Camera shop comment on Pentax

NeverSatisfied · 04-08-2010, 05:15 PM

Like many other locations around the country, southeast Michigan suffers from a dearth of brick-and-mortar camera shops. Today I visited pretty much the only one left in this area, Woodward Camera. A friend had warned me that the staff there was unpleasant to deal with, but I did not find that to be true at all.
I was looking in their used-equipment section for any decent Pentax lenses, and found very few. When I mentioned that to the salesman, his comment was, "Well the Pentax owners have found that the older lenses can still be used effectively with the new bodies, and as a result they tend to continue to use them, rather than get rid of them. Therefore, we just don't get that many used Pentax lenses coming through our shop."
He also mentioned how useful the catch-in focus feature is on Pentax cameras. No brand-bashing of any kind, and it was a very pleasant experience. (In contrast, the other major camera shop in the area, now out of business, never seemed very enthusiastic about the Pentax brand and usually recommended Canikon products.) I was just kind of impressed with his unsolicited, favorable comment toward our brand!

edumad · 04-08-2010, 05:43 PM

That is a big contrast to a store I went to, a general media retailer with strong photo section. I was browsing an a costumer was looking into getting a Nikon, the rep didn't know if previous lenses would work and just said you have to buy brand lens to work with the brand (Sigma? Tamron?). I hope he was a temp...

It is always a breath of fresh air when you go into a place where people know theyr business...

gramps50 · 04-08-2010, 05:57 PM

I was at Best Buy looking for a camera bag for my new K-x and the salesman ask me what kind for camera I had I told him a dSLR and he ask which brand. When I told him Pentax he says he didn't even know that Pentax sold dSLRs, and according to their website they sell them. So much for the Geek Squad.... :-)

jct us101 · 04-08-2010, 06:02 PM

This is actually a pretty good thing to hear. Most photo shops tend to try and get people not to buy the Pentax and instead go for Canon or Nikon. It's good to see that at least one of them tells the truth about how awesome Pentax is. He's totally right too.

MRRiley · 04-08-2010, 06:03 PM

Originally posted by NeverSatisfied

Like many other locations around the country, southeast Michigan suffers from a dearth of brick-and-mortar camera shops. Today I visited pretty much the only one left in this area, Woodward Camera. A friend had warned me that the staff there was unpleasant to deal with, but I did not find that to be true at all.
I was looking in their used-equipment section for any decent Pentax lenses, and found very few. When I mentioned that to the salesman, his comment was, "Well the Pentax owners have found that the older lenses can still be used effectively with the new bodies, and as a result they tend to continue to use them, rather than get rid of them. Therefore, we just don't get that many used Pentax lenses coming through our shop."
He also mentioned how useful the catch-in focus feature is on Pentax cameras. No brand-bashing of any kind, and it was a very pleasant experience. (In contrast, the other major camera shop in the area, now out of business, never seemed very enthusiastic about the Pentax brand and usually recommended Canikon products.) I was just kind of impressed with his unsolicited, favorable comment toward our brand!

Is your friend a Nikonite or a Canonier perhaps? Maybe the staff is nasty to Big Two Shooters because they all shoot Pentax. LOL

Mike

AOShep · 04-08-2010, 06:17 PM

Seems to do more with the quality of the shop's staff then the store itself. Good stores seem to hire real photographers. When I bought my K10D from National Camera Exchange I told the salesman I was willing to switch, but he incouraged me to stay with what I had already invested in. Showed me the differences between the K100D and the K10D and let me make up my own mind. That was the 3rd camera I bought from them and they have always treated me like I knew what I was talking about.

ggeorge11 · 04-08-2010, 07:39 PM

I have great experiences here in Texas at precision Camera in Austin. The Kx is my 1st DSLR, and though they do sell mainly Cannon and Nikon, the staff has ALWAYS been great. So great, that next week, I am picking up my Tamron 70-200 model AF001 and the Tamron 18-200 AF014. They have a loyal customer in me now.

johnmflores · 04-08-2010, 11:24 PM

This is Pentax's challenge. They are well-regarded and well-respected among the older photographers. The young ones though only know of Canon or Nikon. Hopefully the K-x will start to change minds - maybe Pentax needs to put them in the hands of hot young photogs so as to represent.

