Pentax...less than 3% of the dslr market?

Alizarine · 03-23-2012, 03:50 AM

Ah, the internet. Where few things are certain.

eddie1960 · 03-23-2012, 05:49 AM

Originally posted by rawr

LOL. I heard 10,000, others simply claimed over 9000.

Lots of BS numbers floating around in other words.

i think you are closer to correct. worldwide they only had 30000 planned production for the first month, not likely that BH picked up 150% of the worldwide target for the month

Pre Orders also don't mean sales. lots of twats will place pre-orders with several spots. fist one to get the goods gets the sales the others are cancelled

I could believe worldwide demand for the first month hitting 45000 and it taking 3 months for inventories to stabilize.

RioRico · 03-23-2012, 07:16 AM

Originally posted by Alizarine

Ah, the internet. Where many things are certain. And wrong.

Corrected.

kenyee · 03-23-2012, 08:36 AM

Originally posted by eddie1960

Pre Orders also don't mean sales. lots of twats will place pre-orders with several spots. fist one to get the goods gets the sales the others are cancelled.

Or they sell the 2nd for a profit locally...saw one go up on craigslist this morning.
Still, the amount is crazy compared to how many DSLRs Pentax sells

btw, dug a bit and the #pentax DSLRs is wrong.
Not sure where someone got this info, but apparently Pentax sold 290K DSLRs in 2009:
More dslr sales numbers brand versus brand: Pentax SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

Pales in comparison to Canikon that sold ove 10x that many the same year...

Giklab · 03-24-2012, 01:16 AM

But still, not bad for a company that only makes 2 models at a time.

Jean Poitiers · 03-24-2012, 01:47 AM

Originally posted by Giklab

But still, not bad for a company that only makes 2 models at a time.

Bonjour,

Agreed & don't worry ... with the Ricoh "asset support" (cash, dist. chain experience, etc.) and commitment behind Pentax, that will soon change in a positive direction ...

Salut, J

Thoran · 03-24-2012, 01:58 AM

Originally posted by John Poitiers

Bonjour,

Agreed & don't worry ... with the Ricoh "asset support" (cash, dist. chain experience, etc.) and commitment behind Pentax, that will soon change in a positive direction ...

Salut, J

We can only hope .....

**NZ_Ross** · 03-24-2012, 03:15 AM

Interesting discussion gentlemen,

I have just brought into the Pentax system after a very hard look at what is available. The K-5 is all the camera I will need for a number of years. If Pentax never made another lens, I would still be happy as there is such a wide range it will more than meet my requirements again for a number of years. I previously owned a Nikon D200 and a few lenses. I sold out of Nikon (looked at the D7000 hard) because the really good lenses are very expensive - more than I could justify - and big and heavy, which is no good for traveling, which I do a lot of.

Believe it or not the same sort of discussions happen on Canon and Nikon forums.

So 'don't worry, be happy' as the saying goes. Pentax may be small, but they are good, and because of that they will have a very bright future.

Regards,

Ross

RioRico · 03-24-2012, 04:25 AM

Pentax market share is increasing despite indifferent marketing; Canon is falling despite humongous marketing. (And note that both Canon and Sony have kicked out their CEOs recently.) Pentax cams get extremely high ratings; not bad for a company with few products. Pentax now has a resourceful owner that has aggressively beaten Canon in other markets.

Is Pentax success guaranteed? Of course not. Beware of tsunamis, meteorites, economic collapses, and firms like Samsung (much bigger than Sony). But we can expect Pentax-Ricoh to be an extremely active player in the digital imaging biz. We can expect that Pentax market share will increase substantially. But we can't expect Santa Claus.

Even politics could intrude. The recent Romney contremps has boosted Etch-A-Sketch sales by 1500%. If only some candidate would bring Pentax into public view...

