Are we really THAT rare?

Transit · 08-07-2010, 03:30 PM

Originally posted by SpecialK

Yes, we are. Saw my first "other Pentax guy", after several years, just a couple weeks ago.

Quality not quantity

The other week , I stopped to take a wee shot of our distant volcano,
some crusty old bloke wandered over with a K20 round his neck.
I was shocked

We did a bit of bonding

abmj · 08-07-2010, 04:28 PM

Originally posted by mickeyobe

... I started with a canon FTbn and then used a T90 for 20 years before going digital with Pentax in 2005. ...

Yep, quite similar. Started with the FTb and then up to the F-1, which is still in my closet after umpty-hundred rolls of film shot.

Blue · 08-07-2010, 04:44 PM

Originally posted by creampuff

I run into Pentax users all the time... seriously.

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/gatherings-photo-trips-groups/79381-post-...ictures-2.html

But you are on a relatively small island.

I have ran into a few Pentax film users in Tallahassee but no dSLR. I have heard about a couple of people with K200d, but have never seen them.

lurchlarson · 08-07-2010, 06:30 PM

Originally posted by kytra

Actually I have purchased my white K-x in November 2009 from BestBuy Orlando. It was the last though...

I've never seen Pentax outside of a very select few camera stores in Oregon. Most of the time if you ask at a camera store if they sell Pentax they say that the company made them send them all back.

Never seen one in a best buy or walmart.

**GregK8** · 08-07-2010, 07:04 PM

I did a quick check of the Amazon top 100 for DSLRs, and if I combine the various kits for the different bodies, the K-x doesn't show up until #12. I didn't adjust, but the K-7 is #71, not very popular

Nikon D3000
Canon Rebel T1i
Nikon D5000
Nikon D90
Canon Rebel T2i
Canon XSi
Nikon D300s
Canon EOS 7D
Nikon D700
Panasonic DMC-GH1
Sony A330L
Pentax K-x

GerryL · 08-07-2010, 07:09 PM

Originally posted by lurchlarson

I've never seen Pentax outside of a very select few camera stores in Oregon. Most of the time if you ask at a camera store if they sell Pentax they say that the company made them send them all back.

Never seen one in a best buy or walmart.

You can only get them at the online walmart, which is walmart.com.
They never sell it on stores but they do sell it online.

stevebrot · 08-07-2010, 09:03 PM

Originally posted by lurchlarson

I've never seen Pentax outside of a very select few camera stores in Oregon...

Who carries Pentax now in Oregon? Pro Photo used to, but had dropped the brand the last time I looked. Shutterbug also has dropped the brand. Advance Camera in Raleigh Hills will sell you a Pentax, but keeps no stock. Ditto for Knight Camera in Vancouver.

Steve

**ismaelg** · 08-07-2010, 09:27 PM

As I posted elsewhere, After 10 days visiting the very crowded Disney World and other Orlando parks, I ran into ONE other Pentax, among hundreds or even thousands of cameras hanging in necks. And that's including film, P&S and DSLRs.
Grand total: 3 Pentax, of which 2 were mine.

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/general-talk/107540-pentax-market-share-where-you.html

**mike.hiran** · 08-07-2010, 10:11 PM

Originally posted by stevebrot

Who carries Pentax now in Oregon? Pro Photo used to, but had dropped the brand the last time I looked. Shutterbug also has dropped the brand. Advance Camera in Raleigh Hills will sell you a Pentax, but keeps no stock. Ditto for Knight Camera in Vancouver.

Steve

I remember meeting the Pentax rep at ProPhoto Supply a few years back but they did drop Pentax a year or so later. I've heard Fry's has some Pentax DSLR's, but I haven't driven there to double check to see if ours has them. I do remember seeing some old FA lenses in their lens case a couple years ago - I asked them if they were on clearance since they were so old.

But I do see a fair amount of Pentax users around... saw one at Bagby, Silver Falls and a few other places. By far the minority, but enough to remind me there are other Pentax users around.

0rangepeel · 08-08-2010, 12:27 AM

I know someone who shoots Pentax but will change to Nikon soon!

Besides that, I only saw one other Pentax shooter, and it was during a parade, so naturally I looked at everybody's gears, and there were a lot, and only 1 Pentax!