NeverSatisfied · 04-09-2010, 08:18 AM

Originally posted by MRRiley

Is your friend a Nikonite or a Canonier perhaps? Maybe the staff is nasty to Big Two Shooters because they all shoot Pentax. LOL

Mike

Ha!, Yea he does use a Canon!

krypticide · 04-09-2010, 08:38 AM

When I was buying my first camera (K10D), Samy's was surprisingly praiseful of it (though I didn't know at the time). I think I was considering a Rebel, so maybe part of the reason was that it was more expensive...in any case, after handling the Rebel, I much preferred the K10D.

Nass · 04-09-2010, 08:52 AM

Backs up what I found when I visited the largest used gear type shop in my area of England, Mr Cad. When I went there 6 months ago they had literally 100s of Pentax -a and -m lenses, even a couple of 1000mms... etc. When I went there last week there were very few - turns out they're selling like hotcakes because so many new people have bought into Pentax and are now buying up older lenses because of the backwards compatibility.

NeverSatisfied · 04-09-2010, 09:30 AM

Originally posted by gramps50

I was at Best Buy looking for a camera bag for my new K-x and the salesman ask me what kind for camera I had I told him a dSLR and he ask which brand. When I told him Pentax he says he didn't even know that Pentax sold dSLRs, and according to their website they sell them. So much for the Geek Squad.... :-)

Yea Best Buy totally sucks. I was in there looking for an air blower and they didn't have a clue what I was even talking about, wanted to sell me a three-pack of canned air. They've positioned themselves as the only game in town and then act like, "If we don't have it, you don't need it." That little camera shop is quite a drive for me but I'm glad I found the place and will try to give them as much business as I can.

Tuner571 · 04-10-2010, 05:50 AM

That is great news to hear. Unfortunately, the only camera shop that sold pentax and was knowledgeable about pentax went out of business last year.

emr · 04-10-2010, 06:17 AM

Originally posted by johnmflores

The young ones though only know of Canon or Nikon. Hopefully the K-x will start to change minds - maybe Pentax needs to put them in the hands of hot young photogs so as to represent.

I'm not sure if K-x will actually do much good to the reputation of Pentax. No matter how good an entry level camera it is, most people will only know Pentax as the brand with all these colorful toy-like cameras and not as something to be taken seriously.

MoiVous · 04-10-2010, 06:30 AM

Interesting discussion......here in the antipodes, Canikon dominate (doh!), but of the 5 reasonably large dedicated camera stores in the CBD, two (which are independent franchises of a buying group) have Pentax enthusiast owners (one guy shoots a K20D, and the other has a collection of film Pentax cameras).

Both praise Pentax gear, but will similarly praise the others (as you have to do in business to survive). They also carry 2nd hand Pentax gear - although thats rare as the OP described.

The other retailers push the canikons and P&S stuff, have no real 2nd hand kit, and I feel have little sympathy for the non-canikons - probably because the staff tend not to experiment or handle all the kit. Its just a job.

I suspect the OPs example was of an owner who experiments and is willing to understand the whole business - not just the high turnover stuff. Full marks to him.

Sadly, these sorts of businesses are vanishing (I can recall a time in the 70s and 80s when we had about 10 camera shops in the CBD). Either the internet and online retailers, or large retail chains are devouring them (eg we have electronics, office products and music retailers with camera depts - some with Pentax BTW).

The net result is sales staff pushing products based on skills other than knowledge of all their products.

I have to admit my guilt here in aiding the demise of the bricks and mortar retailers - I'm buying more and more over the internet - local prices are criminal!

Cheers

04-08-2010, 05:15 PM	#1
NeverSatisfied Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: S.E. Michigan Photos: Albums Posts: 688	Camera shop comment on Pentax Like many other locations around the country, southeast Michigan suffers from a dearth of brick-and-mortar camera shops. Today I visited pretty much the only one left in this area, Woodward Camera. A friend had warned me that the staff there was unpleasant to deal with, but I did not find that to be true at all. I was looking in their used-equipment section for any decent Pentax lenses, and found very few. When I mentioned that to the salesman, his comment was, "Well the Pentax owners have found that the older lenses can still be used effectively with the new bodies, and as a result they tend to continue to use them, rather than get rid of them. Therefore, we just don't get that many used Pentax lenses coming through our shop." He also mentioned how useful the catch-in focus feature is on Pentax cameras. No brand-bashing of any kind, and it was a very pleasant experience. (In contrast, the other major camera shop in the area, now out of business, never seemed very enthusiastic about the Pentax brand and usually recommended Canikon products.) I was just kind of impressed with his unsolicited, favorable comment toward our brand!

