[jack56]

This post made elsewhere today and my concerns about Pentax:

I just bought a K20D!
So, with all the talk here about Pentax ending K20D production and Amazon being the US distributor, I popped over to Amazon .com to take a look. They had only four in stock. I bought one. It will be here Thursday or Friday. I can't wait.

Since I live in the small village of Los Angeles, I am not surprised that I can't find a Pentax distributor locally (sarcasm). I went over to Samys about three months ago, NO PENTAX STUFF. They said the Pentax agent stopped calling on them, so they dropped Pentax. None of the 10 camera stores within 10 miles of my house carry Pentax DSLRs. Recently Samys just put Pentax them on their web site as special order only. How sad. I hope I did not make a mistake.

-Lance

I live near a tiny area myself, the Greater Seattle Metro and can't find ANYONE carrying Pentax. Ritz, Kits & Wolf use to, but tell me that Pentax don't support it anymore.
The largest professional Camera Store in the area:
Welcome To Glazer's Camera | Glazer's Camera
Don't carry Pentax either.
This all happened in the last couple months.

Seattle & LA area don't carry Pentax, who does?

It sure looks to me that Pentax is in some kind of trouble.

[monochrome]

This post made elsewhere today and my concerns about Pentax:


I live near a tiny area myself, the Greater Seattle Metro and can't find ANYONE carrying Pentax. Ritz, Kits & Wolf use to, but tell me that Pentax don't support it anymore.
The largest professional Camera Store in the area:
Welcome To Glazer's Camera | Glazer's Camera
Don't carry Pentax either.
This all happened in the last couple months.

Seattle & LA area don't carry Pentax, who does?

It sure looks to me that Pentax is in some kind of trouble.

I think the notice of Pentax's demise is a it premature.

I live in St. Louis. Our local 9-store chain, Creve Couer Camera, stocks and features Pentax and the salespeople are informed and open-minded. They have a good used department and regularly stock used Pentax 6x7, 645 and the classic mechanical bodies, as well as a large selection of manual lenses.

Before the E-P1 was released the feature box had a flashing K-7. Click Cameras and More - the K-7 is featured upper left. Check all the lenses. There are at least 15 lenses.

Creve Couer Camera

[nostatic]

T
Seattle & LA area don't carry Pentax, who does?

It sure looks to me that Pentax is in some kind of trouble.

They have changed their marketing/sales strategy. Time will tell if it is "trouble".

Who carries Pentax?

pentax - Adorama.com

pentax | B&H Photo Video

Amazon.com: pentax: Electronics

And there are plenty more...

[jack56]

They have changed their marketing/sales strategy. Time will tell if it is "trouble".

Who carries Pentax?

pentax - Adorama.com

pentax | B&H Photo Video

Amazon.com: pentax: Electronics

And there are plenty more...

I'm talking about LOCAL!
No camera stores around here care Pentax DSLR's anymore and they did a couple months ago! Now it's just Nikon, Canon & Sony.

[nostatic]

I'm talking about LOCAL!
No camera stores around here care Pentax DSLR's anymore and they did a couple months ago! Now it's just Nikon, Canon & Sony.

It isn't clear that "local" is relevant. Not everyone needs to handle something before they buy it. Amazon and others have made that pretty clear. Like I said, time will tell if Pentax's strategy is sound.

[lurchlarson]

I'm talking about LOCAL!
No camera stores around here care Pentax DSLR's anymore and they did a couple months ago! Now it's just Nikon, Canon & Sony.

I've found plenty of stores that stock Olympus in the Portland, Oregon area.

As far as Pentax goes, most of the stores tell me that Pentax has stopped supplying them. I think Pentax has realized that more and more people are going to the internet to BUY their cameras and that Brick & Morter are more a showcase for people to test the camera before buying them online.

There are a few stores that still have a couple Pentax lenses, flashes and PnS cameras.

While I am sad to see that few stores stock Pentax any more the internet shopping trend is inevitable and businesses must adjust or get washed away in the wave.

To reassure you, I haven't found any stores that had any Leica M8s in stock either. I doubt that Leica is in trouble. I think Pentax is slowing trying to work its brand into a "Premium" setting. Maybe not in the same way as Leica is, but a much more exclusive brand than Canon and Nikon in any case.

In short. It's frustrating but I'm not worried.

[jack56]

It isn't clear that "local" is relevant. Not everyone needs to handle something before they buy it. Amazon and others have made that pretty clear. Like I said, time will tell if Pentax's strategy is sound.

Oh it is Relevant alright! A lot of folks handle a camera to see what it like before buying it, like they do (and I do) at Best Buy. Best Buy carries Pentax online, but not in the stores. The big names (Nikon, Canon, Sony & even Olympus) are on stock at all the stores so why not Pentax.

Online only will not cut it. Had I not been able to handle and see first hand a K20D at a Ritz store a few months back, I would have ended buying the new Nikon D5000 if I didn't stay with the K10D I had at the time. I ALWAYS like to handle a camera before buying it with my hard earned cash. So, maybe they don't sell many camera's at the local stores, but will buy online because they actually got to handle and SEE one.

So YES, LOCAL is very important!

