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12-18-2007, 09:52 AM   #1
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interesting nikon/canon rival survey

I'm amazed Sony is the top pick...mind share I guess:
Poll: Best SLR rivals to Canon and Nikon | Underexposed - CNET News.com

But I'm also disappointed Olympus is ahead of Pentax....no wonder Sigma doesn't consider HSM support for Pentax all that important :-P

12-18-2007, 09:59 AM   #2
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My own opinion on these polls and such is this...Who ever spends the most money on advertising usually wins...It is all about the dollars....If Pentax where to spend an equal amount of money as sony, then the pentax would win...Personally, I would rather Pentax spend the money on the development of the K20 and get it out...
12-18-2007, 10:14 AM   #3
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The problem with poll like these, is that they are quite "site specific". I'm not surprised that Sony won bigtime on CNET, a site that caters more to computer tech and the like. I wonder how the same poll would turn out on a site devoted to fine arts? Or a non brand specific photography forum? Or one devoted to medical imaging tech?

NaCl(it's not only what you ask, but where you ask it)H2O
12-18-2007, 10:49 AM   #4
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Shouldn't Pentax and Samsung be linked together since they're the same basic camera

12-18-2007, 12:22 PM   #5
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I almost bought the Sony A700. From everything I read it seems like a great camera. But I ended up buying the K10D.

Personally, focusing when I put my eye to viewfinder, FPS, and very fast focus, was not that important to me. I was more interested in a great quality camera that takes great pictures. The K10D fits my needs well.

I was also investing in a system. I have high hopes for the K20D and beyond as my needs mature. I also hate paying a premium just because the camera has S O N Y written on it.
12-18-2007, 12:50 PM   #6
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Pentax really needs to advertise -- and they need to find something to boast about that makes Pentax sound innovative and unique, because innovative and unique is memorable and it also attracts more free publicity. Right now, there's very little about the Pentax DSLRs that will attract free press attention. Olympus has the innovative four-thirds system. Sigma has the innovative/different Foveon processor. Not sure what makes Sony so special but its cameras do seem to be well reviewed. But Pentax doesn't have a full-frame, doesn't support four-thirds, doesn't have Foveon processor, doesn't boast spectacular performance at high ISO or super-fast fps rates. The K10D is simply a really great, usable camera in the old-fashioned sense. That's not enough to get a lot of attention. If simply being really good were enough, Apple would have 90% of the computer market, rather than 5% of whatever it's got.

What's amazing to me in that poll is that Leica got almost 9%. As far as I am aware, they make only one digital camera, it costs $5000, it's not a digital SLR (it's a rangefinder), and even rangefinder users don't like it very much!

Will
12-18-2007, 01:23 PM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by WMBP Quote
Pentax really needs to advertise -- and they need to find something to boast about that makes Pentax sound innovative and unique, because innovative and unique is memorable and it also attracts more free publicity. Right now, there's very little about the Pentax DSLRs that will attract free press attention. Olympus has the innovative four-thirds system. Sigma has the innovative/different Foveon processor. Not sure what makes Sony so special but its cameras do seem to be well reviewed. But Pentax doesn't have a full-frame, doesn't support four-thirds, doesn't have Foveon processor, doesn't boast spectacular performance at high ISO or super-fast fps rates. The K10D is simply a really great, usable camera in the old-fashioned sense. That's not enough to get a lot of attention. If simply being really good were enough, Apple would have 90% of the computer market, rather than 5% of whatever it's got.

What's amazing to me in that poll is that Leica got almost 9%. As far as I am aware, they make only one digital camera, it costs $5000, it's not a digital SLR (it's a rangefinder), and even rangefinder users don't like it very much!

Will
Pentax is advertising but at a retail stance. Pentax has been giving retailers tons of benefits to carry their product and spread the word, but many stores like the store down the street from us don't know squat about the K10D and frankly don't care. The majority of camera stores carry one of these setups:

1. Canon, Nikon, Sony, Olympus
2. Canon, Sony, Olympus, Pentax
3. Canon, Pentax, Olympus
4. Nikon, Sony, Olympus
5. Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Sony
6. Canon, Nikon
7. Pentax, Canon, Sony

As you can see Pentax is the lowest ranking and if you access to some of the dealer forums you'd see that the majority don't care for Pentax because they aren't a "drive you into the store" camera. Our store is the last setup and what we've learned is that even though Pentax isn't a driving force it's a great bargain for such a great camera plus the margins are bigger so we make more money than a store selling the same amount of Canon or Nikon equipment. Plus there are stores like Creve Ceour (sp?) and Mikes that are million dollar Pentax accounts. Those stores are amazingly successful with the number 7 model and love doing it, but it takes a Pentaxian behind the orders and an owner that believes in the brand. If more stores believed in the brand then they'd sell more of the camera and Pentax would grow and grow.

In my store Pentax has 70% of the market share and Canon+Sony are the other bit. Heck I even shoot with 2 other Pentaxians and there are a ton of Pentax users out here thanks to the store here.