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Dallas Camera Shop	golfing rob	General Talk	0	07-06-2009 05:50 PM
Got my camera back from repair shop!	9thumbs	Pentax DSLR Discussion	1	05-07-2009 03:18 PM
A positive local camera shop experience :)	heatherslightbox	General Talk	2	07-02-2008 05:36 AM
Poor shop job or broken camera?	jshurak	Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras	4	03-04-2008 12:49 PM
The Danger of a small Camera Shop:	Artymous	Photographic Technique	3	04-27-2007 07:05 PM

04-08-2010, 05:43 PM	#2
edumad Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: UK Posts: 167	That is a big contrast to a store I went to, a general media retailer with strong photo section. I was browsing an a costumer was looking into getting a Nikon, the rep didn't know if previous lenses would work and just said you have to buy brand lens to work with the brand (Sigma? Tamron?). I hope he was a temp... It is always a breath of fresh air when you go into a place where people know theyr business...

04-08-2010, 05:57 PM	#3
gramps50 Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Out standing in my field Photos: Gallery Posts: 35	I was at Best Buy looking for a camera bag for my new K-x and the salesman ask me what kind for camera I had I told him a dSLR and he ask which brand. When I told him Pentax he says he didn't even know that Pentax sold dSLRs, and according to their website they sell them. So much for the Geek Squad.... :-)

04-08-2010, 06:02 PM	#4
jct us101 Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Rohnert Park, CA Posts: 3,793	This is actually a pretty good thing to hear. Most photo shops tend to try and get people not to buy the Pentax and instead go for Canon or Nikon. It's good to see that at least one of them tells the truth about how awesome Pentax is. He's totally right too.

04-08-2010, 06:03 PM	#5
MRRiley Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Sterling, VA, USA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 6,275	Originally posted by NeverSatisfied Like many other locations around the country, southeast Michigan suffers from a dearth of brick-and-mortar camera shops. Today I visited pretty much the only one left in this area, Woodward Camera. A friend had warned me that the staff there was unpleasant to deal with, but I did not find that to be true at all. I was looking in their used-equipment section for any decent Pentax lenses, and found very few. When I mentioned that to the salesman, his comment was, "Well the Pentax owners have found that the older lenses can still be used effectively with the new bodies, and as a result they tend to continue to use them, rather than get rid of them. Therefore, we just don't get that many used Pentax lenses coming through our shop." He also mentioned how useful the catch-in focus feature is on Pentax cameras. No brand-bashing of any kind, and it was a very pleasant experience. (In contrast, the other major camera shop in the area, now out of business, never seemed very enthusiastic about the Pentax brand and usually recommended Canikon products.) I was just kind of impressed with his unsolicited, favorable comment toward our brand! Is your friend a Nikonite or a Canonier perhaps? Maybe the staff is nasty to Big Two Shooters because they all shoot Pentax. LOL Mike

04-08-2010, 06:17 PM	#6
AOShep Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Eastern PA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 293	Seems to do more with the quality of the shop's staff then the store itself. Good stores seem to hire real photographers. When I bought my K10D from National Camera Exchange I told the salesman I was willing to switch, but he incouraged me to stay with what I had already invested in. Showed me the differences between the K100D and the K10D and let me make up my own mind. That was the 3rd camera I bought from them and they have always treated me like I knew what I was talking about.

04-08-2010, 07:39 PM	#7
ggeorge11 Inactive Account Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Central Texas Photos: Albums Posts: 218	I have great experiences here in Texas at precision Camera in Austin. The Kx is my 1st DSLR, and though they do sell mainly Cannon and Nikon, the staff has ALWAYS been great. So great, that next week, I am picking up my Tamron 70-200 model AF001 and the Tamron 18-200 AF014. They have a loyal customer in me now.

