[Mallee Boy]

I think its more of a " surprise that you don't own a C* or N* " reaction more than anything else. I have witnessed the in store bias though, and am told, that this is due to the larger brands providing more incentives to staff to sell their brand.

For what its worth I was at our (very active) local camera club's inter club comp (against a large city club) recently and the main prize winner for the night was Pentax shooter from the city club. In conversation afterwards he said that many of his club members shot with Pentax.

At the end of the day the camera is a tool, and the results you get are actually up to you.

[boriscleto]

I've met a lot of people who started photography with a K1000. Most were unaware Pentax still made cameras...

[sherrvonne]

It's usually a 'surprise' thing. Once after a flood, I went to the river to take photographs and a canon user walked up and struck up a conversation with me assuming that I was using as he put it "...an older Pentax." I then said "Oh, no, it's a newer one that's out now only a year and a half old, a Pentax K3." Which caused him to display a 'blank and confused, I didn't expect that reply' look. We chatted a bit more and he mentioned that he was a crime scene photographer. Lol, but as he walked off I heard him mumbled to himself.... "I think I've just been outgunned." ( lol, I had the the K3 and 500mm sigma combo that day to test it out)

[brokeh?]

Henrys clerk: May I help you?

Me: I have some questions about DSLRs

Henrys clerk: It'll cost you about $1500, if you want to go full frame, that much for the body alone...

Me: I'm interested in Pentax...

Henrys clerk: Oh we don't sell Pentax.

Me: Oh, I've seen them on your website?

Henrys clerk: That's just downtown. We're getting out of Pentax..

Needless to say, i did not buy a camera from him. I don't know why he led off with pricing when I didn't ask, especially when you can buy an entry level DSLR kit there for $500 or less.
I don't think I asked for the anti-Pentax rationale,the tone in his voice sounded extremely negative, and I won't deal with condescending salespeople.

Don't get me wrong, I think Henry's is great but I couldn't get away from this guy fast enough.

[jimr-pdx]

Is that a camera in your pants or are you just happy to see me?

Q is very good at that one

Get some people out of their NiCan comfort zone and they will act unpredictably. Sony was hard enough (heck it's still hard for me to say, five years after they went mad and 'abandoned' my upgrade path), but Pentax just is too much!

[Billk]

You must be doing something wrong. .....

I have a feeling that there was more behind you being kicked out of a club meeting than just owning a Pentax ...

Why blame the victim? She/ he might not have done a thing wrong.

I inquired about doing an off -camera flash workshop, only to be told "We only cater to Canon and Nikon shooters." I can imagine some camera clubs taking the same approach, because they don't feel they have the knowledge to be able to cater for Pentax shooters.

Recently, however, I went to a workshop hosted by Canon (having received an invite in my email that made it seem like it was a workshop hosted by someone I learn from and sponsored by Canon). The Canon folks were fantastic - there were a number of Pentax/ Nikon/ Sony/ Leica shooters there. No other brand got bagged but, of course, they did promote the virtues of shooting Canon as your second system and gave us lots of great gear to try out.

[Tonytee]

Really? As I understand it, the Pentax brand is doing pretty well - enough for it to be profitable to Ricoh, at any rate. And we're getting cameras and lenses we like, at very decent prices. If my understanding is correct, then - collectively - do we really want or need anything to change? I'm not sure what an aggressive advertising campaign from Pentax would do for me, in all honesty...

Since you are already a Pentax user, advertising may not do anything for you. Advertising is designed to put a name of a product in the minds of those that are noticing the name. I am pleased to learn that Pentax is doing well under the Ricoh name. However, with more dollars targeted for advertising, the company would be doing better. It is the old saying, "It pays to advertise."

Tonytee

[fwbigd]

Pentax is not hatted it just not known. It's all about marketing and convincing the public that you have exactly what they deed. The original Ashia Optical ended their distribution agreement the Honeywell the mid 1970s, they chose not to advertise the product and it soon fell into a class where no one talked about what a great camera it was. Out of sight out of mind. When was the last Pentax commercial you saw featuring Reggie Jackson or a Jeoff Brahman #21 Indy Car (1982).

How many of us know that the first auto focus lens was brought market by Ashia Optical/Honeywell not Minolta. Minolta lost the lawsuit to Honeywell and soon after became part of Konica and never recovered. Did you know Pentax was the first camera with weather sealing?