G.T · 08-08-2010, 01:19 AM

I have to agree.
I only own a couple of P&S, and not any (D)SLR, so I might be off topic here.

Most of my friends have P&S cameras. Some go for Canon, some others for Nikon. I know a couple of Olympus. I'm the only one of them running Pentax cameras.
Naaaa to be honnest, I know a girl which has an Optio S12.

But the brand itself keeps being well-known here, in France. I have two friends which are photo amateurs and really good at it. Last month I was with one of them, which just took an EOS40D (and has the use of it), we were talking about photography, and he told me this : "Pentax? Very good bodies, well built, simple to use and effective... but a pain in the back to get lenses".

The other one of them, I saw him last night. He does photography into a club, with many other enthousiasts and even runs in photo contests. He has a Canon, EOS550 IIRC. He told me there were no Pentax gear in his club, only Canon and Nikon - as usual I'd like to say. Yesterday he looked to my camera (Optio P80), and asked me its features. I showed him them, plus a bunch of pictures stored on the memory card (mind you I'm a bit messy, and the 4GB allows me not to wipe files after every shooting session), and he told me once again "it's little, it's lightweight, but well built. That's a nice camera".

To me, these two guys (which don't know each other) and what they think (they wouldn't be fooling me) worthes all the advices and remarks I could get.

And now I'm used to my cameras, I think it's a way to show my difference... and I consider Pentax as the "third big" in the leading of photography equipment (behind Canikon).

At least here, in France, I guess it remains a reconized brand for its quality and what it offers for its price, even if it's not massively used.

MariusCTM · 08-08-2010, 01:26 AM

Rare and precious!
I'm the only pentaxian in my group of amateur photographers from Timisoara, Romania but I'm the chief moderator!

and I'm feared by the others!

Pentaxor · 08-08-2010, 01:43 AM

last time I saw some Pentax shooters was last February during the Winter Olympics. as I was setting my camera and tripod along granville street inorder to get a shot of the crowd. little did I knew that I was with 2 other Pentax users, 3 of us lining up side by side with each of our cameras on a tripod doing the same thing. it's a rare occassion that you get a chance to see once in a while. and yes it was a great atmosphere. I guess we are just that rare that we seem to mind or greet each other and share a laugh. I can only imagine if they were CaNikon Users, I would had received a blank and mind your own business or go your own way treatment, which I see regularly with people shooting the same cameras.

kari · 08-08-2010, 01:55 AM

On my trip down into the sub-antarctic I saw only 2 other Pentax shooters, one had the W80 and the other a *istDL. Most people who had DSLRs shot Canon (mostly Rebels, one or 2 50D's and a 7D), but I also saw 2 Nikon D40's, a D90 and a D200. The only pro had an Olympus E300. He shot mostly video though and had a massive camcorder for that.

**felixkh** · 08-08-2010, 10:52 AM

Originally posted by Lloydy

I live in Ironbridge in the UK, it's a World Heritage Site and a huge tourist draw all year, in the summer it's packed out.

A few days ago I was walking through the town and there were three large coaches full of young Japanese tourists coming down the road towards me, and as the regulation for being a Japanese tourist requires they were fully loaded with the newest DSLR's money could buy.

I saw so many differently coloured KX's I lost count, and there were also a good amount of K7's.
Yes, they were seriously outnumbered by the CaNikons, but it was a significant amount of Pentax's.

Many of them were also in awe of my battered old K10 and the Industar 50-2 that was adorning it, the Pentax brand doesn't seem to be doing that badly.

In Japan, it is the other way round. More Pentaxes than Canikons . . .

I too started photography with a Pentax PZ-20 . . .

