Ran into a Pentaxian today

[Hey Elwood]

Hi everyone,

My wife and I decided to visit Greenfield Village today (for father's day) and while I was there I ran into a fellow Pentaxian. I do have to say Pentaxian's are definately cut from a different cloth. It was so easy to talk to him and carry on a wonderful conversation about photography. I don't tend to see Canon or Nikon users doing that. He actually introduced me to a camera club out this way that I'm excited to check out. He told me about the projects / assignments they have and it's a great place to learn new skill sets. Can't wait to head out that way when they start up in the fall.

[attack11]

i see canon and nikon users do it all the time. why would a camera brand dictate personality?

[Ratmagiclady]

I'm not too surprised, really: people who go with Pentax are likely to have their reasons: it certainly takes some motivation to go off the beaten track for most people: that reason probably involves really caring about photography. Canon and Nikon are in all kinds of hands, being the popular brands.

[stevebrot]

I run into Pentax users all the time here in the Vancouver/Portland area. Though I must admit that the Pentax is usually in the hands of a tourist from somewhere in Asia . On a recent hike on the trails near Multnomah Falls, I counted a dozen Canon, 8 Nikon, 5 Pentax, and 1 Sony Alpha. Sorry, no Olympus or other 4/3 makes. The Pentaxians were not speaking English so I don't know how friendly they were .

Steve

[Steve Beswick]

The photography buffs I meet around where I live are always Canon users. I do have one friend who shoots Nikon, and one who shoots Pentax. Come to think of it, the three of us should get together for a shooting day....

[lithos]

Originally Posted by attack11

i see canon and nikon users do it all the time. why would a camera brand dictate personality?

Not dictate. My brother got a Canon, but he was a prick already.

I was gonna point him towards Pentax - he wanted a camera for his trip to the States - but I didn't bother. Knew what would've happened.

"Yeah, the guy at the store said Pentax are shit."

"Look, they're better for travelling, compared to your EOS 450D - water resistant, in-built image stabilisation, better kit lenses..."

"He said no one uses them."

"That's because there are, unfortunately, there're plenty of people out there like you who don't do research and forget that the ultimate point of any sales clerk is to get you to buy the most expensive and preferably incomplete thing there is, thus maximising profit and ensuring future business."

"Says the autofocus is loud."

"Going to the States to visit a lot of maternity wards, are you? Kon Tiki's 'Tour of the Great Trappist Monasteries Of Eastern Arizona,' eh?"

"Hey, he works in the camera store, not you. I'm not going to get this camera wet-"

"-but you'll regret it if you do-"

"-and he says I can get optical stabilised lenses if I want-"

"-you won't want to, once you see the price-"

"-and it's not like I care."

"Ah. Carry on then. Idiot."

[emr]

This is great imaginary discussion, lithos! Brotherly love, eh?

[lithos]

Real one would've had more swearing, let's not beat around the shrubbery.

Figured that he didn't deserve a K20D, either.

Naturally, the 450D (or whatever, didn't bother reading it's number) again, in the great tradition of Canon consumer DSLRs, feels like they took the guts out of a $100 P&S and stuck in an SLR shell, made from the finest recycled chip packets.

Really, it's an 'orrible excuses for camera construction.

[nanok]

hahah. you're cracking me up, lithos. i used to have a similar relationship with my brother. now that we're both past puberty :-P, we figured out we actually have a lot more in common than just parents, and we get along quite well.

about your dialogue, imagine that very dialogue, but with a bit of a twist: your role is the buyers (my friend), and the opposite side is the camera store clerk, this friend was actually fighting the clerk (jessops i think, or something similar), who was trying to sell him a rebel instead of the k10d. my friend told me the story, it went something like:
- i recommend the canon instead
- but the canon is a bit more expensive, and is not even weathersealed
- ahem.. yes.. but it's a canon. it's the better camera, trust me
- the k10d has a better interface, the lens feels better built, not to mention the body
- it's a pentax, it's not a good investment, canon is a market leader.. i recommend the canon
- it's not even in the same league, why would i even consider it? can you give me any reason?
(and on and on it went)
(the clerk finally walked away with a dumb and angry look on his face)
my firend, if i recall correctly, was actually insulted by this conversation enough to walk away and buy (the k10d) from another shop, which had much more reasonable personel.