Have you ever see an ad in any USA magazine for the K-3? If you don't tell people what you have they will soon for get you. There was a toy company back in the 50s that was the leading toy manufacture in the USA. They made the decision that they didn't need to advertise and within 1yr they went from number one in Sales to out of business.

[normhead]

Henrys clerk: May I help you?

Me: I have some questions about DSLRs

Henrys clerk: It'll cost you about $1500, if you want to go full frame, that much for the body alone...

Me: I'm interested in Pentax...

Henrys clerk: Oh we don't sell Pentax.

Me: Oh, I've seen them on your website?

Henrys clerk: That's just downtown. We're getting out of Pentax..

Needless to say, i did not buy a camera from him. I don't know why he led off with pricing when I didn't ask, especially when you can buy an entry level DSLR kit there for $500 or less.
I don't think I asked for the anti-Pentax rationale,the tone in his voice sounded extremely negative, and I won't deal with condescending salespeople.

Don't get me wrong, I think Henry's is great but I couldn't get away from this guy fast enough.

Last year Henry's pulled all their Pentax gear off their store shelves. I went back to a store in St. Kitt's a few years ago, where we bought a K100D. We went for a tripod special. I asked if there was anything Pentax we could see while we were there. He said, "it's all been removed from the shelves, they told us to pack it up and send it all back to the main store.: I asked why. He said, "I don't know, there was no explanation."

So there you have it, right from the horses mouth.

[csa]

Originally posted by zevandstanley Quote actually kicked out of a general meeting cause I own a pentax!

I've never experienced hatred because I'm a Pentax user! If you did nothing to provoke them to kick you out; then I would say meetings like that shouldn't be missed or cared about.

[stevebrot]

I've met a lot of people who started photography with a K1000. Most were unaware Pentax still made cameras...

That is OK...The same thing happens to Fuji and Olympus owners. What is funny is when you mention Fuji or Olympus film cameras to owners of the digital product, many are unaware that both companies have a long history prior to digital.


Stve

[rawr]

Some places online are certainly hotbeds of Pentax hatred.

But out in the real world I've never come across anyone who cared enough about Pentax to hate the brand.

[HippyHippo]

In the UK virtually all event, sport and journalist photogs use C & N. So when Average Joe wants a 'good camera' he will probably buy into one of these as being 'A good brand'. People are often then bought into a system for life.

When we turn up with an alternative, purporting to be someone who knows a little about photography, we inadvertently challenge their decision. They may fear they were duped into 'paying for the name'. Nobody likes looking a fool (even though we didn't intend to) - but what's this? A noisy 1980s lens focus screwdrive? Ah! My Canon is much quieter!

Remember Chevy vs. Ford as the hottest debate in college?

People can react in odd ways when they worry they may have made a poor buying decision.

Pros want a different thing. When I did weddings I wanted pro backup with kit loan and repair. The ability to borrow (or evaluate) lenses from colleagues if one broke, etc was handy. I'm not convinced I get that from Pentax purely because the market penetration isn't there.

I just point out that Canon make excellent cameras - I used them myself for years - but I get better results from Pentax for the particular type of work I do. Generally stimulates a conversation rather than hostility.

[BigMackCam]

Since you are already a Pentax user, advertising may not do anything for you. Advertising is designed to put a name of a product in the minds of those that are noticing the name. I am pleased to learn that Pentax is doing well under the Ricoh name. However, with more dollars targeted for advertising, the company would be doing better. It is the old saying, "It pays to advertise."

Tonytee

But I still don't see why them increasing their advertising campaign would make any real difference to you (unless you sell advertising space? ). Maybe you'd see the gear in a few more stores, but that's about it.

[Sandy Hancock]

Insecure and ill-informed people will try to justify their investment of choice. The trick is not to alienate yourself by over-reacting to their nonsense.

Personally, I am the only Pentaxian in the local live gig group, but the CaNikOny crowd has never been anything but polite, intrigued, and curious as to my choice of platform. Never judgemental. They know my output matches theirs, and many of them are full-time pros (I'm not) who shoot weddings and other projects - the music stuff is essentially pro bono and for the love of music (and free tickets). I consider all of them friends.

It's all about how you go about it.