[hsteeves]

As far as I can tell, Ricoh Imaging Canada is the only distributor of Pentax products to the various Canadian retailers, so it makes sense everyone in Canada is offering the same price for special ordering the K-1. The good thing about this arrangement is that retailers get stable pricing in Canadian dollars, the bad thing about this is if Canadian retailers start selling significant quantities in the U.S., Ricoh Canada can easily eliminate the price differential.

Whoever is distributing the other stuff is probably using that exact same argument with their wholesale customers to get them to build up their inventory. The Christmas season just past was much worse across the country than the previous four years, so retailers are going to have to be aggressive to retain customers. The next few years could see a number of brick and mortar retailers close shop in Canada.

there is only one individual distributor for all camera gear brands in Canada. So, for example , Nikon is available through Nikon Canada, Canon- Canon Canada, Olympus -Olympus Canada, Pentax - Ricoh- Pentax Canada and we have been fortunate that for the last few years as the the CDN dollar went down in value against the US one, our prices up here did not mirror that. This is also holds true in other items like electronics - except for Apple stuff because they were quick to change their price with every currency drop. while there have been some price increases over the years, we are getting that whole currency difference evened out all at once. Like anything, once the American buyers started coming north in numbers, the Canadian distributors could not keep the discount in place or justify it to the head office.

[pete-tarmigan]

I live in Saskatchewan and deal with Don's Photo in both Regina and Saskatoon. Both their managers have told me about price increases for many brands including Nikon and Canon. No predictions involved - its certainties. It has to do with the dollar and the fact that Canadian camera gear prices have been significantly below US prices for a few years now. We are getting that gap closure all at once.

The $2499 MSRP in Canada currently corresponds to the current exchange rate with the US. You're saying that the Canadian price will go up in April. So if someone can't buy the K-1 until after the April price increase, then logical move will be to buy it in the U.S., unless the Canadian dollar drops drastically by then. Do you think Ricoh Imaging Canada is planning on shooting itself in the foot this way?

[hsteeves]

The $2499 MSRP in Canada currently corresponds to the current exchange rate with the US. You're saying that the Canadian price will go up in April. So if someone can't buy the K-1 until after the April price increase, then logical move will be to buy it in the U.S., unless the Canadian dollar drops drastically by then. Do you think Ricoh Imaging Canada is planning on shooting itself in the foot this way?

Note that Pentax is not included in that list. Anything introduced this year or late last year has the currency difference factored in, not just the K1 but also the Nikon D500. Fiji and Sony pricing has already been brought up to some extent but a person was able to get some comparative bargains by using the Black Friday/Boxing Day price decreases. Price increase will be for items that were already in the catalogue. The last major price increase for many brands was last spring and even then the rise was not major. Here we are going to see up to 20% on some things.

[pete-tarmigan]

I am not surprised that Henrys store getting rid of most Pentax gear as they have very few people with knowledge about Pentax gear. I was once in the Brampton store trying to look for something (fish-eye DA 17-70), the people there don't seem to be interested in what I was looking for. Naturally, if I was one of those Canikony users, they might be interested to entice me to get something if I don't need it. OTOH, it is supply and demand, I don't blame them at all.

I think they have very little staff with knowledge about Pentax gear because there is little demand for it. Pentax's poor marketing in recent decades (compared with Canikony) combined with Hoya's elimination of incentives for retailers to stock Pentax ensured that there is little demand and little stock.

---------- Post added 24th Feb 2016 at 11:58 ----------

I'm not going to buy from any store where I can't hold the camera. I'm ready to give Henry's the deep six over their decision to pull all Pentax gear from all their satellite stores. I suspect my next purchase will be from Downtown camera. If I have to drive to downtown to get to see a Pentax in the flesh, at their main store, well Downtown is a few short steps away. And they seem to have a greater selection of Pentax gear in stock. I may as well go their first and walk over to Henry's if I don't find what I like.

I wish I could hold new Pentax gear. The nearest store to me (St. John's, Nfld.) that will stock the K-1, and for that matter any Pentax gear, is probably Montreal (2,450 km by car or 1,613 km by air). The three camera stores in St. John's currently have no plans to resuming stock Pentax even though they are still authorized retailers. They will order Pentax gear for me, but, based on past experience, I will have to wait several weeks and sometimes months before the gear arrives. I suspect they only place orders with their distributors once per month. So I have a dilemma. Do I support local retailers, with their warranty support, and wait at least a month before I receive it, or do I order it on-line and get it in 2 weeks maximum?

