[MyTZuS]

I loved my K1000 and appreciated the superior build as compared to its price point comparisons, it was everything that I needed at the time and was incredibly reliable, surviving a car crash that destroyed the lens that was mounted on it. However, the second part of the statement no longer holds as today's Pentax DSLRs in fact have all of the gimmicks (save for pro video), their value just isn't promoted commercially.

In my experience in my circle of friends, those that have Pentax cameras are thrilled with them and those who have the Canikon consumer cameras aren't, in fact I am frequently asked to "fix" them to make them produce the images that they expect (they aren't broken and produce fine images if you know how to use them and can hold them steady enough, but realization never matches expectation). So why do they keep buying? Easy, they see pros use them and of course see the advertisements. A marketing appeal to be different seems like a good idea but I have never seen it actually work in any market for any product. The masses want to conform and be like those whom they admire and wish to emulate. Sponsoring pros is a great idea, the higher the profile, the better. But you also have to buy advertising - I believe that I saw a Pentax camera on a TV show last night, I recognized the strap but the network blurred the logo because they aren't advertisers.

Interesting cause it brought back to mind some things that happened to me last soccer season (which is my primary sport shooting). I had oh so many come to me with their Canon EOS Rebel something or other (not familiar with Canon at all) asking me how to get the great pics I was getting (since they saw my posts). I never thought of what you've just stated. Interesting. And I was using a K-x, white of course. Looking forward to the new season in March with my new K5 IIs!!!

Another interesting thing is that all the gimmicks on the K3 (probably had a bad model) ticked me off which is why I sent it back and bought the K5 IIs instead. Don't need their help, just give me my pixels and I'll do the rest. Guess I wouldn't have liked Nikon nor Canon. Pentax (& now Sony) is all I know.

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Last edited by MyTZuS; 02-07-2015 at 10:17 AM.

[JibbaJab]

That would explain, somewhat, why I've yet to see anyone else here using Pentax gear. This then would appear to show we are pretty much the definition of niche outside of Japan and, thus, this might mean, once FF hits (provided it is a big success), the forums could be filled with the same garbage that the Canon and Nikon forums (which is different than the garbage here currently haha) are.

"My images are completely black.. I think the camera is broken" take off your lens cap "why is the lens wearing a hat?" /facepalm

"My mega pricey FF camera takes awesome pictures in auto. Never have to take it out of portrait mode." /facepalm

"Why are my images so soft? This camera must be defective.. I have it set to 2 seconds shutter, ISO 51200, f/2.8 handheld but my images don't look like the ones I see in the wedding catalog. I spent good money on this camera and it isn't taking great photos for me and my new company I started 3 days after buying this camera." /facepalm

Get ready for this, Pentaxians.

Fortunately for us, natural selection has made it so that seasoned Pentaxians who've hung in there as a minority have evolved into the likes of normhead, Parallax, and countless others who simply don't put up with this sh!t.

[Zephos]

Fortunately for us, natural selection has made it so that seasoned Pentaxians who've hung in there as a minority have evolved into the likes of normhead, Parallax, and countless others who simply don't put up with this sh!t.

Heaven help those poor clueless souls.

I'm new to photography, so I am pretty clueless myself. However, in the short time that I've been on the forums I have been very impressed by the respect and helpful advice that I've received. So maybe those people who are going to be experiencing Pentax cameras for the first time (like me) could be converted to Pentaxianism if we show that same willingness to enlighten their brains?

Or am I being too optimistic?

[JibbaJab]

Heaven help those poor clueless souls.

I'm new to photography, so I am pretty clueless myself. However, in the short time that I've been on the forums I have been very impressed by the respect and helpful advice that I've received. So maybe those people who are going to be experiencing Pentax cameras for the first time (like me) could be converted to Pentaxianism if we show that same willingness to enlighten their brains?

Or am I being too optimistic?

I was joking about the occasional crochetyness of some of our senior members. The regulars on here are actually quite helpful to those who want to learn. normhead in particular is a great resource for tips and info.

[MyTZuS]

Heaven help those poor clueless souls.

I'm new to photography, so I am pretty clueless myself. However, in the short time that I've been on the forums I have been very impressed by the respect and helpful advice that I've received. So maybe those people who are going to be experiencing Pentax cameras for the first time (like me) could be converted to Pentaxianism if we show that same willingness to enlighten their brains?

Or am I being too optimistic?

From personal experience I can tell you that you will get nothing but lots of help from this forum. I was astounded that I wasn't flamed into oblivion when I posted a while ago that I didn't like my K3. Instead, got lots of help and learned even more from the postings than I already knew.

So long story short, no worries, people will take care of you here.

[MadMathMind]

Unlike automobiles and food, a camera designed for the Asian market still works in other markets.

It's true of most products but there are significant differences between what gets consumers in Asia and America to purchase.

Perhaps the biggest difference is in celebrity endorsement. In the USA, we don't see celebrities endorsing all that many products. There are some, of course, but it's not employed nearly as widely; it's common in sports products and cosmetics, but not so much in other industries. You rarely see billboards with celebrities' faces on a product; they're everywhere in East Asia on virtually every kind of product imaginable: toothpaste, clothes, shoes, electronics, etc. Another thing is that when a celebrity does advertise a product in the USA, they have to put that person's name on the screen. If you watch even cosmetics ads in Asia, there are starletts all over them and their names are never written on screen--it's assumed that the audience will know who that girl is.

In the USA, an "everyman" appeal is more common. Beer ads don't show famous people having a good time with their products. They show ordinary people. Household products' ads feature everyday women using the product. When product placement is used, rather than say overtly "Tom Hanks uses this product" the show him using the product in a movie and don't say anything. The appeal to the subconscious is much more used in American advertising than it is in Asia. In Japan, for instance, there is no product placement in movies and TV. Japanese law seems to preclude this. If you watch, you'll see a "Mikon" camera or a "Tony" television. This "false likeness" is ubiquitous in Japan and done so without any required license from the company or person it mimicks. US media, on the other hand, doesn't survive without product placement. Watch early episodes of the Big Bang Theory see what soda they drink. Then watch later ones and see what the cans say.

Of course, Asian companies employ advertisers here who know the local markets. They are not stupid. However, they do oversee the operations in some way and when they see techniques they don't understand, they may not want to throw more money to use them, especially if those techniques don't produce results in the way they expect. Plus some direction does come from global corporate. An Asian company might think they can launch a global ad campaign featuring Lady Gaga because she'll appeal to both continents--thus saving them the money they would spend in the USA. Except they may not understand that the trick is ineffective in the USA (everything they know tells them it should be).

[monochrome]

Advertising and marketing cost money. There are five regional divisions with Ricoh Imaging Global. Should it be correct that each region must stand on its own as a profit-making entity (or the managers lose some form of incentive compensation) then a low-market-volume region such as the Americas might not (yet) be profitable enough to support the expense of 'media marketing' and 'celebrity endorsement.' Such a region might not (yet) even be able to manage its website, Customer Service, Brand Store, Service Department, consumer Parts Department or other departments in-house.

In such a market, marketing might well primarily be limited to plain old hard work by salespeople and managers. Infrastructure operations might well be limited to contract providers until such time as revenue is sufficient to justify hiring full-time employees to perform those functions.

Thinking long-term, one imagines Ricoh has a Plan to develop its Global infrastructure Region by Region. Once all Regions are fully structured and unit volume is sufficient, then perhaps products can be released with unbique, Regional characteristics in mind.

Until then western markets might see Q's and K-S1 style offerings and kind of shrug.