Nikon has confirmed that its D4 and D800 DSLRs will cost significantly more than was first announced ? insisting it set the wrong prices, and that the move is not market-led.

Blaming an ?internal systems error?, Nikon UK confirmed in a statement that the D800 will cost £2599.99, £200 more than it said the camera would cost when it was announced last month.

The D4 will cost £5289.99, rather than £4,799.99.

And the Nikon D800E will now carry a £2,899.99 pricetag ? not £2,689.99 as was originally stated.

Nikon has confirmed that photographers who ‘pre-ordered’ one of the cameras before 24 March need only pay the original price.

London-based photographer Joaquim Barreto, who ordered a D800 through dealer Robert White, described the move as ‘opportunism of the lowest kind’.

‘It can’t possibly be a pricing error after all this time,’ he claimed.

Nikon UK’s group marketing manager Jeremy Gilbert said the RRPs given at the press announcements were ‘incorrect’ and suggested that the new, higher, prices do not reflect a change of market conditions.

Nikon insists the mistake was purely administrative ? rather than a decision made since the press launches ? but declined to comment on precisely how it happened.

‘There is no back-story to this… We apologise sincerely to our customers,’ Gilbert told Amateur Photographer.

The firm was quick to stress that the glitch only affects customers in the UK and Ireland, and is not Europe-wide.

A spokesman for Robert White told us that the issue was a ‘foggy subject’ and that it was attempting to clarify the position with Nikon UK this morning.

Robert White is telling customers that the D800 will be available at the end of March, or early April, while the D4 will go on sale in ‘mid-April’.

Full statement, as released by Nikon UK

NIKON UK Press Statement 26-March-2012

Nikon UK can confirm a correction to the originally published recommended retail prices (RRP) on the D800, D800E and D4 products.

Due to a local internal systems error, the incorrect RRPs on the D800, D800E and D4 products were communicated in the UK and Irish markets at the time of announcement. The correct RRPs for the products should have been D4: £5289.99, D800: £2,599.99 and D800E: £2,899.99. We would like to apologise sincerely to our customers for this unfortunate mistake, which has been corrected with immediate effect. We know that there has been strong consumer interest in these products and a high level of pre-orders placed with retailers; Nikon will be honouring the original prices to retailers on all customer pre-orders placed before March 24th 2012.