08-08-2010, 10:52 AM	#75
felixkh Site Supporter Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Singapore Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,201	Originally posted by Lloydy I live in Ironbridge in the UK, it's a World Heritage Site and a huge tourist draw all year, in the summer it's packed out. A few days ago I was walking through the town and there were three large coaches full of young Japanese tourists coming down the road towards me, and as the regulation for being a Japanese tourist requires they were fully loaded with the newest DSLR's money could buy. I saw so many differently coloured KX's I lost count, and there were also a good amount of K7's. Yes, they were seriously outnumbered by the CaNikons, but it was a significant amount of Pentax's. Many of them were also in awe of my battered old K10 and the Industar 50-2 that was adorning it, the Pentax brand doesn't seem to be doing that badly. In Japan, it is the other way round. More Pentaxes than Canikons . . . I too started photography with a Pentax PZ-20 . . . Last edited by felixkh; 08-08-2010 at 11:20 AM.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
K 28mm/2 (rare ?, value ?)	mactansblue	Pentax SLR Lens Discussion	30	06-08-2023 09:02 PM
Landscape Rare Precipitation	skid2964	Post Your Photos!	8	12-19-2009 08:50 PM
How rare is this lens?	raymeedc	Pentax SLR Lens Discussion	11	11-20-2009 02:31 PM
The rare F50mm f/1.4	coqui	Pentax SLR Lens Discussion	9	05-14-2008 06:09 AM
A rare find indeed... !!	Marc Langille	Pentax Camera and Field Accessories	19	10-31-2007 01:10 PM

08-07-2010, 03:30 PM	#61
Transit Pentaxian Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Whanganui NZ Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 4,624	Originally posted by SpecialK Yes, we are. Saw my first "other Pentax guy", after several years, just a couple weeks ago. Quality not quantity The other week , I stopped to take a wee shot of our distant volcano, some crusty old bloke wandered over with a K20 round his neck. I was shocked We did a bit of bonding

08-07-2010, 04:28 PM	#62
abmj Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Central California Posts: 600 Original Poster	Originally posted by mickeyobe ... I started with a canon FTbn and then used a T90 for 20 years before going digital with Pentax in 2005. ... Yep, quite similar. Started with the FTb and then up to the F-1, which is still in my closet after umpty-hundred rolls of film shot.

08-07-2010, 04:44 PM	#63
Blue Moderator Site Supporter Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Florida Hill Country Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 17,377	Originally posted by creampuff I run into Pentax users all the time... seriously. https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/gatherings-photo-trips-groups/79381-post-...ictures-2.html But you are on a relatively small island. I have ran into a few Pentax film users in Tallahassee but no dSLR. I have heard about a couple of people with K200d, but have never seen them.

08-07-2010, 06:30 PM	#64
lurchlarson Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Oregon, USA Photos: Albums Posts: 681	Originally posted by kytra Actually I have purchased my white K-x in November 2009 from BestBuy Orlando. It was the last though... I've never seen Pentax outside of a very select few camera stores in Oregon. Most of the time if you ask at a camera store if they sell Pentax they say that the company made them send them all back. Never seen one in a best buy or walmart.

08-07-2010, 07:04 PM	#65
GregK8 Site Supporter Join Date: May 2008 Location: Western New York Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 614	I did a quick check of the Amazon top 100 for DSLRs, and if I combine the various kits for the different bodies, the K-x doesn't show up until #12. I didn't adjust, but the K-7 is #71, not very popular Nikon D3000 Canon Rebel T1i Nikon D5000 Nikon D90 Canon Rebel T2i Canon XSi Nikon D300s Canon EOS 7D Nikon D700 Panasonic DMC-GH1 Sony A330L Pentax K-x

08-07-2010, 07:09 PM	#66
GerryL Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: CA Posts: 2,731	Originally posted by lurchlarson I've never seen Pentax outside of a very select few camera stores in Oregon. Most of the time if you ask at a camera store if they sell Pentax they say that the company made them send them all back. Never seen one in a best buy or walmart. You can only get them at the online walmart, which is walmart.com. They never sell it on stores but they do sell it online.

08-07-2010, 09:03 PM	#67
stevebrot Otis Memorial Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Vancouver (USA) Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 42,007	Originally posted by lurchlarson I've never seen Pentax outside of a very select few camera stores in Oregon... Who carries Pentax now in Oregon? Pro Photo used to, but had dropped the brand the last time I looked. Shutterbug also has dropped the brand. Advance Camera in Raleigh Hills will sell you a Pentax, but keeps no stock. Ditto for Knight Camera in Vancouver. Steve

08-07-2010, 09:27 PM	#68
ismaelg Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Puerto Rico Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,681	As I posted elsewhere, After 10 days visiting the very crowded Disney World and other Orlando parks, I ran into ONE other Pentax, among hundreds or even thousands of cameras hanging in necks. And that's including film, P&S and DSLRs. Grand total: 3 Pentax, of which 2 were mine. https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/general-talk/107540-pentax-market-share-where-you.html

