I believe we are working on upgrading our sensitivity on the current lineup, I've heard 1 to 2 months out, but not sure". This type of statement from a dealer, or even a manufacturer can be miconstrued as a "promise", or a broken promise when said event does not materialize. And some dealers (and yes, also manufacturers) can be over-zealous in their enthusiasm for the as yet un-delivered mention.
On the other hand, if a dealer mentions any kind of promise as a done deal, hard fact, you should be very considerate of the source.
A promise is kind of a solemn committment to do something you say. A dealer cannot promise anything that a manufacturer will do. And even at the manufacturing level, with technology like this, developmental intentions can run into un-foreseen alteration or even tragedy.
It is best to remember that promises are only made on the future, not the present or past, and the future is not guaranteed.
It also might be a good idea that anytime anyone promises something, get it in writing with a condition on what happens if the promise is not met. I think you will see a reduction in the amount of promises with this policy...
Steve Hendrix
Phase One
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