---

Last edited by pete-tarmigan; 02-24-2016 at 08:29 AM. Reason: omission

[MattCard]

I think they have very little staff with knowledge about Pentax gear because there is little demand for it. Pentax's poor marketing in recent decades (compared with Canikony) combined with Hoya's elimination of incentives for retailers to stock Pentax ensured that there is little demand and little stock.

---------- Post added 24th Feb 2016 at 11:58 ----------



I wish I could hold new Pentax gear. The nearest store to me (St. John's, Nfld.) that will stock the K-1, and for that matter any Pentax gear, is probably Montreal (2,450 km by car or 1,613 km by air). The three camera stores in St. John's currently have no plans to resuming stock Pentax even though they are still authorized retailers. They will order Pentax gear for me, but, based on past experience, I will have to wait several weeks and sometimes months before the gear arrives. I suspect they only place orders with their distributors once per month. So I have a dilemma. Do I support local retailers, with their warranty support, and wait at least a month before I receive it, or do I order it on-line and get it in 2 weeks maximum?

Even Lozeau in Montreal doesn't always have the lens or body you wan't to try before buying, and you get various amount of service depending on witch salesman you talk to. But it's not that bad... and it may change with the coming of the K-1, maybe they plan to be more agressive on the marketing/presence in store. Let's hope so !

[normhead]

Sadly, the question that is asked over and over, is, how can we promote Pentax being more aggressive in it's marketing. The problem is a downward spiral providing less and less service to the customer because what they do doesn't pay for itself. SO they do less and less, and then experience more loss of sales, and then cut back even more. Many of us have been watching this downward spiral for years. Every new camera that come out, we hope will be the one that makes them enough money, that they can start to invest in better service.

It's particularly depressing because during that time, Pentax has released some work beating product, the K-5 upon release was simply top of the charts. But Pentax seems incapable of capitalizing on that success. But then, you look at Caonon and Nikon, and the immediate word comes to mind is
" presence". If you are in a drugstore that sells cameras, their product is there. IN the little town of Barry's Bay, a little tourist trap with no particular importance, you can buy Canon, Nikon, Panasonic and Olympus cameras at the drug store. But not Pentax. All family low end point and shoots.

If you look at what is, compared to what we'd like. The obvious conclusion is that Pentax needs to make a pile of low cost, poor feature set, functional, cheaply constructed cameras that they can sell a million of to support their higher end product marketing.

And the problem with that is, many of us are happy that Pentax is not one of those companies. Economics would say you have to produce lots of low end product so there is a model at every $25 price point from $50 to $400. Much of the world that can afford a $159 camera can't afford a $175 camera. And it is the profit from those low end models that support the more costly cameras, because they sell so many more of them.

Pentax I think has taken the road, that they'll try and sell to the discriminating customer, and ignore fighting it out in the low price point low quality trenches. To compete with Canon and Nikon, they probably have to be like Canon and Nikon.

[RGlasel]

I wish I could hold new Pentax gear. The nearest store to me (St. John's, Nfld.) that will stock the K-1, and for that matter any Pentax gear, is probably Montreal (2,450 km by car or 1,613 km by air).

I know this sounds rude, but the cost of returning gear that you order from one of the Canadian online retailers is less than the cost of a trip to Montreal and you get a better holding experience than pointing the camera at some store shelves or out a display window. On the other hand, if you are looking for reasons to justify a trip to Montreal (or Toronto, Edmonton, or Calgary), making sure you buy the right camera sounds pretty good to me. For a decent selection of bodies and lenses in Saskatoon, I'm down to just one store, which I'm happy to support (waiting 15 minutes to make my purchase is better than waiting a week for a parcel to arrive), but if it becomes strictly special order through my local retailer, I might as well order online instead.

[pete-tarmigan]

I know this sounds rude, but the cost of returning gear that you order from one of the Canadian online retailers is less than the cost of a trip to Montreal and you get a better holding experience than pointing the camera at some store shelves or out a display window. On the other hand, if you are looking for reasons to justify a trip to Montreal (or Toronto, Edmonton, or Calgary), making sure you buy the right camera sounds pretty good to me. For a decent selection of bodies and lenses in Saskatoon, I'm down to just one store, which I'm happy to support (waiting 15 minutes to make my purchase is better than waiting a week for a parcel to arrive), but if it becomes strictly special order through my local retailer, I might as well order online instead.