[nostatic]

Oh it is Relevant alright! A lot of folks handle a camera to see what it like before buying it, like they do (and I do) at Best Buy. Best Buy carries Pentax online, but not in the stores. The big names (Nikon, Canon, Sony & even Olympus) are on stock at all the stores so why not Pentax.

Online only will not cut it. Had I not been able to handle and see first hand a K20D at a Ritz store a few months back, I would have ended buying the new Nikon D5000 if I didn't stay with the K10D I had at the time. I ALWAYS like to handle a camera before buying it with my hard earned cash. So, maybe they don't sell many camera's at the local stores, but will buy online because they actually got to handle and SEE one.

So YES, LOCAL is very important!

Important to you and others. The question is how many others, and if there are enough people that are willing to buy a camera in the $200-1500 range without handling it. So far B&H is sold out on K7 (had stock for awhile) so somebody is buying.

Like I said, time will tell. But I'm afraid just because you think local is relevant doesn't mean it is. The market will speak. I'm not arguing either way as I don't know. Certainly there are products that now no longer need B&M distribution. If cameras fall into that category is an interesting question...

[monochrome]

Jack - I understand and respect the process you use to become comfortable with a durable hardware investment. Please understand that I have never pre-handled a DSLR (or for that matter, an SLR, new or used) in my entire life.

I read, research listen to opinion, consider features, make my play and adjust (if necessary) to what I get.

I don't even pre-drive cars. I just decide what I want and what I'm willing to pay and arrange the purchase on the internet - then I go write a check and pick it up. Takes about an hour.

Neither of us is right or wrong - we just get comfortable in different ways.

So far I haven't made an impulse purchase because a good salesman talked me into something.

That's just my way.

[opiedog]

AFAIK, it's been like that for a while. can't find pentax stuff in most camera shops here in raleigh.
but to declare the sky is falling for pentax, that's not close.
they just have a different sales strategy. right or wrong, only time will tell.

[jack56]

Jack - I understand and respect the process you use to become comfortable with a durable hardware investment. Please understand that I have never pre-handled a DSLR (or for that matter, an SLR, new or used) in my entire life.

I read, research listen to opinion, consider features, make my play and adjust (if necessary) to what I get.

I don't even pre-drive cars. I just decide what I want and what I'm willing to pay and arrange the purchase on the internet - then I go write a check and pick it up. Takes about an hour.

Neither of us is right or wrong - we just get comfortable in different ways.

So far I haven't made an impulse purchase because a good salesman talked me into something.

That's just my way.

You my man, are in the very minority! Period.
Never pre drive a car... C'mon who you kidding!!!

[nostatic]

You my man, are in the very minority! Period.
Never pre drive a car... C'mon who you kidding!!!

Do you have statistics on the number of people who won't buy a camera without handling it? Do you know how that breaks down between p&s and dSLR? Is there a break point in pricing that determines the consumer's desire to go B&M?

Be careful when you generalize from n=1 or a small number (ie yourself and maybe your friends). The market has proven that a lot of products can have most of their units moved via online purchases. The only real question is which products and what price points.

I think that the number of people who don't test drive a car before purchase is probably small (though it may be bigger than you think). I think the number of people who don't test drive a camera before purchase is actually pretty significant and growing.

[jack56]

Do you have statistics on the number of people who won't buy a camera without handling it? Do you know how that breaks down between p&s and dSLR? Is there a break point in pricing that determines the consumer's desire to go B&M?

Be careful when you generalize from n=1 or a small number (ie yourself and maybe your friends). The market has proven that a lot of products can have most of their units moved via online purchases. The only real question is which products and what price points.

I think that the number of people who don't test drive a car before purchase is probably small (though it may be bigger than you think). I think the number of people who don't test drive a camera before purchase is actually pretty significant and growing.

Sorry I disagree. Respectfully that is.

[lmd91343]

They have changed their marketing/sales strategy. Time will tell if it is "trouble".

Who carries Pentax?

pentax - Adorama.com

pentax | B&H Photo Video

Amazon.com: pentax: Electronics

And there are plenty more...

I live in the second largest city in the country, I can't find Pentax within an hour's drive. Perhaps the largest brick and mortar store west of New York City stopped carrying Pentax because the Pentax rep stopped coming by. The Hoya company may not be in trouble, but they have a funny marketing strategy.

-Lance

Jack, it has been nigh on impossible to find Pentax in stores for quite a long time now that market is cornered by Canon and Nikon. Pentax has such a small share of the market that they have to try different approaches which are fraught with risk. They are owned by a large company though and continue to be solvent.
Where did you buy your cameras from by the way? If they were from a store, you were lucky to find old stock because they were discontinued when you bought them and if you did find them in a store, there's you're reason for not finding Pentax for sale in stores, they don't sell.
If you didn't buy them in a store, that kind of contradicts the argument that you are making in this thread.
This is also the second time you have started a thread like this; https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-news-rumors/59430-pentax-trouble.html
Since then you have bought a K10D. If you were that worried, why did you continue to invest in a Pentax when you believed they were in trouble?
Three months later you start a thread with the same premise as the previous one.
People get labelled as a troll when they do things like that (that wasn't an accusation by the way just a statement of fact).