Hi, I would like to get other's experiences with camera stores. I have a camera store at the bottom of my street. They are dealers for Pentax as well as Canikon. Unfortunately I cannot use them for three reasons; 1) I find their customer service appalling, 2) They only seem to be interested in selling Nikon and 3) They don't seem to have product knowledge of Pentax DSLR's which means that I have to do my own research whenever I want to buy any new equipment. 1 and 3 may be unique to this store but with 2, I have had the same experience with other camera stores in the area. There is one camera store in the area that I would love to use (they are real old school and still love film) they are friendly, knowledgeable and efficient but they are not Pentax dealers. Have other people had similar experiences and if so, can we try and get Pentax to do something about it? Personally I think Pentax should have their own stores (like Apple) because they dare to be different. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

[FotoPete]

To be honest, I think it takes a Pentaxian to know one haha.

I'd think you'd see the same kinda bias in most stores where ever you go. A large reason I believe is popularity and market share. A business can make alot more $$ pitching C&N because their products are more expensive (higher mark up?)

I've been to a number of stores that have no understanding of customer service and can be down right rude. So far, out of all the stores I've visited in Toronto, only one employee in one store prefers Pentax. He shoots with a K1000 and has many many years of experience under his belt. He only has praise when it comes to Pentax and would gladly tell you about it.

[Lowell Goudge]

I don't think it is a question of wanting to sell nikon or cannon over pentax, or lack of knowledge.

I can go into any of the large camera stores in toronto, walk up to the pentax section and have a discussion with them on pentax cameras, what I shoot, what lenses I am looking for etc. and get good advise when I am looking for new equipment.

Maybe I'm lucky or maybe the same guy works in all of them! but I think the difference is, many stores will promote the 2 big names over all others because they have stock. The success of pentax over the last couple of years has made things scarce, and the market hasn't sorted itself out yet.

[codiac2600]

To be honest, I think it takes a Pentaxian to know one haha.

I'd think you'd see the same kinda bias in most stores where ever you go. A large reason I believe is popularity and market share. A business can make alot more $$ pitching C&N because their products are more expensive (higher mark up?)

I've been to a number of stores that have no understanding of customer service and can be down right rude. So far, out of all the stores I've visited in Toronto, only one employee in one store prefers Pentax. He shoots with a K1000 and has many many years of experience under his belt. He only has praise when it comes to Pentax and would gladly tell you about it.

Canon and Nikon have a much lower markup than Pentax by about 50%. The reason many stores push C&N is they bulk buy into a yearly program. If you sell X dollars of our product we give you kick back on marketing expense and fun things like Canon tennis balls and shopping bags. Pentax does the same thing, but every retailer can make more money off Pentax if they sell it for the right asking price.

To the OP, it's tough finding a camera store that not only supports Pentax, but actually know something about them. A real salesman learns all his products and can sell you anything you want. It's up to the store to learn the product and most people only shoot C&N so it's tough finding a Pentax man in a camera store. Luckily for me both myself and the other main salesman are both Pentax nuts and shoot the gear and can outsell Canon any day of the week if we wanted to, but in reality you gotta sell a little bit of everything and find the right product for the person.

[J.Scott]

Locally there are two camera shops in my area. Both are appallingly ignorant of anything other than Canon and Nikon. The reason is simple - money! At the one shop they told me that Can-kon outsells Pentax 50:1. The reason for this is advertising - the aggressive style of Nikon and the near non-existent style of Pentax and supply - Pentax is always hopelessly back ordered. I visited the one shop and all they had a K10D and a 50-200mm lens in stock. I asked about the 10-17mm fisheye and he gave me a ridiculously high cost and 3 to 6 weeks of delivery time. I ordered from an on-line store the next day for hundreds of dollars less and had it within a week. Needless to say, I don't bother with them anymore; they are next to useless. I may just be fussy but I feel like I am treated like a second class consumer when I ask about Pentax in any camera shop.

