According to NikonRumors and now other sources as well, it appears Nikon is gearing up to implement a new uniform pricing policy on all DSLR gear among retailers. It’s a move that will surely annoy larger retailers, like B&H and Adorama, and cheer local brick and mortar stores that will no longer have to compete against the greater pricing power of big box retail stores and online stores like Amazon.

According to company communiques obtained by NikonRumors, the pricing is being put into effect so consumers won’t be tempted to shop around for a better deal. What it may do instead is give Canon a competitive edge on pricing.

Any company caught selling cameras below the nationally advertised prices may find themselves unable to buy certain products from Nikon. The Unilateral Pricing Policy, as it’s being called, will take effect on October 16th.

There’s another word in some circles for this kind of behavior, it’s called “price fixing”. How Nikon is getting around the law in the U.S. appears to be a loophole that differentiates between forcing a retailer to sell at a specific price and not selling to them if they do not adhere to pricing guidelines. The end result is the same and the difference seems largely semantic.

The bottom line for photographers in the U.S. it means that it soon won’t matter where you shop for Nikon gear as there won’t be any real price competition. It will be interesting to see whether this move works for Nikon, or drives more customers into the arms of Canon.