[LennyBloke]

If you wander round a British beauty spot in the rain (let's be honest, we often have to!) you are likely to see a much higher proportion of Pentax than you would on a dry day - on a rainy day in Ambleside (Lake District) earlier this year I saw 3 other Pentax users, that is probably the most I've seen on any day previously (except when I worked in a camera shop in the 80's )

[Dexxx]

In my town Varna,Bulgaria (~470 000 people), we are something like 4 people shooting with Pentax few years ago when K-1 came up,and the official representitve made and event to try the camera, about 8 people showed up

[luckylu]

If you come to my house there are 5

[normhead]

In my town Varna,Bulgaria (~470 000 people), we are something like 4 people shooting with Pentax few years ago when K-1 came up,and the official representitve made and event to try the camera, about 8 people showed up

A small owner operated camera shop in St. Catherines On. sold 10 in the first month of the K-1, he would have sold at least 10 more if he could have acquired them. A competing store in the same town also sold all 10 they received.

So one town of 133,000, I know sold at least 20 and probably a lot more once supply caught up with demand. The sad part was all those older lenses I was watching, waiting for the price to go down, just disappeared off the shelves.

I'm not sure if you don't talk to the owners, you have any idea how many they actually sold. In that town, I actually had fellow Pentax owner in shopping for a tripod at the same time I was. I don't get out as much anymore though so I have no idea what the current situation is.

[Photos-by-Chas]

Recently my wife and I took a vacation, leaving Pennsylvania and traveling through parts of New York, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Wyoming for a total of 19 days. During that time we saw very few DSLRs but numerous cell phones used for photographs. None of the DSLRs were Pentax. Most were Canon or Nikon and maybe a Fuji or a Sony. I proudly carried my two Pentax K-x.

[RedRuff]

I stepped out to the car show that was on my doorstep a couple weeks back and had a walk around. I saw two Pentax DSLR's, one who was accompanied by a guy with a Lumix DSLR (that was news to me) and I also saw an ancient rangefinder too. I was quite surprised.

[Dubious Drewski]

I work at The Camera Store in Calgary (A very controversial place on these forums, I know) and I have a pretty good read on how much each brand is represented. Pentax sales are pretty infrequent, as expected, but it is a consistent handful of clients per month. Many higher-ups are concerned about the future of the company, but the brand still chugs along.

I do my part. I am the resident "Pentaxian" (And so is one of my bosses, by the way) and I am brutally honest about what's great and what's lacking about the brand. I think it works. It just sucks when someone comes in for a basic 50-300 and I have to special order it. It's a nasty feedback loop. People don't buy a lot of Pentax, so it's not profitable to sit on piles of stagnant gear in our warehouse, so because we don't regularly stock it, people don't buy it.

I've been shooting these cameras for a long time now, and it's better and more competitive against other brands than it's been in decades. It's truly well-made, high-performing, low cost stuff, and it deserves so much more success than it gets.

[house]

I work at The Camera Store in Calgary (A very controversial place on these forums, I know) and I have a pretty good read on how much each brand is represented. Pentax sales are pretty infrequent, as expected, but it is a consistent handful of clients per month. Many higher-ups are concerned about the future of the company, but the brand still chugs along.

I do my part. I am the resident "Pentaxian" (And so is one of my bosses, by the way) and I am brutally honest about what's great and what's lacking about the brand. I think it works. It just sucks when someone comes in for a basic 50-300 and I have to special order it. It's a nasty feedback loop. People don't buy a lot of Pentax, so it's not profitable to sit on piles of stagnant gear in our warehouse, so because we don't regularly stock it, people don't buy it.

I've been shooting these cameras for a long time now, and it's better and more competitive against other brands than it's been in decades. It's truly well-made, high-performing, low cost stuff, and it deserves so much more success than it gets.

Nice to hear some inside info from the shops!

[bkpix]

My son and I did a two-week cross-US car trip in August, hitting a number of northern national parks (Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Badlands...) along with downtown Chicago. I carried my full Pentax bag, mostly using the 15 Ltd and the 55-300 PLM on a pair of KPs.

Number of other Pentaxes I saw? Zero.

[CapitanXeon]

On the rain topic, this sunday i'm going to a racetrack and there's a sudden rain broadcast, i might stand out as well :B

[StarTroop]

A small owner operated camera shop in St. Catherines On. sold 10 in the first month of the K-1, he would have sold at least 10 more if he could have acquired them. A competing store in the same town also sold all 10 they received.