04-08-2010, 11:24 PM	#8
johnmflores Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Somerville, NJ Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 5,361	This is Pentax's challenge. They are well-regarded and well-respected among the older photographers. The young ones though only know of Canon or Nikon. Hopefully the K-x will start to change minds - maybe Pentax needs to put them in the hands of hot young photogs so as to represent.

04-09-2010, 08:18 AM	#9
NeverSatisfied Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: S.E. Michigan Photos: Albums Posts: 688 Original Poster	Originally posted by MRRiley Is your friend a Nikonite or a Canonier perhaps? Maybe the staff is nasty to Big Two Shooters because they all shoot Pentax. LOL Mike Ha!, Yea he does use a Canon!

04-09-2010, 08:38 AM	#10
krypticide Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,079	When I was buying my first camera (K10D), Samy's was surprisingly praiseful of it (though I didn't know at the time). I think I was considering a Rebel, so maybe part of the reason was that it was more expensive...in any case, after handling the Rebel, I much preferred the K10D.

04-09-2010, 08:52 AM	#11
Nass Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The British Isles Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,402	Backs up what I found when I visited the largest used gear type shop in my area of England, Mr Cad. When I went there 6 months ago they had literally 100s of Pentax -a and -m lenses, even a couple of 1000mms... etc. When I went there last week there were very few - turns out they're selling like hotcakes because so many new people have bought into Pentax and are now buying up older lenses because of the backwards compatibility.

04-09-2010, 09:30 AM	#12
NeverSatisfied Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: S.E. Michigan Photos: Albums Posts: 688 Original Poster	Originally posted by gramps50 I was at Best Buy looking for a camera bag for my new K-x and the salesman ask me what kind for camera I had I told him a dSLR and he ask which brand. When I told him Pentax he says he didn't even know that Pentax sold dSLRs, and according to their website they sell them. So much for the Geek Squad.... :-) Yea Best Buy totally sucks. I was in there looking for an air blower and they didn't have a clue what I was even talking about, wanted to sell me a three-pack of canned air. They've positioned themselves as the only game in town and then act like, "If we don't have it, you don't need it." That little camera shop is quite a drive for me but I'm glad I found the place and will try to give them as much business as I can.

04-10-2010, 05:50 AM	#13
Tuner571 Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Ohio Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,549	That is great news to hear. Unfortunately, the only camera shop that sold pentax and was knowledgeable about pentax went out of business last year.

04-10-2010, 06:17 AM	#14
emr Guest	Originally posted by johnmflores The young ones though only know of Canon or Nikon. Hopefully the K-x will start to change minds - maybe Pentax needs to put them in the hands of hot young photogs so as to represent. I'm not sure if K-x will actually do much good to the reputation of Pentax. No matter how good an entry level camera it is, most people will only know Pentax as the brand with all these colorful toy-like cameras and not as something to be taken seriously.

04-10-2010, 06:30 AM	#15
MoiVous Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Adelaide, South Australia Photos: Gallery Posts: 677	Interesting discussion......here in the antipodes, Canikon dominate (doh!), but of the 5 reasonably large dedicated camera stores in the CBD, two (which are independent franchises of a buying group) have Pentax enthusiast owners (one guy shoots a K20D, and the other has a collection of film Pentax cameras). Both praise Pentax gear, but will similarly praise the others (as you have to do in business to survive). They also carry 2nd hand Pentax gear - although thats rare as the OP described. The other retailers push the canikons and P&S stuff, have no real 2nd hand kit, and I feel have little sympathy for the non-canikons - probably because the staff tend not to experiment or handle all the kit. Its just a job. I suspect the OPs example was of an owner who experiments and is willing to understand the whole business - not just the high turnover stuff. Full marks to him. Sadly, these sorts of businesses are vanishing (I can recall a time in the 70s and 80s when we had about 10 camera shops in the CBD). Either the internet and online retailers, or large retail chains are devouring them (eg we have electronics, office products and music retailers with camera depts - some with Pentax BTW). The net result is sales staff pushing products based on skills other than knowledge of all their products. I have to admit my guilt here in aiding the demise of the bricks and mortar retailers - I'm buying more and more over the internet - local prices are criminal! Cheers