[Jhfoto]

Sorry for my english☺
First of all, thanks to all for a good and informative forum. I have over the last month looked at many of your posts, reviews and more. I am the owner of a photo shop in Denmark, whose primary source of income is print service and portrait photography. Camera sales we have, but while most of my competitors have focused on Canon and Nikon, I have for the last 6 years chosen to specialize my store about Pentax. In fact, we only have Pentax SLRs in stock and a selection of lenses for these. I started like most other stores focusing on particular Canon. I was then a member of Denmark's largest special chain of photo shops. But my way of doing business often came across with business processes in my shopping chain. One of the reasons that Canon dominate the shelves in an ordinary photo shop is the way it's all put together. Whether it works the same way in other countryes i cant tell…But I doubt it's different. As a member in the shopping chains in Denmark, we have certainly not a free choice when we buy into the shop. In particular, Canon but also to a lesser extent Nikon and Sony pay a large share of the marketing in the form of catalogs, advertisements mm. In return, the individual shops has to buy a lot of these specific brands. So, whether employees or I as the owner seems to have brands that appeals to us more or whether there are models from other brands that just is better compared to the price does not matter. The cooperation agreements prevent the sale of these will be more than a minor niche. Shortly said. The shops are forced to sell Canon almost every time to meet the agreement. I would just add that I do not see anything wrong in this way of doing business. Canon claims on an annual purchasing as compensation for the money they pay for marketing is completely legitimate. And if Pentax had the size, they would probably act the same way. But it is certainly a good explanation for Canon being highlighted and recommended by the sellers in the stores to the extent they do. I volunteered out of the chain 6 years ago and have since changed my store for more an print service store than an actual photo shop. Another important - and for me fun –source of income is portrait photography. Sales of cameras is only a niche. However, a niche where Pentax is the only brand I have in stock. I still sells Canon and Nikon, but only as a delivery item.
As a portrait photographer, I have for many years used Nikon. First a D1X which at that time was fantastic. Second, a D3 which at that time was something of a revolution for me. Then I bought a Hasselblad P25. Great color and resolution, but I only used it for a short period. I shoot mainly children with a handheld camera and a Hasselblad was both too heavy and too slow for it. At least for me. The last 3 years I used a Nikon D800E. And except that the colors never quite worked in my setup. I have a FUJI digitallab. and an Epson wide format printer. But my D800E has been fantastic to work with. For about 6 months ago I borrowed a Pentax 645Z by the importer. And the colors where awesome. Nothing less than a great camera. But I could not use the camera hand-held and it was a bit too slow for lively children. But I promised myself to try Pentax K-1 when it came in stock in the store. That took a while. The first four cameras I got was sold in advance, so it was only one month ago that I got it tested. Now I have sold all my Nikon equipment. Pentax K-1 is in a class all by itself. The colors and shades are better than what my Nikon delivered. Clearly better! Another advantage is the built-in image stabilizer. With my Nikon D800E I often used the Nikkor 105 DC lens. Sharper images are hard to get ...... But ... .. As I said, I use the camera hand held much of the time and with this lens I got a lot of shaky pictures. I make 24in posters every week for my portrait clients, so its very important that the images are razor sharp. Now I use Pentax 77mm Limited and combined with the image stabilization in the Pentax K-1 basically all of my photos are now completely sharp. I can only say that my pictures have got a tremendous boost. In terms of both color and sharpness. Regarding the controversial speed of Pentax autofocus. It is fully sufficient in my environment. I am a big fan of Tony and Chelsea Northrup. But to claim that a Pentax K-1 can not be used for (fast moving) portraits is decidedly a huge mistake. I have already taken a lot of lively children ... without any problems. I simply have more keepers now, than with my Nikon.
On the whole, life is probably a little hard ☺ to dedicated Pentax fans in the somewhat Canon fixated photo world. When dpreview puts pixel shift on the cons list it makes them look like complete fools.
In my world it is called innovation.
Shortly ! We are actually some who uses Pentax Cameraes. Not because it's cheaper .... But because it is insanely good!

[jbinpg]

Welcome to the forums! And Thank You for an insider's viewpoint. Users do not often get a glimpse from the inside. Of course we Pentaxians know all about the quality versus price point of our chosen equipment, but it is nice to read a success story.

[UncleVanya]

Lovely post. My dad was in the photo business and cooperative advertising dollars were used as far as as I recall (early 1970's) this drove camera sales - Pentax, Canon, Nikon, Olympus, they all did it. What you say sounds familiar. Indeed the coop ad $ model made many sales possible. In any case I'm glad the K-1 works for you and happy you find the autofocus good for the work you do. My K-3 works great for me as well and while I don't shoot moving subjects often I have had hits and misses with it in challenging situations so I think there is room for improvement but it isn't a dire situation.

The FA 77 is a great lens and I'm happy to hear it is the lens of choice you use. Also happy to hear the colors work for you with the K-1 - excellent all around testimonial.

[ffking]

that's really good to hear - a big thank-you for taking the time to pass all of that on.

[RobA_Oz]

Welcome to Pentax Forums, and thank you for the insight into your part of the business.

[Kerrowdown]

Welcome to the forum, what a great introduction, it's good to have you here, please feel free to jump in at any time around the forum.

[BigMackCam]

Hello and welcome to the forums - it's great to have you with us!

That's one of the most enjoyable posts I've read in a while. Thanks for such an excellent introduction

I don't own a K-1 (yet), but I've been highly satisfied with all of my Pentax equipment. I like other brands too, and I think there's some excellent equipment available from all of the manufacturers - but Pentax gets my vote

[C_Jones]

Welcome to the forums.

[Mr. Ed]

Welcome. Like so many here, you stuck with Pentax!

[dcsorrell]

Hello and welcome! Thank you for sharing your interesting journey to Pentax. I've long been a fan of Panasonic m43 and could not understand why my local shop only sells Canon, Nikon, Sony and Olympus or why those brands outsell others in spite of being no better at all. They're good, but not better. I've recently switched to a Pentax K3II for higher resolution and find it much more intuitive to use than other cameras in its class. Congrats on getting your new K1!

[Unregistered User 8]

Pentax wins

Hi Johnny. Welcome to the Pentax forums and Pentax equipment. Wonderful introduction !! Looking forward to seeing some of your photography, and having you join in the discussions too. Good to have you here.

[beachgardener]

G'day mate and welcome to the forum