[Kobayashi.K]

@Kobayashi.K
If I go to
http://my.pentax.eu
the site will guess my country from my IP address and direct me automatically to
http://my.pentax.eu/de

Does it redirect you to an old site if you are surfing from the Netherlands or Belgium?
I can't try out without faking my IP address.

EDIT:
I just tried it out.
The personalized page my.pentax seems to exist for Germany and France only.
But you can go directly to
http://pentax.eu/nl
or
http://pentax.eu/be
In both cases, initial language will be English. Choosing the language selection at the bottom of the page will take you to the old (non EU) sites. There seems not to be a dutch site yet. But if it is only for the language, not country specific offers, as a French Swiss or a Wallon from Belgium you can choose
http://pentax.eu/fr
This will lead you to the French site.

These are also existing URL's:
NL: http://www.pentax.nl/
BE: http://www.pentax.be/

[TenZ.NL]

I have looked up my original mail to get the text (translated to English):

Q - Please can you tell me if the 'FA 43mm F1.9 Limited' is still available.
A - I'm sorry to tell you that the Pentax lens SMC-FA 43mm f1.9 is already out of production for several years.

So, he suggested that the FA 43mm wasn't available anymore.
Being a newbie at that moment (March 2013) I had to do a lot of research to discover it was not true (maybe out of production but still available).

OMG...that is really stupid
The rumor goes that de Beuk is no longer importer from end of june, maybe things will get better.

[wigelII]

OMG...that is really stupid
The rumor goes that de Beuk is no longer importer from end of june, maybe things will get better.

I also read that de Beuk Pentax representation activities will be handled by a Pentax (BE, Benelux, NL?) Agency as of the beginning of July but what is strange is that I have sent an e-mail to De Beukelaer last week because I want to know the conditions for becoming a Pentax Dealer and they have handled the mail (well, they replied to it by asking additional questions) without referring to the fact that they soon won't be the party to deal with anymore.

So, I wonder ...
But we will soon know.

[Kobayashi.K]

I heard from a photo-shop owner in NL that the Netherlands and Belgium are getting separate Pentax representations. Until now there was only one combined representation in Belgium (De Beukelaer).

[MouLaG Ôfr]

Hopefully for Dutch people

[TenZ.NL]

So you are happy to stay with de Beukelaer?

[MouLaG Ôfr]

No, it is the worst distributor on earth !
His reputation is as bad as the frequency of news updates on his site (Nieuws - PENTAX Photo)
The last news for Pentax BE is from 05/22/2012 (LS-465 & K-30) !!! Nothing else since...

[Ishpuini]

In the beginning DB was promising. And very practical for me since their offices are almost on my doorstep. They were actually very helpful when I had a problem with my K10D, which was just after they had started with Pentax. However, for some reason they chose not to push Pentax as a brand anymore and just let it sell itself. Doesn't work of course... and it did become very hard to get the right information from them or order non-standard products (most stuff that was not "entry" level or standard kits) in a timely fashion. A shame really.

I was fortunate to know a sales person that had an OK contact with DB, and as such I got most stuff that I wanted, though it took more time than it should have...

Calling them the worst distributor is a bit too easy though. They do distribute many other brands, and I must say that their service concerning most of those brands (e.g. Lowepro) is OK. They are harder to contact directly than Pentax were themselves when they did their own distribution, but I guess that's DB's more "traditional" approach of wanting to work through (and supporting) B&M dealers, which is not a bad thing depending how you look at it.

DB and Pentax just wasn't written in the stars... I hope Pentax taking things into their own hands in the Benelux will be a new start.

Wim

[Franc]

No, it is the worst distributor on earth !
His reputation is as bad as the frequency of news updates on his site (Nieuws - PENTAX Photo)
The last news for Pentax BE is from 05/22/2012 (LS-465 & K-30) !!! Nothing else since...

i agree, it took them 8 months to repair/replace my da*300. After that i've got my broken k5 broken back, another 2 weeks turn around.

[Kobayashi.K]

The K-50 and K-500 user manuals are now available from Pentax Europe in several languages, including French.
Download operating manuals - PENTAX RICOH IMAGING - European Hub Site

Unfortunately, these manuals have an index with page-thumbnails, instead of a collapsible tree, which makes them less usable (all manuals from Pentax Europe are that way).

A French version should also be available from Pentax Canada, I guess, but until now their manuals have also a thumbnails index.
PENTAX RICOH IMAGING CANADA INC. | Bienvenue
| Service et Solution | Manuels de Fonctionnement |

An English manual with a tree-index will be available on Pentax Japan later on.
Operation Manuals Download : Support & Service | PENTAX RICOH IMAGING