[goubejp]

May be for practical reasons...
I always have had 2 bodies, so I have sold my K10D to buy a K7 and I planned to keep my K20D as a second backup body; but the release of the Kx has changed my plans; I'll probably sell my K20D and buy the Kx as a alternative body for the performance of its sensor

[Jasvox]

People buy and sell things all the time...not only cameras, but all sorts of merchandise with competing brands. Pentax items are no exception, nor would it be the least bit normal it was. There are ads for Nikon DX3 and Canon 5DII's all over the place too, but this doesnt necessarily means they are bad cameras or their respective brands are in trouble either.

Just focus on composing and understanding what makes your photography fun and excellent and keep that as your focus and the trivial distractions about brand will seem a moot point.

Jason

[Kunzite]

Funny. The K-x was #3 in Japan, last month - with 7.9% market share. If that means going down, where were they before? #2 or #1?

[juu]

When you look at the marketplace more and more people selling their DSLR Pentax k20d.

Perhaps PentaxForums.com are getting more popular (deservedly so!) so more people use the Marketplace?

Do you buy Pentax because you really,really love this brand or we are cheaper then CaNikon folks?

I think Pentax has a lot of advantages over Canikon (mostly stealing from erickallemeyn):
a. WR bodies and lenses
b. Great ergonomics - the cameras don't feel like bricks!
c. In body shake reduction
d. Smaller, lighter cameras and lenses - including pancakes
e. Legacy lens compatibility
f. Competitively priced in the USA
g. A clear body lineup, where both of the bodies are great

And some issues:
a. SDM, its warranty and AF as such
b. Not enough products on the shelves where people can see them
c. Inconsistent and high lens pricing outside USA
d. No consistent WR approach, need to WR more lenses and a WR entry-level body like the K200D was
e. Some 3rd party lenses are only available for Canikon, like Tokina 11-16 (which is strange given that Tokina is also owned by Hoya)

On the whole the odds of "Pentax going down" are low. The worst thing that can realistically happen is that Hoya decides to sell it off to somebody, but that won't stop development of new products and lenses.

For me, for an APS-C DSLR, Pentax still would be the brand to go to.

Then K-7 arrived with a lot of issues,

Perceived, not real, issues. And I don't think there really were many, except the 'omg K-x does more noise reduction in RAW'.

first of all it wasn't a MP upgrade camera, don't underestimate this silly MP issue, try to think like a DSLR starter in the tech store [..]

I agree with that. It is unfortunate that many buyers care more about Megapixels than image quality. However, the buyers for K-7 should know better.

[cbaytan]

I agree with that. It is unfortunate that many buyers care more about Megapixels than image quality. However, the buyers for K-7 should know better.

I would call myself a glass aware photography geek, and you know there are respectful digital techno nerds among us, (thanks to them). But I can hardly expect %95 of potential K-7 buyers being of any kind of geek or nerd, or aware of what we know about K-7's pros and cons today.

[Samsungian]

Contrary to popular belief, Pentax has slipped since Hoya Takeover.

Well if you put credibilty in Japan Market Annual sales ?

Since Hoya Buy Out in April 2008 Pentax Corp is no longer #3 in Japan Market:

Japanese Market Annual share for cameras with interchangeable lenses

1 place (share) ........2nd (share) .....3rd (Share)
2009 Canon (39.1%) Nikon (31.3%) Panasonic (8.7%)
2008 Canon (40.1%) Nikon (39.9%) Sony (9.2%)
2007 Nikon (43.8%) Canon (40.0%) Pentax (5.8%)
2006 Canon (44.6%) Nikon (33.6%) Pentax (9.2%)
2005 Canon (52.1%) Nikon (29.3%) Pentax (7.3%)


Japanese Top 3 brand for the year 2009!


added link

[Rondec]

Contrary to popular belief, Pentax has slipped since Hoya Takeover.

Well if you put credibilty in Japan Market Annual sales then since Hoya Buy Out in April 2008 Pentax Corp is no longer #3 in Japan Market:

Japanese Market Annual share for cameras with interchangeable lenses

1 place (share) ........2nd (share) .....3rd (Share)
2009 Canon (39.1%) Nikon (31.3%) Panasonic (8.7%)
2008 Canon (40.1%) Nikon (39.9%) Sony (9.2%)
2007 Nikon (43.8%) Canon (40.0%) Pentax (5.8%)
2006 Canon (44.6%) Nikon (33.6%) Pentax (9.2%)
2005 Canon (52.1%) Nikon (29.3%) Pentax (7.3%)


Japanese Top 3 brand for the year 2009!