Jean Poitiers · 03-24-2012, 04:36 AM

Originally posted by RioRico

Pentax market share is increasing despite indifferent marketing; Canon is falling despite humongous marketing. (And note that both Canon and Sony have kicked out their CEOs recently.) Pentax cams get extremely high ratings; not bad for a company with few products. Pentax now has a resourceful owner that has aggressively beaten Canon in other markets. ...

Bonjour,

Good analysis, and I would say the Pentax has almost NO marketing presence ... can't speak about the States' marketing which is so lamented on PF, but here in France IMHO it's not good at all ... C'est pas terrible!

Over the past two years, I've seen Pentax all but disappear or be relegated to back-shelf and/or bottom self retail presence ... very worrisome from my perspective.

I've got high hopes for the future given the Ricoh purchase/push and its business acumen ... On verra!

Allez & A+, J Frog

Jean Poitiers · 03-24-2012, 04:44 AM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by NZ_Ross

Interesting discussion gentlemen,

I have just brought into the Pentax system after a very hard look at what is available. The K-5 is all the camera I will need for a number of years. If Pentax never made another lens, I would still be happy as there is such a wide range it will more than meet my requirements again for a number of years. I previously owned a Nikon D200 and a few lenses. I sold out of Nikon (looked at the D7000 hard) because the really good lenses are very expensive - more than I could justify - and big and heavy, which is no good for traveling, which I do a lot of.

Believe it or not the same sort of discussions happen on Canon and Nikon forums.

So 'don't worry, be happy' as the saying goes. Pentax may be small, but they are good, and because of that they will have a very bright future.

Regards, Ross

Bonjour,

Thanks for your input ... I have the same orientation about my K-5 and its lens support, good for several years as per my needs ... and I too looked hard at Nikon, but just too much to justify, over the top ... IMHO they are pushing themselves away from reasonable price levels ... and don't get me started about Canon.

Salut & A+, J

**gaweidert** · 03-24-2012, 05:13 AM

Been using Pentax cameras for almost 40 years. They have never had a big market share in the US. When I was at R.I.T. I saw very few Pentax cameras. Mostly Nikon followed by Minolta and Canon. Then all the others including Pentax and Miranda. My first SLR was a Mamaya/Sekor 500 DTL. Then a Spotmatic II.

Hasselblad was the king of medium format back then. Some people still used Rolliflexes and the Pentax 6 x 7 was around. Some Bronicas too.

The Miranda SLR was a great camera. Quietest SLR around. Since those long ago days I have never seen many Pentax SLR cameras around. 20 years ago when we did the "Great Western Jaunt" (Wife, 4 boys and me pulling a tent trailer over 9,000 miles in 5 weeks) I took two Ricoh XR-m's with me. I loved the ergonomics of the camera and the use of AA batteries as the more exotic one were not widely available at the time. I only ran into one or two people carrying Pentax SLR's at any national park we were at. I don't know if it is still true, but back then the big name photographers were being paid to used certain brand cameras.

Since then, I have purchased three Pentax SLR's. A ZX-M that I have never used. Just got it as a spare. A ZX-5n with the battery pack which I really like and a PZ-1p which has only a few rolls of film through it. Way too complex and I don't find the ergonomics all that great. To me the grip leaves much to be desired. Been around a lot of the country and rarely see a Pentax SLR anywhere.

Recently, with end of Kodak reversal films announced, I took the plunge on a Pentax K-5 DSLR. Scares me though. Any camera needed a 383 page operator's manual makes one wonder if it can just take a picture.

Just getting back into serious photography after a 14 year hiatus so I guess the first thing I need to do is dust off the SLR's and shoot off those remaining 100 or so rolls of Ektachrome I have. The few rolls of Kodachrome I have are going to remain fond memories of happier times. I may even fire up my Bronica ETRsi for old times sake.

RonHendriks1966 · 03-24-2012, 06:06 AM

Didn't read everything, but when marketshare is low and conversions overal are sparce then maybe it is a good idea to just do a limited number of different body's. Just a matter of practice.

