Originally posted by MikeDSr My watching the flow of trends has to do with what I want.
Originally posted by MikeDSr But my feeling that Ricoh hasn't supported the brand here in the US
Originally posted by MikeDSr I guarantee the brand sees more support in your country and the UK than it does here.
@MikeDSr, good to know your background, thanks. I've never been in distribution, sales, or retail, so I don't have a good insight of the manufacturers' perspectives.
I'm curious what is meant by '
support'. Is it that you've had issues with warranty or repairs? Or that you've had difficulty buying Pentax gear owing to lack of retail outlets? Is the problem that Ricoh has not 'supported' the brand by not developing or producing specific features or lenses that you need or want?
What is the gap from your perspective?
Touching back on trade shows, three camera/photo shows were held in Canada last Fall, in Quebec City, Montreal and Toronto. Ricoh/Pentax exhibited at all three, represented by Ricoh Imaging Canada, I believe. I attended the one in Montreal. They had a relatively small booth, but a good cross-section of current products, and, perhaps surprisingly, there was a decent flow of visitors. No, the interest in Pentax was not as intense as for several other brands, but I was happy with that -- I got good face time with one of the several reps there.
I don't think my opinion of Pentax or interest in the brand would have changed if they were not at any of these shows; I tend to select my gear based on my own research, and knowledge gained from this Forum. I can acquire Pentax stuff from at least a half-dozen reputable dealers across Canada or from Amazon and shipping is cheap and easy. What I can't do, however, is handle or try the stuff locally. One of the retail stores of a large Canadian chain is located a short distance from my home; they stopped holding Pentax on their shelf several years ago. They still carry Pentax and will 'special order' for you with no return possible once ordered. On the other hand, several of the other retailers are more liberal in their return policies.
- Craig