These numbers are meaningless. Understand that the numbers in 2008 and beginning of 2009 are based on the policies that were already in place by Pentax as owned by themselves. The reality is that Hoya has brought Pentax to profitability and has started turning around a sinking ship.

2008 was rock bottom, with only about 1.8 percent market share in Japan. There is no arguing that this was with policies and cameras in place already -- Hoya wouldn't have any bearing on new products so soon and prices didn't really begin to rise until the beginning of 2009 (March if I remember).

So, yes things are more expensive, but yes Pentax is doing better.

[juu]

Also, it is somewhat of an apples-to-oranges comparison as in 2005 there were only DSLRs. In 2009 there were DSLRs and EVILs, and the Panasonic market share comes from EVILs and they took sales from all DSLRs, not just Pentax.

If we'd categorize the market differently and look at only the DSLR market share then Pentax would likely be #3 ahead of Sony&Olympus.

[Samsungian]

Really, if you discard Panasonic sales from Japan interchangeable lens digital camera sales you think Pentax beat Sony in 2009?

Sony took 3rd and beat Pentax in 2008, what data do you have that shows Pentax beat Sony in 2009 ? The data I offered up is for Top 3. Sony in 2009 had two full frame dslrs and an (((overabundance))) of aps-c crop format dslrs.

Got a link showing Pentax out sold Sony in 2009, I'd like to see it

Also, it is somewhat of an apples-to-oranges comparison as in 2005 there were only DSLRs. In 2009 there were DSLRs and EVILs, and the Panasonic market share comes from EVILs and they took sales from all DSLRs, not just Pentax.

If we'd categorize the market differently and look at only the DSLR market share then Pentax would likely be #3 ahead of Sony&Olympus.

[juu]

Really, if you discard Panasonic sales from Japan interchangeable lens digital camera sales you think Pentax beat Sony in 2008?

I never said that about 2008. I only said that Pentax 'likely was' ahead of Sony in 2009.

Sony took 3rd and beat Pentax in 2008, what data do you have that shows Pentax beat Sony in 2009?

I'm going by BNC Rankings data for some months/weeks that I've seen where K-x has been consistently high and even K-7 was sometimes present, but Sony DSLRs were rare.

I don't have them aggregated, and I cannot be bothered to do it, so I could be wrong - but that was the impression I got from the data snippets that I saw. If you want to put it in a nice spreadsheet and aggregate to prove Sony was ahead of Pentax in 2009, go ahead.

It would still be imprecise given that there is only top 10 cameras listed and not the full sales data.

Sony in 2009 had two full frame dslrs and an (((overabundance))) of aps-c crop format dslrs.

Just because they had more models than Pentax does not mean they sold more cameras.

Got a link, I'd like to see it

The data is somewhere on BCN ranking but it's all Japanese to me so I cannot be more specific.

[Kunzite]

Samsungian, I'll point out again to some more recent data:
09???????????K-x??09?12????????????
That is Hoya's doing!

[MRRiley]

If I'd listened to rumors that Pentax was a minor system destined to die any time I would not have bought my first KM 35 years ago and still be using the system today. Face it, unless Canon emplodes like GM then Pentax will always be behind them and Nikon in sales and market saturation. Do I care? Not in the least.

Mike

[shawnxji]

If I'd listened to rumors that Pentax was a minor system destined to die any time I would not have bought my first KM 35 years ago and still be using the system today. ... Do I care? Not in the least.

Mike

I agree completely. If you're always looking at how many people are selling this or that camera of his, or the sales figure, or looking into other's backyard for no good reason, then you can always find reasons to doubt.

[SteveM]

Really, if you discard Panasonic sales from Japan interchangeable lens digital camera sales you think Pentax beat Sony in 2009?

Sony took 3rd and beat Pentax in 2008, what data do you have that shows Pentax beat Sony in 2009 ? The data I offered up is for Top 3. Sony in 2009 had two full frame dslrs and an (((overabundance))) of aps-c crop format dslrs.

Got a link showing Pentax out sold Sony in 2009, I'd like to see it

I've noticed a pattern....is there anything you like about Pentax?

[PentaxPoke]

The reality is that Hoya has brought Pentax to profitability and has started turning around a sinking ship.

Ron,
Is Pentax back to profitability? If so, that would be great news. Unfortunately the most recent article I read about it was this one last updated Oct 27, 2009:

Hoya Eyes $1 Billion M&A to Boost Health Business (Update2) - Bloomberg.com

The item of most concern was this: "Pentax was the only unprofitable unit among Hoya’s divisions, posting a 941 million yen loss during the quarter ended June 30"