There are more companies:

You could buy a K-x converted:
Spencers Camera & Photo Digital Camera Infrared (IR) Conversions, Modifications and IR Photography :: 2 - IR Cameras for Sale

philbaum · 03-24-2012, 10:01 AM

The ironic thing about the Pentax K5, K7,K20, K10, is that when they come out, they are the top of the line for the Pentax lineup, and therefore have all the deluxe features that Pentax can think of. When the D7000 came out, and i looked at it pretty seriously, it lacked some of those extra features. Some folks said that was so it wouldn't overlap onto the D300 series, but i don't know. With Pentax, there is no overlap with other camera models since the K5 and 645D are in different market niches.

I'm pumped up at the moment, just got email that one of my pictures was accepted into a juried art show to be shown in May. It will be my 3rd juried show that i've been accepted into with my Pentax equipment. As long as one is getting good results with their equipment, i don't see a compelling reason to change to another system.

I really like what i'm seeing with the Ricoh ownership, they seem serious about the brand. By the way, i'm not at all sure what the 3% figure is based on. Is that over all cameras or just SLRs. What country or world wide. In any case, i've read that Pentax sales in japan are like 7% in the slr world. I figure they know their cameras, so that must be a good sign.

Besides, i really don't want heavy large lenses and camera bodies.

VisualDarkness · 03-24-2012, 04:26 PM

Originally posted by gaweidert

I don't know if it is still true, but back then the big name photographers were being paid to used certain brand cameras.

I'm pretty sure that photographers also sign endorsement contracts just as athletes and artists to get a couple of bills paid and get free equipment. That exposure is worth big money for the companies.

03-24-2012, 01:47 AM	#51
Jean Poitiers Pentaxian Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Lost in translation ... Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 18,076	It'll get better ... Originally posted by Giklab But still, not bad for a company that only makes 2 models at a time. *Bonjour,* Agreed & don't worry ... with the Ricoh "asset support" (cash, dist. chain experience, etc.) and commitment behind Pentax, that will soon change in a positive direction ... *Salut, J*

03-24-2012, 04:36 AM	#55
Jean Poitiers Pentaxian Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Lost in translation ... Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 18,076	Agreed ... Originally posted by RioRico Pentax market share is increasing despite indifferent marketing; Canon is falling despite humongous marketing. (And note that both Canon and Sony have kicked out their CEOs recently.) Pentax cams get extremely high ratings; not bad for a company with few products. Pentax now has a resourceful owner that has aggressively beaten Canon in other markets. ... *Bonjour,* Good analysis, and I would say the Pentax has almost NO marketing presence ... can't speak about the States' marketing which is so lamented on PF, but here in France IMHO it's not good at all ... *C'est pas terrible!* Over the past two years, I've seen Pentax all but disappear or be relegated to back-shelf and/or bottom self retail presence ... very worrisome from my perspective. I've got high hopes for the future given the Ricoh purchase/push and its business acumen ... On verra! Allez & A+, J Frog Last edited by Jean Poitiers; 03-24-2012 at 06:40 AM.

03-24-2012, 04:44 AM - 1 Like	#56
Jean Poitiers Pentaxian Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Lost in translation ... Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 18,076	Merci ... Originally posted by NZ_Ross Interesting discussion gentlemen, I have just brought into the Pentax system after a very hard look at what is available. The K-5 is all the camera I will need for a number of years. If Pentax never made another lens, I would still be happy as there is such a wide range it will more than meet my requirements again for a number of years. I previously owned a Nikon D200 and a few lenses. I sold out of Nikon (looked at the D7000 hard) because the really good lenses are very expensive - more than I could justify - and big and heavy, which is no good for traveling, which I do a lot of. Believe it or not the same sort of discussions happen on Canon and Nikon forums. So 'don't worry, be happy' as the saying goes. Pentax may be small, but they are good, and because of that they will have a very bright future. Regards, Ross *Bonjour,* Thanks for your input ... I have the same orientation about my K-5 and its lens support, good for several years as per my needs ... and I too looked hard at Nikon, but just too much to justify, over the top ... IMHO they are pushing themselves away from reasonable price levels ... and don't get me started about Canon. *Salut & A+, J*

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03-23-2012, 03:50 AM	#46
Alizarine Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Manila Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,185	Ah, the internet. Where few things are certain.

