[Nicolas06]

Yes, we Germans are a very zerious bunch. You even gave 'Lufthansa' a 'z'

Sorry for the z !

[tim60]

My company did the Eva Air website! Including the Hello kitty version uppon request: Hello Kitty Jet Travels with You! | Home

If you ask, our job is not to do graphic design or fancy stuff but more to manage flight reservations. We have also lufthanza (Online flight offers | No booking fee | Sale fares to Europe - Lufthansa ® United States of America) as hundred other airlines, and it look much more serious. I'd say that what you'd expect from a german company !

Eva site is interesting. Seems very casual compared with the airline. I saw Eva staff in airports several times, but particularly remember in the T1 at Taoyuan form the whole flight crew up in two lines, cockpit crew at front, and march around the airport - contrast to every other airline, just walking off one at a time to go to the gate. The use very similar uniforms at their hotels. The website looks to me like it is aimed at the younger market. People between graduation and having the financial responsibilities of family and buying a house etc.


Interesting, Song Shan does some international flights again.

[edri]

In the last summer vacation by 2-3 countries in Western Europe I saw only two Pentax users. A guy from Japan with a K01. Another Pentax user I saw him from time to time when I passed in front of a mirror

[cmar]

Just came back from a 20 odd day cruise and stay in SE Asia, took my Q (easier to pack a full set of lenses for a long flight home than my Kr) 2.5 K other people on the ship and I didn't see another single Pentax. Still the little Q performed well.

[GeneV]

In the last summer vacation by 2-3 countries in Western Europe .... Another Pentax user I saw him from time to time when I passed in front of a mirror

That was the only guy I saw last summer in Europe. My only regret about that is that my friends at the hotel were able to trade the Canon equipment back and forth.

[Kharan]

Sorry to bring this thread back on topic, but after almost two months working again as a tour guide, I NEED to tell this to somebody:

I SAW A K-S1 IN THE WILD!! With a 18-135mm attached. Please, if any of you were in Calama Airport (Chile) today at 12:55 PM (local time) with a K-S1 hanging from your neck (with a girly scarf wrapped around the green-ringed lens, no less) tell me that I wasn't hallucinating

Seriously though, I've seen more Pentax cameras this summer than in all of my life combined (I'm only 28). I've seen three K-3's, a K-5/K-5ii/K-5iis (couldn't ogle that much, it hung over a lady's chest ), a black K-30 (from one of my guests, no less) and the mythical K-S1. Quite honestly, I believe Pentax to be on the rise. Of course, my sample population isn't that large or representative, but then again, I'm seeing an average of twenty cameras a day in tourist attractions (not counting phones and *gasp* iPads).

Other interesting things from my non-scientific observations:

- Full frame cameras are scarce. Like, really scarce. I've barely seen six or seven Nikons (by far the preferred FF brand), and mostly D600/D610 at that. I saw a Canon 6D, I believe. And two Sony A7, but I've actually seen more of those in other circumstances. They're hits, and if they aren't, they will be (at discount prices). I AM excluding a group of Japanese tourists who were mightily equipped, though - a couple of 5D Mk III's, a 6D, a D800 and a D610. They stuck out like a sore thumb among the other tourists, though, and two of them carried crop cams, while another two were dual wielding FF's.
- Sony is the regional leader in superzooms. Two of every three superzooms I see are Sony HX-whatevers, mostly in the hands of my fellow nationals or other South Americans. I'm quite impressed, as it wasn't like this before. Sony's really pushing hard to grow in the photo market, count on it. Panasonic follows close in terms of presence.
- Some people are still shooting film. ON THEIR HOLIDAYS. Call me a brat, but I think it's insane. Especially when it's nothing special (no medium format, much less 4x5 ). I even saw a Fuji disposable camera
- Speaking of medium format... I've seen 3 (THREE) 645D's around San Pedro de Atacama. Two in the hands of Brazilian pros, and one in the hands of a very zealous astrophotography enthusiast. That's got to count for something.
- No Fuji Instax cameras around here. I find that curious.
- Lots of young people with DSLRs. Believe it or not, and against all that is being spouted on tah intarwebs, young people DO use DSLR cameras. Far more than mirrorless ones, for certain (those are reserved to young couples with children, hah!). Furthermore, there doesn't seem to be a regional preference among youngsters who carry a reflex cam, except for Asians (who carry either gigantic DSLRs or tiny MILCs, without an inbetween). Koreans, however, use only mirrorless.
- Speaking of those, Olympus and Fuji dominate the MILCs that I've seen. The only Sony cams that I've seen are the ones without EVF, typically with an oversized 55-210mm hanging from them Olympus has certainly sold some E-M5's and E-M10's. However, the single most popular MILC around here is the Fuji X-T1, which I must say looks incredible.

So there you have it, my camera sighting report. I hope this helps show that Pentax is actually on the hands of many people, pros or not, in some crappy corner of the world

[paulh]

Sorry to bring this thread back on topic, but after almost two months working again as a tour guide, I NEED to tell this to somebody:

Thanks for the detailed report - interesting!

[FantasticMrFox]

- Lots of young people with DSLRs. Believe it or not, and against all that is being spouted on tah intarwebs, young people DO use DSLR cameras. Far more than mirrorless ones, for certain (those are reserved to young couples with children, hah!).

I second that. In my university's photography society the vast majority of people (including me) use DSLRs, there are only a couple of DSLMs around. It seems to me that mirrorless is mostly hyped by older people whose sore backs won't allow them to lug around heavy equipment any more

[Transit]

Woman at the farmers market this am....pentax strap, i didn't hesitate, straight in with yah pentax owner
pulled out my Q to identify myself
She was very friendly, with k-5 and kit lens. Said she had another lens...a 77mm one
We wondered together why the hell shops recommend Canokon.

[tim60]

Canikon is recommended because way back in the 50s Zeissikon was reputed to be very good and now the name changed a little.


This afternoon I went into a huge Op Shop run by the Diabetes Association. I found some P&S with a brand I never saw before but it must imply some brand knocker-offer thought Pentax was good to try to emulate. The name was P**tax. It is even closer than the Far East sourced Rollex watches.

[Giklab]

The name was P**tax.

So, what was the name?

[tim60]

I am really sorry, I cannot remember. I think it was something like Pantax.


The shop had it at a Jean Poitier pleasing price of AUD2.99. (Approximately USD2.35)

[Giklab]

I am really sorry, I cannot remember. I think it was something like Pantax.


The shop had it at a Jean Poitier pleasing price of AUD2.99. (Approximately USD2.35)

Ooh, I recall a memeber of our local forum talking about this once... I'll try to dig out more.

[Evious]

I find it very rare in the UK and rarely see people shooting Pentax. After I bought my first Pentax (a K30) I got an urge to buy a Nikon and I've spent many hours searching for a cheap second hand one. And after all of that searching and finding I finally bought a second hand mint Pentax K20d it's a weird world isn't it?

[Pat_H]

Canikon is recommended because way back in the 50s Zeissikon was reputed to be very good and now the name changed a little.

Zeiss film cameras were excellent and I've always been a bit surprised that a good Zeiss digital DSLR hasn't appeared.

But I don't think the popularity of Zeiss explains this. Here in the 1970s I'd see a lot of Pentax film cameras, and I bought two 35 mm Pentax SLRs here locally myself, which is how I became introduced to the brand. But now a person couldn't buy one locally if they tried. Pentax has lost market share for some reason. As a good, and all weather, DSLR it's odd.