I was talking with a pro camera dealer in our area and he said Sony Panasonic and Canon are running 8-12 weeks delivery time on orders due to the quake. Shortages + demand= higher prices.
The answer is Sony has increased prices across the board effective June 1. B&H just updates their web site quicker than other vendors. The B&H prices are the new MAP that all US dealers will charge.
I was thinking the same thing, first people cant buy them anywhere then the price goes up... I sure love my F3 and I'm glad I jumped on the pre-order as soon as I could.
Usually I under-think major purchases and just buy. This time, I over-thought the purchase and now I might be looking at as much as 12 weeks and paying more money. And I'm supposed to be the one who in the pages of DV and Videography tells everyone what to buy!
For anyone frustrated by the price increase who did not put in a paid pre-order, Omega Broadcast Group (www.omegabroadcast.com) has a very short list of deposits on F3's and is getting the same amount of allocation as any other dealer. Same new price as everywhere else - short line.