[eastbay]

Yesterday, I went to Pier 39 in San Francisco and thought I would try to keep track of the DSLR brands that I spotted. In about 2-3 hours, I spotted 4 Pentax users - a K-7, a K-m, a white K-x and the fourth I couldn't identify. My black K-x was the fifth one in the crowd. I also spotted one Sony and one Olympus. Canons seemed to be the most common and were too many to count. Plenty of Nikons as well.

[Digitalis]

Saw a guy with a 645D in the local botanic gardens the other day.

[asp1880]

Spotted a K-5 at the Zoo the other week. Or it might have been a K-7, it was a little far to tell.

--Anders.

[eddie1960]

Saw a guy with a 645D in the local botanic gardens the other day.

I've yet to see a 645D even in a shop

Though I know there are a couple in the Toronto area

[emergo]

I was at an aviation museum in Seattle over the weekend. there were about 200 folks attending the memorial day event, and I saw five other guys shooting with Pentax, and a sixth shooting a K1000. Not bad.

[lesmore49]

[/COLOR]

not that odd - i have an old extra-wide Olympus strap on my K5 right now - it's even reversed so the logo faces inward/my shoulder. the fewer logos the better. basically, logos scream 'steal me'. i'd rather they didn't exist at all. i actually hate camera straps, period, but wrist straps make you look like a douche, and though i rate the build quality of the K5, i wouldn't risk dropping it while it's wearing a ~1K$ Limited or something.

i knew a guy (pro) who used to use duct tape to cover every non-essential part of his cameras (film days, Nikon F90Xes) and black marker to blank out every shiny/attention attracting part of his cams so as not to draw any attention to them and make them seem as unworthy of robbery as possible. good plan.

have thought about doing it myself - means some cleanup if you re-sell, but then i don't buy anything with that as a key consideration. utility above all.
[/LEFT]

Years ago I got a real deal on Leica Rangefinder neck straps...very fine quality. I got three and put on my Pentax S1a, ES11, K1000. Still there.

[yamint]

I meet one pentax user in phoenix, that's it. So yeah, pentax users are rare.

[Dma110]

Yamint. I thought I was the only pentax user in the area. Good to know I am not alone. Maybe we could get together for a shoot?

Dennis

[Digitalis]

I've yet to see a 645D even in a shop

funny you mention that we have two pro camera stores here in Adelaide and they both have a healthy stock of 645D cameras and lenses.

[wizofoz]

/rant on

It seems that because Pentax US is doing a piss poor job in promoting the product that all of our friends in the USA think that there must be no presence of the brand at all.

Fortunately not ALL of the world is the USA. Some of us can actually see over the border.

I get really tired of reading whinges about the price point of the K-5 v the D7k when in most of the world it was the opposite. I get tired of reading about not having Pentax in bricks and mortar stores when in my experience Pentax has just as much hands on exposure as Sony, Olympus and comparable 2nd tier brands. Every camera store I walk in to has Pentax, but I don't go shopping for camera's at Harvey Norman's or Retra-Vision.

Every UK camera mag I read has full and double page spread of Pentax ads.

It would be very useful if The US contingent could contain their remarks to the US market and not assume the same applies to the rest of the world.

/end rant

thanks

[GibbyTheMole]

sorry to bang on but the answer to all those Canikonian twits is simple: the body's just a light-tight box (but oh, how I *dream* of Oly's multispot metering and memory system collared around the shutter release in digital form...) - only the glass and your technique really matters.

Which body you're using would be inconsequential if you were shooting with film. Film was the great equalizer. Digital is a different animal altogether. Different DSLR bodies have different sensors, different in-camera image processing software, different resolutions, etc.

That said, I don't think there's a big difference in image quality between Pentax, Canon, & Nikon bodies within the same class.

Cheers,
Bobbo :-)

[eddie1960]

/rant on

It seems that because Pentax US is doing a piss poor job in promoting the product that all of our friends in the USA think that there must be no presence of the brand at all.

Fortunately not ALL of the world is the USA. Some of us can actually see over the border.

I get really tired of reading whinges about the price point of the K-5 v the D7k when in most of the world it was the opposite. I get tired of reading about not having Pentax in bricks and mortar stores when in my experience Pentax has just as much hands on exposure as Sony, Olympus and comparable 2nd tier brands. Every camera store I walk in to has Pentax, but I don't go shopping for camera's at Harvey Norman's or Retra-Vision.

Every UK camera mag I read has full and double page spread of Pentax ads.

It would be very useful if The US contingent could contain their remarks to the US market and not assume the same applies to the rest of the world.

/end rant

thanks

I can't complain on presence in Toronto Brick and Mortar (but it is the largest City in Canada so that's not a surprise), of the 4 stores i visit consistently they all have the Pentax gear on the floor (maybe not in good stock but there) except on the 645D. the biggest pro shop doesn't carry it, the big mainstream chain does but never has one, the other 2 shops are smaller and neither have it.
Pentax Canada doesn't even list the bloody lenses on their site

[jamarley]

It would be very useful if The US contingent could contain their remarks to the US market and not assume the same applies to the rest of the world.

fact is I always look for a poster's location when reading these comments. That said, if someone neglects to id where they are, either in post or profile, just consider two things. 1) much of what goes on here is typed out quickly - sometimes even in setting up a profile a member might not stop to realize location info can be helpful. 2) it is, after all, an internet forum and opinions expressed are virtually always merely that - opinions.

If Pentax is smart there will be employees reading these (& other) forums to take various market "temperatures". Hopefully Pentax US will see that they can (must?) do better. Likewise the successful Pentax subsidiaries elsewhere might have a glimpse into what isn't working here in the states and strive to avoid it.

[BigDave]

Hi eddie1960:

Yes, because we are big and devour products readily in the USA, we get it into our heads that things start and stop at the borders or shores. Our bad.

But many of us only see what is in our own neck-of-the-woods! Someone in the marketing department in the USA needs to step up to the plate! I assume they are getting well compensated for their "efforts". "Where's the beef" as the lady said!

[MegaPower]

Yesterday, I went to Pier 39 in San Francisco and thought I would try to keep track of the DSLR brands that I spotted. In about 2-3 hours, I spotted 4 Pentax users - a K-7, a K-m, a white K-x and the fourth I couldn't identify. My black K-x was the fifth one in the crowd. I also spotted one Sony and one Olympus. Canons seemed to be the most common and were too many to count. Plenty of Nikons as well.

Last year when I was there, I was the only one with red Kx.
I didn't see any other pentax user.