I think you may be onto something with the concept of Pentax opening up their own shops, but it would be a bold move. They'd probably be out of business in a month as their supply can't keep up with current demand. I have had a Pentax camera of some sort for the past 30 years and will continue to use their quality products but they really do fall on their face when it comes to marketing.

[FotoPete]

Canon and Nikon have a much lower markup than Pentax by about 50%. The reason many stores push C&N is they bulk buy into a yearly program. If you sell X dollars of our product we give you kick back on marketing expense and fun things like Canon tennis balls and shopping bags. Pentax does the same thing, but every retailer can make more money off Pentax if they sell it for the right asking price.

oh wow REally!? well yea that definitely makes sense. I guess its more so now with the K20D and K200D eh?

[flyer]

I guess I'm lucky. I deal with two stores, and both of them have Pentax and decent prices. Sometimes, you're lucky, sometimes you're not!

[ve2vfd]

Lets not forget that though Pentax often doesn't "get the love" in small photo shops, they still sell OODLES in big box chains and warehouse stores thanks to their aggresive pricing.

Pat

[raz-0]

Lets not forget that though Pentax often doesn't "get the love" in small photo shops, they still sell OODLES in big box chains and warehouse stores thanks to their aggresive pricing.

Pat

Really? Because the big box stores around here that in theory carry pentax NEVER, EVER have anything pentax in stock. Heck they barely ahve anything DSLR in stock. Usually just the entry level kit form canon and nikon, plus maybe a longer lense to compliment the nikon kit lens and if you are extremely fortunate, a nikon flash. Neither of the latter will be on display. I suspect they are only there because they get them as kickbacks from nikon for moving lots of the entry level kits.

[Lensvision]

It's the same on this side of the globe. I went to a well known camera store a while ago to get the 12-24mm for my K10D and while I was waiting I looked around. There was a lot of stuff for Canon and Nikon, Pentax only had one shelf in a display cabinet.

I have to say that the general opinion about Pentax here isn't that great. People have this thing in their head that Canon and Nikon have more choice in lenses and other stuff.
To be honest, I don't have a problem finding nice stuff for my camera. Just bought a M 35mm 2.8 off Ebay.

[calicojack]

Lets not forget that though Pentax often doesn't "get the love" in small photo shops, they still sell OODLES in big box chains and warehouse stores thanks to their aggresive pricing.

Pat

That's odd. There are 2 "Big Box" stores I tried when I was looking to buy my K10d. "THE" camera salesman in both stores told me that Pentax was basically out of business, so I should buy this Canikon, that he happened to have in stock. Boooo Hissss on the big boxes.
Brian

[ve2vfd]

Wow, really?

I know around here the big box stores like FutureShop and Costso (while they had them) can't keep the k100's in stock, they fly off the shelves.

Pat

[Tingchaleun]

3) They don't seem to have product knowledge of Pentax DSLR's which means that I have to do my own research whenever I want to buy any new equipment.

A shame they don't know much about Pentax DSLR, but its a good thing you do your own research. Even if they did have some knowledge about Pentax gear, you would still want to do your own research on products you want to buy, wouldn't you?

From my experience, i have come across very few 'sales experts' as real experts. I might want a Pentax, but they'll just immediately say, 'this one is better'. I had a sales rep try to sell me a Canon point and shoot by saying it's faster, has bigger screen, and it's newer; with nothing else to compare to. All the things he suggested was true, but given my own research knowledge base, he didn't really know why it was better at all.

[Tingchaleun]

That's odd. There are 2 "Big Box" stores I tried when I was looking to buy my K10d. "THE" camera salesman in both stores told me that Pentax was basically out of business, so I should buy this Canikon, that he happened to have in stock. Boooo Hissss on the big boxes.
Brian

Pentax is out of business?? haha.

[khardur]

I have to get all my stuff online. There are no brick-and-mortar retailers that sell pentax within normal driving distance. I usually buy my stuff from Adorama or B&H, since my town is only about 4 hours from NYC, UPS Ground usually gets here in 1-2 days.