03-23-2012, 05:49 AM	#47
eddie1960 Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Toronto Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 13,666	Originally posted by rawr LOL. I heard 10,000, others simply claimed over 9000. Lots of BS numbers floating around in other words. i think you are closer to correct. worldwide they only had 30000 planned production for the first month, not likely that BH picked up 150% of the worldwide target for the month Pre Orders also don't mean sales. lots of twats will place pre-orders with several spots. fist one to get the goods gets the sales the others are cancelled I could believe worldwide demand for the first month hitting 45000 and it taking 3 months for inventories to stabilize.

03-23-2012, 07:16 AM	#48
RioRico Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Limbo, California Posts: 11,263	Originally posted by Alizarine Ah, the internet. Where many things are certain. And wrong. Corrected.

03-23-2012, 08:36 AM	#49
kenyee Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Boston, PRofMA Photos: Albums Posts: 3,026	Originally posted by eddie1960 Pre Orders also don't mean sales. lots of twats will place pre-orders with several spots. fist one to get the goods gets the sales the others are cancelled. Or they sell the 2nd for a profit locally...saw one go up on craigslist this morning. Still, the amount is crazy compared to how many DSLRs Pentax sells btw, dug a bit and the #pentax DSLRs is wrong. Not sure where someone got this info, but apparently Pentax sold 290K DSLRs in 2009: More dslr sales numbers brand versus brand: Pentax SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review Pales in comparison to Canikon that sold ove 10x that many the same year...

03-24-2012, 01:16 AM	#50
Giklab Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Slovenia Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,182	But still, not bad for a company that only makes 2 models at a time.

03-24-2012, 01:58 AM	#52
Thoran Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Photos: Gallery Posts: 64	Originally posted by John Poitiers *Bonjour,* Agreed & don't worry ... with the Ricoh "asset support" (cash, dist. chain experience, etc.) and commitment behind Pentax, that will soon change in a positive direction ... *Salut, J* We can only hope .....

03-24-2012, 03:15 AM	#53
NZ_Ross Kiwi Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Timaru Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 4,225	Interesting discussion gentlemen, I have just brought into the Pentax system after a very hard look at what is available. The K-5 is all the camera I will need for a number of years. If Pentax never made another lens, I would still be happy as there is such a wide range it will more than meet my requirements again for a number of years. I previously owned a Nikon D200 and a few lenses. I sold out of Nikon (looked at the D7000 hard) because the really good lenses are very expensive - more than I could justify - and big and heavy, which is no good for traveling, which I do a lot of. Believe it or not the same sort of discussions happen on Canon and Nikon forums. So 'don't worry, be happy' as the saying goes. Pentax may be small, but they are good, and because of that they will have a very bright future. Regards, Ross

03-24-2012, 04:25 AM	#54
RioRico Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Limbo, California Posts: 11,263	Pentax market share is increasing despite indifferent marketing; Canon is falling despite humongous marketing. (And note that both Canon and Sony have kicked out their CEOs recently.) Pentax cams get extremely high ratings; not bad for a company with few products. Pentax now has a resourceful owner that has aggressively beaten Canon in other markets. Is Pentax success guaranteed? Of course not. Beware of tsunamis, meteorites, economic collapses, and firms like Samsung (much bigger than Sony). But we can expect Pentax-Ricoh to be an extremely active player in the digital imaging biz. We can expect that Pentax market share will increase substantially. But we can't expect Santa Claus. Even politics could intrude. The recent Romney contremps has boosted Etch-A-Sketch sales by 1500%. If only some candidate would bring Pentax into public view...