08-07-2010, 10:11 PM	#69
mike.hiran Site Supporter Join Date: May 2007 Location: portland Photos: Albums Posts: 1,491	Originally posted by stevebrot Who carries Pentax now in Oregon? Pro Photo used to, but had dropped the brand the last time I looked. Shutterbug also has dropped the brand. Advance Camera in Raleigh Hills will sell you a Pentax, but keeps no stock. Ditto for Knight Camera in Vancouver. Steve I remember meeting the Pentax rep at ProPhoto Supply a few years back but they did drop Pentax a year or so later. I've heard Fry's has some Pentax DSLR's, but I haven't driven there to double check to see if ours has them. I do remember seeing some old FA lenses in their lens case a couple years ago - I asked them if they were on clearance since they were so old. But I do see a fair amount of Pentax users around... saw one at Bagby, Silver Falls and a few other places. By far the minority, but enough to remind me there are other Pentax users around.

08-08-2010, 12:27 AM	#70
0rangepeel Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Vancouver Photos: Gallery Posts: 111	I know someone who shoots Pentax but will change to Nikon soon! Besides that, I only saw one other Pentax shooter, and it was during a parade, so naturally I looked at everybody's gears, and there were a lot, and only 1 Pentax!

08-08-2010, 01:19 AM	#71
G.T Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Photos: Gallery Posts: 367	I have to agree. I only own a couple of P&S, and not any (D)SLR, so I might be off topic here. Most of my friends have P&S cameras. Some go for Canon, some others for Nikon. I know a couple of Olympus. I'm the only one of them running Pentax cameras. Naaaa to be honnest, I know a girl which has an Optio S12. But the brand itself keeps being well-known here, in France. I have two friends which are photo amateurs and really good at it. Last month I was with one of them, which just took an EOS40D (and has the use of it), we were talking about photography, and he told me this : "Pentax? Very good bodies, well built, simple to use and effective... but a pain in the back to get lenses". The other one of them, I saw him last night. He does photography into a club, with many other enthousiasts and even runs in photo contests. He has a Canon, EOS550 IIRC. He told me there were no Pentax gear in his club, only Canon and Nikon - as usual I'd like to say. Yesterday he looked to my camera (Optio P80), and asked me its features. I showed him them, plus a bunch of pictures stored on the memory card (mind you I'm a bit messy, and the 4GB allows me not to wipe files after every shooting session), and he told me once again "it's little, it's lightweight, but well built. That's a nice camera". To me, these two guys (which don't know each other) and what they think (they wouldn't be fooling me) worthes all the advices and remarks I could get. And now I'm used to my cameras, I think it's a way to show my difference... and I consider Pentax as the "third big" in the leading of photography equipment (behind Canikon). At least here, in France, I guess it remains a reconized brand for its quality and what it offers for its price, even if it's not massively used.

08-08-2010, 01:26 AM	#72
MariusCTM Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Timisoara, Romania Posts: 74	Rare and precious! I'm the only pentaxian in my group of amateur photographers from Timisoara, Romania but I'm the chief moderator! and I'm feared by the others!

08-08-2010, 01:43 AM	#73
Pentaxor Veteran Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Vancouver, B.C. Photos: Gallery Posts: 6,513	last time I saw some Pentax shooters was last February during the Winter Olympics. as I was setting my camera and tripod along granville street inorder to get a shot of the crowd. little did I knew that I was with 2 other Pentax users, 3 of us lining up side by side with each of our cameras on a tripod doing the same thing. it's a rare occassion that you get a chance to see once in a while. and yes it was a great atmosphere. I guess we are just that rare that we seem to mind or greet each other and share a laugh. I can only imagine if they were CaNikon Users, I would had received a blank and mind your own business or go your own way treatment, which I see regularly with people shooting the same cameras.

08-08-2010, 01:55 AM	#74
kari Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Photos: Albums Posts: 142	On my trip down into the sub-antarctic I saw only 2 other Pentax shooters, one had the W80 and the other a *istDL. Most people who had DSLRs shot Canon (mostly Rebels, one or 2 50D's and a 7D), but I also saw 2 Nikon D40's, a D90 and a D200. The only pro had an Olympus E300. He shot mostly video though and had a massive camcorder for that.