So one town of 133,000, I know sold at least 20 and probably a lot more once supply caught up with demand. The sad part was all those older lenses I was watching, waiting for the price to go down, just disappeared off the shelves.

I'm not sure if you don't talk to the owners, you have any idea how many they actually sold. In that town, I actually had fellow Pentax owner in shopping for a tripod at the same time I was. I don't get out as much anymore though so I have no idea what the current situation is.

Wow, I can't even imagine there being two independent camera stores in a single city, especially one like St. Catharine's. I live in Richmond Hill and we don't even have a single camera store within our borders, let alone an independent one. Have to go all the way to either Newmarket or Thornhill just to visit a Henry's, but at least Sun Camera is in Thornhill which makes Pentax repairs easy. I've yet to even see any other photographers on the streets of RH so I suppose there just isn't enough interest here.

I met a guy in St. Catharine's a few weeks ago who shoots Canon. I showed him my KP and he seemed impressed with the build quality, and while he recognised the brand, he admitted he wasn't aware of the current state. He seemed to be acting polite when he followed up by saying (I'm paraphrashing): "I've heard it's [Pentax] is good, though not quite like a Canon". I'm sure from his perspective he felt like I needed some pity or something, but I just kept quiet about the all reasons why I chose Pentax over anything else. I feel like reading this thread had prepared me for that day, when I would finally have to maintain my quiet dignity in the face of an ignorant (not to his fault), rather than try to foolishly defend my life choices. Still, I couldn't help but feel some pride in knowing that my amazing camera is somewhat of an unknown factor to most people.

[vector]

I work at The Camera Store in Calgary (A very controversial place on these forums, I know) and I have a pretty good read on how much each brand is represented. Pentax sales are pretty infrequent, as expected, but it is a consistent handful of clients per month. Many higher-ups are concerned about the future of the company, but the brand still chugs along.

I bought my K1 at The Camera Store from Chris - yeah that Chris from all the youtube videos. Was nice to walk in and have him show me the camera and be able to get my hands on it before buying. Calgary used to have Pentax on the shelves in a few stores but they have all but disappeared. I assume it is to make room for all mirrorless stuff which undoubtedly sells better.

As for seeing Pentax in the wild, my Dad and Sister have them... To be honest most of what I see out there other than smart phones is entry level Canon or Nikon bodies with kit lenses. If I go to a national park or some other popular photo location, I'll see a few with serious gear usually Canikon, sometimes a Sony. It's not just Pentax that is getting rare, it is serious cameras of any brand.

[PDL]

I was in Yellowstone last week and most of the DSLR's I saw were Canon with a few Nikon's thrown in for good luck. Most of the people there were shooting with their phones. At Artists Point there was a little girl with a P&S that her older brother (both were not in their teens yet) kept taking away from her. The parents were asking all the old guys with CanNikon and one Sony guy with tripods what it takes to get the "perfect shot" with the little girl in tow. One old guy gave her a good piece of advice saying that there is no "perfect shot" you get the best shot you can given the subject and light when you are there. He then went on to lower himself down and look at the back of her P&S to give her encouragement (after her dad retrieved the camera from her brother --- again). Good advice.

Oh - back to what cameras I saw? No other Pentax's, no medium format, one old Minolta film SLR (should have talked to the young woman carrying it but let that pass by) and when the Asian tour busses unloaded - a few Canon's, fewer Nikon's and a plethora of Sony's outnumbering the Canon's/Nikon's combined. Most of them were using phones. Lots of panorama's (of the back of peoples heads) and selfies - gawd all the selfies with elaborate poses too.... quite disturbing in subtle ways.

[clackers]

But this does make me wonder about the reason why the distributors and retailers are still in between? Taking a margin whilst providing hardly any added value at all. Couldn't pentax go for direct distribution and then contract repair centers (which they already have contracted because at least in the Netherlands no camera shop can even do service itself) for service etc? Given that they rely mostly on word of mouth and direct advertising, it makes good sense to cut out the middlemen and split that savings between the producer and the consumer.

Agree 100 percent, HoutHans. A K-1 is the bargain that it is partly because there are so few middlemen.

[Jonathan Mac]

If you wander round a British beauty spot in the rain (let's be honest, we often have to!) you are likely to see a much higher proportion of Pentax than you would on a dry day - on a rainy day in Ambleside (Lake District) earlier this year I saw 3 other Pentax users, that is probably the most I've seen on any day previously (except when I worked in a camera shop in the 80's )

Taking photos in the rain while all the CaNikony crew hide their gear away is one of the little pleasures that Pentax brings