03-24-2012, 05:13 AM	#57
gaweidert Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Rochester, NY Photos: Gallery Posts: 5,325	Been using Pentax cameras for almost 40 years. They have never had a big market share in the US. When I was at R.I.T. I saw very few Pentax cameras. Mostly Nikon followed by Minolta and Canon. Then all the others including Pentax and Miranda. My first SLR was a Mamaya/Sekor 500 DTL. Then a Spotmatic II. Hasselblad was the king of medium format back then. Some people still used Rolliflexes and the Pentax 6 x 7 was around. Some Bronicas too. The Miranda SLR was a great camera. Quietest SLR around. Since those long ago days I have never seen many Pentax SLR cameras around. 20 years ago when we did the "Great Western Jaunt" (Wife, 4 boys and me pulling a tent trailer over 9,000 miles in 5 weeks) I took two Ricoh XR-m's with me. I loved the ergonomics of the camera and the use of AA batteries as the more exotic one were not widely available at the time. I only ran into one or two people carrying Pentax SLR's at any national park we were at. I don't know if it is still true, but back then the big name photographers were being paid to used certain brand cameras. Since then, I have purchased three Pentax SLR's. A ZX-M that I have never used. Just got it as a spare. A ZX-5n with the battery pack which I really like and a PZ-1p which has only a few rolls of film through it. Way too complex and I don't find the ergonomics all that great. To me the grip leaves much to be desired. Been around a lot of the country and rarely see a Pentax SLR anywhere. Recently, with end of Kodak reversal films announced, I took the plunge on a Pentax K-5 DSLR. Scares me though. Any camera needed a 383 page operator's manual makes one wonder if it can just take a picture. Just getting back into serious photography after a 14 year hiatus so I guess the first thing I need to do is dust off the SLR's and shoot off those remaining 100 or so rolls of Ektachrome I have. The few rolls of Kodachrome I have are going to remain fond memories of happier times. I may even fire up my Bronica ETRsi for old times sake.

03-24-2012, 06:06 AM	#58
RonHendriks1966 Banned Join Date: Jan 2009 Photos: Gallery Posts: 9,675	Didn't read everything, but when marketshare is low and conversions overal are sparce then maybe it is a good idea to just do a limited number of different body's. Just a matter of practice. There are more companies: You could buy a K-x converted: Spencers Camera & Photo Digital Camera Infrared (IR) Conversions, Modifications and IR Photography :: 2 - IR Cameras for Sale

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03-24-2012, 10:01 AM	#59
philbaum Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Port Townsend, Washington State, USA Posts: 3,659	The ironic thing about the Pentax K5, K7,K20, K10, is that when they come out, they are the top of the line for the Pentax lineup, and therefore have all the deluxe features that Pentax can think of. When the D7000 came out, and i looked at it pretty seriously, it lacked some of those extra features. Some folks said that was so it wouldn't overlap onto the D300 series, but i don't know. With Pentax, there is no overlap with other camera models since the K5 and 645D are in different market niches. I'm pumped up at the moment, just got email that one of my pictures was accepted into a juried art show to be shown in May. It will be my 3rd juried show that i've been accepted into with my Pentax equipment. As long as one is getting good results with their equipment, i don't see a compelling reason to change to another system. I really like what i'm seeing with the Ricoh ownership, they seem serious about the brand. By the way, i'm not at all sure what the 3% figure is based on. Is that over all cameras or just SLRs. What country or world wide. In any case, i've read that Pentax sales in japan are like 7% in the slr world. I figure they know their cameras, so that must be a good sign. Besides, i really don't want heavy large lenses and camera bodies.

03-24-2012, 04:26 PM	#60
VisualDarkness Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Uppsala, Sweden Photos: Gallery Posts: 4,439	Originally posted by gaweidert I don't know if it is still true, but back then the big name photographers were being paid to used certain brand cameras. I'm pretty sure that photographers also sign endorsement contracts just as athletes and artists to get a couple of bills paid and get free equipment. That exposure is worth big money for the companies.