I don't think it's rude at all. It's just that many retailers in Canada will only accept returns or exchanges if the unit is faulty, not if you just don't like it. If they accept the return of a functioning unit, then they have to sell it at a reduced price as "Open Box".

Another option is buying it at Don's the next time I visit my sister in Saskatoon, my mother and other sister in Regina, or from The Camera Store when visiting my brothers, sister-in-law and friends in Calgary.

[RGlasel]

will only accept returns or exchanges if the unit is faulty, not if you just don't like it.

Personally, I only order things online if I am pretty certain I'll want to keep it, but for new, not used, items as long as you return it within a reasonable amount of time, it shows no signs of wear and you pay for shipping it back, Canadian retailers have to give you your money back.

On the other hand (what is that, my third hand?) you should visit your immediate family at least once a year, so might as well do some hands-on shopping while you are at it.

[normhead]

I actually took advantage of the Canadian policy at Henry's when I returned a Sigma 120-400. I simply said "it's not sharp enough", and that was that. I ended up with the 60-250. There was nothing wrong with the lens accept at distance in the long end the images looked like they'd been through a photoshop "watercolours" filter. Mid range it was fine.

[Belnan]

At this moment with tax, the D610 is over 1100 dollars less than the K-1, and the d750 is about 300 less than the K-1. Not looking great for Pentax users in Canada at the moment. I know that the K-1 is still a lot of camera for 2500 but I will be waiting a while, maybe this time next year.

[bobbotron]

I'm totally committed to buying one still... but that's more than my property tax or a super major car repair. Not a purchase to be made lightly!

[normhead]

At this moment with tax, the D610 is over 1100 dollars less than the K-1, and the d750 is about 300 less than the K-1. Not looking great for Pentax users in Canada at the moment. I know that the K-1 is still a lot of camera for 2500 but I will be waiting a while, maybe this time next year.

Best price at photoprice.ca for a D610 would seem to be about $1600
Nikon D610 - Canada and Cross-Border Price Comparison - photoprice.ca

The comparable Pentax is a K-3 both 24 MP DSLRs, the K-3II has pixels shift that will blow away any 610 image under the right circumstances, not to mention no in body shake reduction.
K-3s are listed at about $1000 or $600 less.

The K-1 equivalent is the D810 which still lacks some K-1 features but same sensor size. The K-1 is listed at $2500 at several locations.
A D810 at Aden Camera in Toronto is listed at about $3600 or about $1100 more than a K-1.

I'm not sure why you are comparing 24 MP sensors that Pentax can match with a 36 MP sensor.
Exactly what is the logic in doing that?
My comparison would be how does my K-3 compare to a D610 or D750 and it is by far the best option for what I do.
If I owned a D750 or D610, I'd still want a K-1.

If you're talking 36 MP, it looks like the K-1 has an $1100 advantage, at least according to prices listed on photo price.ca.

So I would say it is looking great for Pentax users in Canada at the moment. Funny how two people can come up with two totally opposite opinions.

By the time I'm ready to buy, probably next year, I'm expecting the price to be under $2200.

[pete-tarmigan]

Best price at photoprice.ca for a D610 would seem to be about $1600

By the time I'm ready to buy, probably next year, I'm expecting the price to be under $2200.

...unless the retailer paid $2,200 to stock it in his inventory. I had that experience buying the K-3 locally, one year after the K-3 was released. I asked on of the local retailers if he could match 123easyship's retail price (the latter sells on amazon.ca from Stratford Ontario). The local retailer agreed only if I paid cash or paid the fee for the credit card transaction, because he didn't want to sell below his cost. 123easyship's retail price was what the local retailer paid Ricoh for the body.

Since that time, my 3 local retailers no longer stock Pentax even though they remain authorized dealers.

[normhead]

...unless the retailer paid $2,200 to stock it in his inventory. I had that experience buying the K-3 locally, one year after the K-3 was released. I asked the local retailer if he could match 123easyship's retail price (the latter sells on amazon.ca from Stratford Ontario). The local retailer agreed only if I paid cash or paid the fee for the credit card transaction, because he didn't want to sell below his cost. 123easyship's retail price was what the local retailer paid Ricoh for the body.

Wow, a dealer with stock... wat wid dat? I'd happily give a dealer an extra $50- $75 if I could hold it in my hot little hands before I bought it. $100, not so much.

Finding stores that stock Pentax in Canada, maybe, henry's downtown Toronto, and Downtown camera right across the street. Most, like Aden camera, take your order and phone the warehouse. There was a thread on this recently.