[BobbyA]

First let me say that I have been a Pentaxian for 30 years or more and plan to be until someone pry’s my Pentax from my cold dead hands. So being such a fan of Pentax I often wonder why they are not more popular among photographers and those in the photo industry. I live in Las Vegas and there is not a single camera store that carries Pentax products.
I am also always looking for a camera or camera accessory deal on sites such as Craigslist and on any day I’ll come across a number of new ads of people selling Canon or Nikon cameras and lenses, but hardly ever do I come across Pentax items. The only exception being someone selling a K-1000 for $300 who obviously thinks a lot of his old camera or thinks they are collectors’ items.
I therefore believe that one or more the following observations may be true:
1. Most photographers just haven’t found their way home to Pentax yet.
2. We just know more than the average Nikon slob.
3. We hold on to our gear longer and then pass it on to the next generation of family photographers.
4. Pentax does one hell of a great job of making cameras but one lousy job of marketing.
If someone has the answer to this puzzle I would love to hear it.

[boriscleto]

I am also always looking for a camera or camera accessory deal on sites such as Craigslist and on any day I’ll come across a number of new ads of people selling Canon or Nikon cameras and lenses, but hardly ever do I come across Pentax items. The only exception being someone selling a K-1000 for $300 who obviously thinks a lot of his old camera or thinks they are collectors’ items.

There's someone here trying to sell a ZX-7 with the 28-90 and a Promaster 70-300 for $300. There's another ZX-7 with a Tamron 28-80 and 75-300 for $170.

Ooh. Here's one that looks interesting...A PZ-70 with a 50/1.7 and a Tamron 28-200 for $100. Too bad its a two hour drive away.

[GlennG]

4. Pentax does one hell of a great job of making cameras but one lousy job of marketing. If someone has the answer to this puzzle I would love to hear it.

I tend to think this argument carries the most weight. I've believed for some time now that Pentax has gotten behind the 8-ball regarding marketing and, once you find yourself there, that can be a real tough spot to get out of. Bodies and lenses - Pentax may not have a lot of them, but they seem competive, IMHO.

[maxfield_photo]

Number 4 is as much of the problem as anything, but there is somewhat of a lack of pro level lenses and accessories and pro support. Ever tried to rent a Pentax lens? The flash system also needs to be brought of the dark ages before pros will accept it.

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Last edited by maxfield_photo; 09-22-2012 at 07:51 PM.

[TER-OR]

Yeah, I rent lenses occasionally. I'm renting one starting next week. From Pentax USA? No, from a commercial rental company. This doesn't discount the limitations and problems mentioned above.

[SteveM]

I bought my first Pentax in the 80s when they were still big. I do think they "rested" on their success, and released some questionable camera bodies during the 90s and as a result, sales fell and then had no capital for R&D.

They are still hanging on here and you can find them in the shops....although they are slowly dwindling. There seemed to be a big upswing during the k10d period, which is when I moved back to Pentax. It was the sales people that were pulling the K10d out and making a sales pitch because they believed in the camera. I saw no such enthusiasm for the k20d, and with not enough of an advancement for high ISO and auto focus on the K7 to keep sales going, it started to tank again. You still see quite a few people using Pentax out in the wild and I think the K5 has helped, but they really need another big advancement for their next new body after the K5 IIs.

[reeftool]

I think much of the reason you don't see Pentax in stores is the marketing strategy that Pentax used in the US with it's emphasis on internet sales. I bought my first DSLR, a K10D in a store. It was holding it in my hands and checking things out that sold me. I would likely have bought a Nikon D200 instead. I had shot both Pentax and Nikon with film and have lenses for both. There aren't a lot of brick and mortar camera stores left around. Ritz was the last chain that had stores in malls nationwide. There's also the problem of people who go to the store, handle the camera, get all the facts from the salesman, make their choice and then go buy it online for the cheapest price. I can certainly understand a retail business owner not wanting to be a showroom for Amazon. Still, Pentax needs to get some retail exposure if they want to expand their user base and a lot of us still prefer to shop and buy local. Almost all of what I buy online or by mail is because I CAN'T buy it anywhere else.

[boriscleto]

Ritz was the last chain that had stores in malls nationwide. There's also the problem of people who go to the store, handle the camera, get all the facts from the salesman, make their choice and then go buy it online for the cheapest price. I can certainly understand a retail business owner not wanting to be a showroom for Amazon. Still, Pentax needs to get some retail exposure if they want to expand their user base and a lot of us still prefer to shop and buy local. Almost all of what I buy online or by mail is because I CAN'T buy it anywhere else.

Ritz used to have three stores in Syracuse, the last one closed during the last Chapter 11. There are still two specialty camera stores in Syracuse, MQ and Johnson. MQ deals in Nikon, Canon, and Mamiya MF. They keep bankers hours as they are afraid they might actually have to sell something. Johnson keeps better hours and offers more services, but they still only deal in Nikon & Canon and they are on the other side of town.

Ra-Lin Discount is a local discount department store, a real dinosaur. They have a decent camera department, it used to be as good as any specialty shop, but they only have Nikon, Canon, Sony, & Olympus. I've been told by their top salesman that they have tried to carry Pentax but nobody was buying.