Originally posted by FunkyMonk They have them on the shelves at Wolf and Ritz camera and I think Walmart sells them online but the main thing that I think slows down the sale of the camera is that you can't find anything else with the Pentax name on it. They carry the flash on the shelf at Wolf and Ritz and a couple of lens and that's it. If they had some nice weatherproof backpacks or camera bags or even some online commercials I think they would be a lot more popular. They don't have much visibility in the marketplace. I show my camera to Canon and Nikon users all the time and they are always impressed with it. If they don't know you exist then they don't know to look for you.
I think a lot of it is, this isn't about impressing Canon and Nikon users on the Internet, so much as impressing photographers and potential photographers. Fact is, a lot of people buy Canon and Nikon without knowing *why,* except it seems a safe bet, and they know the names. They might even go to Wal-Mart, buy an entry level DSLR from a year or three ago, have no idea what they're doing with it, and determine the camera must suck. Canon and Nikon can afford to dump their old kits there and have the brand names absorb any bad experiences, ...if the first impression people have of Pentax is an old K110d or something, all they can see is the brand name. Wal-mart shoppers just aren't the demographic to lean on, basically.
It's not like I influence millions out there, but when I turn up with a piece of gear with a funny name, people tend to *assume* it must be something good, even if it's an aging Lumix bridge camera wearing whatever hood I stuck on there and a little Bogen flex head screwed on for me to hang onto.
I think anyone over, maybe 35, that's known from cameras in the first place still does know the Pentax name. Pentax just needs to a) be sure to live up to it, and b) get the word out they're living up to it.
All the novelty about digital photography and buying these things like cell phones is going to wear off, eventually. In terms of consumer convenience, sooner or later, there'll be a better mousetrap, like all consumer conveniences, and there a bloated DSLR marketshare won't be an asset. There's always going to be that one in a hundred, though, who gets interested in the *process,* and I think they'll still be buying cameras, be they a hobbyist, artist, or would-be-pro.
Sure, more sales are needed, I'm sure, but I don't think Pentax wants to be the off-brand version of the big two. Or like Hyundai, ..they got name recognition, but not a good one, ...and they're still saddled with a cheap image and relying on selling volume of a lot of cheap products, ....Pentax, I think, wants to be like Subaru. A little odd, a little maybe idealistic, but with a following.