i have had some attempts myself, from store clerks, but only "shy" ones (someone would mention, half jokingly, that i should get a nikon instead of the k20d, but usually my answer would be a bit too ironic or sarcastic for the clerk to feel like continuing such a discussion with a paying customer). i have no problem arguing in a reasonable manner, i think it is healthy, but if you cannot bring something interesting to the discussion except your petty brand bias, i will come down on you like a ton of bricks. i have a friend who has bought a d300 instead, he did his homework, and i respect his choice entirely, we often shoot together and sometimes compare the two cameras very critically. he is happy with his choice, and he is no brand-blinded zombie, he's somebody you can talk to and have an interesting discussion. i also known canon shooters who are the same. i think it goes both ways, in both (four) camps, it's just that pentax users are not as common, so they tend to treat eachother much like subaru owners (who often flash their lights and salute eachother on the open road, without having ever seen eachother before: "if you drive a subaru, you must have some nuts or bolts missing "up there", that makes two of us on this road today, hi there!")

[rparmar]

Originally Posted by lithos

Not dictate. My brother got a Canon, but he was a prick already.

That was hilarious!

[Arpe]

I really can't understand this Subaru analogy. They are very popular cars here, esp. amongst the younger crowd. They make good cars.

[nanok]

it's different in new zeeland. for one thing, you can import your sti's from japan. aaah, a japan spec sti..

pentax make good cameras too, but that was not my point (i drive a subaru, so you can imagine i made my mind up how good a car it can be ), the point is that here (europe), at least, they are not nearly as popular as other brands, and people who own them usually have a "reason" (they don't just buy a car, to do the job any other car would do, in most cases, there is no replacement for a subaru, except another subaru), this is especially the case with older models (people who buy a used subaru don't do it randomly, sometimes they do with newer ones, especially the "suv" ones, but not always). the best way i can think of to explain the analogy is: think of awd with subaru and weather sealing with pentax .

nanok, making a note to move to nz soon

[lithos]

Originally Posted by nanok

people who own them usually have a "reason"

Ram-raiding?

they don't just buy a car, to do the job any other car would do

Ah, the Wreck-X. With it's lickety-split acceleration, it's perfecto for those quaint, narrow European streets all the best jewellers and watch stores are on. Doesn't need much room to get up to plate-glass disintegrating speeds.

there is no replacement for a subaru, except another subaru

'Specially when the bloody shopkeeper's cunning hidden a foot-high concrete wall behind window, causing you to get it stuck there, thereby forcing you to bail with the loot on foot.

[nanok]

Originally Posted by lithos

Ram-raiding?



Ah, the Wreck-X. With it's lickety-split acceleration, it's perfecto for those quaint, narrow European streets all the best jewellers and watch stores are on. Doesn't need much room to get up to plate-glass disintegrating speeds.



'Specially when the bloody shopkeeper's cunning hidden a foot-high concrete wall behind window, causing you to get it stuck there, thereby forcing you to bail with the loot on foot.

neah, you got it all wrong. we tend to use bmw's and the like in europe, for stuff like that (the main reason being, all the knobs buy bmw's here, so there's a lot of them on the street, with a subaru they can see you coming from miles, not to mention hear you, with a bmw, you're just another kn^H^Hguy). we reserve the subaru's for rally racing and people who just want a drivers car, without the bling, here; don't know how it is down under..

nanok, walking away, scratching head in amazement

edit: btw, on a more serious note: subaru does not equal intercooled turbo with a water spray, i drive a normally aspired flat four, and am proud of it, i am sick of people assuming i am just another honest, non-jewellery-shop-thief-guy, just because i don't have a scoop on my hood. have some respect, will ya? i can be as dishonest and bank-robbing as the other guy. sheesh... (in case i didn't make myself clear: this means i do need a bit to get up to speed, no drag-racer, that's for sure, but once i'm there.. just try to keep up :-P )

[LSPhotography]

I ran into a lady on a vacation down in alabama, shooting a nikon d90. really nice, even let me play with it a bit... now granted i didnt do much, looked around, played with the focus. but i was surprised she let me play around.