12-18-2007, 01:31 PM   #8
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Well, this I do know...I went out with my K10D and my 50-135 lens to take some pictures of this event at Olvera Street...While There I was noticing something...I was the only one there taking pictures with out a bag over my camera as it is drizzling pretty good....
12-18-2007, 01:48 PM   #9
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QuoteOriginally posted by codiac2600 Quote
... Those stores are amazingly successful with the number 7 model and love doing it, but it takes a Pentaxian behind the orders and an owner that believes in the brand. If more stores believed in the brand then they'd sell more of the camera and Pentax would grow and grow.

In my store Pentax has 70% of the market share and Canon+Sony are the other bit. Heck I even shoot with 2 other Pentaxians and there are a ton of Pentax users out here thanks to the store here.

Chris,

Your analysis is quite interesting. I mostly work in Windows now, having reached the point where I hate computers and am indifferent to operating systems. But for twenty years (1985-2005) I was a devoted Apple user, and purchased dozens of Apple computers. In the early days, I was a professor at University of Houston, where they had a computer store that was staffed by Mac nerds. They were tremendous salesmen -- not because they were good salesmen, but because they really knew what they were talking about, and they were selling to smart buyers (university professors and students) who respected real knowledge and knew when they were getting the straight scoop. Of course, after failing very badly with attempts at retail sales, Apple copied an idea from Dell and started selling computers online, and more importantly, opened up its own shops. I wonder if it wouldn't make sense for Pentax to steal an idea from Apple and open up a few Pentax-only shops here in the USA in major cities, starting, say, with Dallas. ;-) If you think there's not enough in the Pentax product line to support a store, you don't know much about Apple: it's product line isn't any bigger than Pentax's. They could sell:
  1. Digital SLRs
  2. Film SLRs (if there are any Pentax film SLRs still in production -- I don't honestly know)
  3. The Optio line
  4. Pentax lenses
  5. Other Pentax consumer items like binoculars (I have a pair of Pentax binocs and they're great)
  6. Pentax accessories like grips, flash units, cables, etc
  7. Tamron and Sigma lenses with the Pentax mount
  8. Perhaps sell Samsung stuff, too?
  9. A ton of extra stuff like tripods, bags, cards, hard disks, software, etc
  10. Photo processing/printing
  11. Books and photo mags
  12. Pentax apparel like gimme caps, etc.
I think it could work. I'd shop there! Make sure that the sales reps actually are photographers themselves and use Pentax equipment.

This would be a full-service camera store, like Ritz/Wolf camera, except that the key products in the store would be Pentax brand exclusively.

Will
12-18-2007, 02:00 PM   #10
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I tend to agree that Pentax needs to put out more advertising. That's what everyone sees from Nikon and Canon and that is why they sell more...I don't think it is because they are a superior product, they just push it the hardest.

If you look at the other consumer products put out like the binos and rifle scopes from Nikon, they are really bottom of the barrel as far as quality goes.

Pentax is great but they need to let people know that.
12-18-2007, 07:05 PM   #11
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When it comes to advertising, Pentax is at least trying. In the December issue of Popular Photography magazine, both Sony and Pentax had the same number of ads (three each, all full page). However, the Pentax ads were buried on pages 7, 33, and 41, while Sony had a two-page spread inside the front cover. Interestingly, Canon had only two full page ads, but was featured on the cover and mentioned thoughout the magazine more often. And Nikon had the largest number with five including the back cover.

What I noticed more than the number of Pentax ads was the overall weakness of the ads. The first focused on not following everyone else's rules about photography (reminded me of Apple's unsuccessful "Think Differently" ads years ago), the second on a Pentax boat cruise, and the third was a Pentaxian profile. None really focused on camera features or benefits, nor anything else which would really aggressively sell a camera.

stewart
12-19-2007, 07:13 AM   #12
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At the moment pentax doesn't need to do anymore advertising than they already are. They already have no K100D or K10Ds to sell. They are so backordered on many lenses it isn't funny (which is why probably why only Limiteds are on rebate now). Pentax is growing very rapidly. I wonder how they are going to manage to bring out all these new dslrs at the same time? Pentax is the number one selling brand where I work. Olympus is a distant 3rd, and then theres Canon. It really shakes up the Canon people when they come in. So much fun.
thanks
barondla
12-19-2007, 07:36 AM   #13
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From all I could read in this thread, Pentax is noearly not advertising itslef at all... It's completely different here in Russia. Since last winter K10 was aggressively advertised in every photo magazine, like Digital Photo Russian editions and so on. In each issue you could see K10D ad, saying that it is THE camera for your needs.
And it gave results actually! Recently I was in a local store that buys and sells used photo stuff, lenses, bodies, etc. I wanted to see what they have for pentax. And guess what? They showed me one little shelf of K-mount products, while Nikon had 3 shelves, Canon like 3 shelves too. Olympus had one shelf but FULL of lenses. While Pentax's shef was half-empty, and only rather worn lenses were left there.
They said that actually 2 month ago they had more Pentax's stuff then any other system, because people rarely bought somting for K-mount. But that changed recently and all the K-mount lenses that were any good were washed out by people with new shiny K10D's! Pentax becomes more and more popular here in Russia, and I think that's what all those ads in every magazine are doing! So it really works, and I hope Pentax will do the same thing in other countries also.
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