[Alizarine]

Was in a convention again earlier today. Strangely, there were 3 other confirmed Pentax users in the area, excluding me. One was a black K-x with M 50, another a guy with a white K-r with a Sigma 70-300 and a girl with a pink K-r and FA 50 (I guess they're dating). Just last year, I was usually the lone Pentax shooter in local car/fashion/cosplay shows and conventions. Seems Pentax really is picking up people now.

[DaveHolmes]

A 1940's weekend in Haworth today... Saw a guy with 2 K5/K7's, a young girl with either a K-x or K-r, a chap with a K10 (I think) and shared a table had a chat over a cup of tea with a lovely old dear shooting an MZ50 film camera (and an older Canon 35mil camera...)

Fairly certain there were a few chaps from the UK forum knocking about too but didn't see them...

[trevinon]

Today I just so happened to take a snapshot of a fellow Pentaxian today at my brother's graduation ceremony. I had no idea that he was using a Pentax camera (K5?) until I zoomed in. This is the second Pentaxian I've ran into so far.

Wow. It actually looks like my K-x and the Metz flash just like mine. The zoom is not the same but quite similar to mine. Not bad combination, eh?

[Designosophy]

Met a Pentax shooter on Saturday at an arts festival in NE Philadelphia. He was shooting a K-20 with a DA 16-50. He said he had seen a number of other K-5 shooters that day, but my wife wasn't feeling well, so we didn't stay long and I didn't see anyone else.

[Ratmagiclady]

Very few cameras of any sort! Only a few P & S, and two Nikons. Of the hundreds of folk there, my eagle eyes spied no Canons, no Sonys, no Olympuses, no Leicas, and of course no other Pentaxes. I don't understand...not the absence of Pentaxes, but so few cameras!

It seems like they're all about Iphones down here. They wave those things everywhere, tend to give cameras of any kind cold looks at best.

Even since I've been here, cameras of any kind have kind of vaporized. Occasionally you meet a Canonian talking about like thousands of dollars of kit he ain't carrying, that's close to it, it seems.

Actually did run into another Pentaxian recently, also not carrying.

[KevinSchenk]

Interestingly, the only other Pentaxians I run into are older guys working at camera stores. They've usually been using them since the film era. I have found that they love to talk about Pentax, and get a glint in their eyes of fond memories. In fact, I would say that 8/10 camera salespeople over the age of 35 that I have talked to are Pentax users.

But I have never seen a Pentax other than my own on the streets, not even when I went to Disneyland. Although I must admit I was using a Canon S95 there, I was surprised that none of the DSLRs were Pentax or Olympus.

[Quicksand]

I spotted a K-01 in the wild today -- a black and white one -- at the San Ramon Art & Wind Festival in San Ramon, California. It was the first one I have seen in person, and it looked nice! Quite compact, too.

It appeared to have the 18-55 on it, but I didn't get a close look.

[vanyagor]

I don't know what keeps me attracted to this totally pointless thread :P Why would I care what other people shoot with (or don't)? I don't feel owning something rare makes one special at all. Ideally the photos should be what one looks at to judge a photographer, not the equipment.

Nevertheless, I guess I like statistics, so I'm going to contribute (again) to this strange thread. I've been shooting in the parks all around Vancouver, Canada in the last few months. I have encountered no Pentax shooters. It was countless Nikons, some Canons and one Sony Alpha. Just yesterday we went to Stanley park and I have counted 4 Nikons (one was the D700), 1 Canon and no other dSLRs Other than dSLRs I saw a couple of P&S (one was a long zoom Sony) and a couple of iPhone-shooters. On my recent visit to Vandusen Botanical garden almost every other visitor carried a dSLR (some were carrying 2). Again - mostly Nikons, a significant number on Canons, one Sony and no Pentax.

I do feel Pentax is disproportionally underrepresented. Many are simply unaware of it.

[Ameiji]

Yesterday I was in a local photo store (part of a big chain). They got a huge print of DA17-70 on their showcase. But inside the store - not a single little thing with a Pentax logo on it. And no, they never sold anything Pentax. Doh... (︶︹︺)

[8540tomg]

Are we that rare?

Judging by a conversation I had with a kid at school we are. She had never heard of Pentax and thought Canon or Nikon were the only cameras you could take a picture with.

Tom G

[eddie1960]

I was shooting a CD release on Friday and the girl beside me looks at my camera and says, wow you've got the same camera as me, I never see anyone else with it (K7), she didn't have her's with her though.

[photoleet]

Was at Sequoia National Park this past weekend. Saw tons of Canikons, surprisingly no Sony's. Also ran into an elderly gentleman who was using a K-5 with a DA* lens.

[SpecialK]

Why would I care what other people shoot with (or don't)?

We don't care either. It's the stories behind it.

[heatherslightbox]

When I go out anywhere I would expect to see a bunch of cameras, a Pentax sighting is pretty rare. I would say that a vast majority of those Canikon users don't know what they're missing.

While my dad is a Canon shooter, he has pointed out to me that he likes what I was able to produce w/ my Pentax cameras better than the Canon bodies I had, in terms of IQ. He's given some thought to switching to Pentax, but he'd have to sell off all his Canon gear and Mom would have a fit. I think he's grasped the concept of "happy wife, happy life".

Sure, Canon has a wider variety of lenses, but what's the point if I'm probably going to never have a need for most of them? With Pentax & 3rd party makers who produce K-mount lenses, I have everything I need to make great photos.

To anybody who wants to make snarky comments about my camera gear, I will simply say: "Don't poo-poo the Pentax." (lol)

Heather

[nikigunn]

Was at Sequoia National Park this past weekend.

I guess I went there at the wrong time. I was there on the 11th and I was the only one with a DSLR, but I went late in the day. I did see DSLRs in Yosemite (previous weekend and the one before) but no Pentax cameras other than mine.

What really surprised me is that I was the only one shooting primes I saw the entire time I was in California. Everyone else seemed to only have one big zoom lens. One guy at the Monterey Bay Aquarium had a tripod and got in everyone's way but he had a zoom, too.