[gofour3]

Fun question, but hard to answer definitively.

In Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver BC listings I see a lot of Pentax items compared with the eastern cities of my family and friends. Could be due, in part, to military coming back from Asian postings, to these cities being more affluent than many others with residents cycling through toys more rapidly, a larger proportion of the population being computer-savvy, or as you suggest more Pentax customers. I find the Craigslist items to be of high entertainment value on many levels.

M

Pentax (AOCO) Canada used to based in Vancouver, that may be a reason.

Phil.

[normhead]

Camera World in downtown Portland has LOTS of pentax stuff



This was taken a few months ago, but it's the only game in town! And no sales tax!!

OK, that's just incredible… I'd have to set a day aside to go in there, and go without my wife...

[jatrax]

Well, at least you have a local store that stocks the product. I will likely (when I get employed) buy a K3 and a couple of lenses, but will give Camera World a chance to price match before buying online.

Steve, you have got to be a lot closer to Camera World than I am. Downtown Portland is an hour and half drive for me. But I've never been to Camera World, had heard of it and checked their website which at the time I looked did not indicate they had much in the way of Pentax so just forgot about them. I've been going to Robi's ip in Lakewood. Guess I need to take a trip to Camera World.....

[mike.hiran]

I was going to go to camera world today to see if they had the k3, but 1) I got called to Vancouver for a job thing and 2) I wasn't sure that I wouldn't buy one if I saw it there.... If anybody goes, please let us know what you find.

[audiobomber]

The local Henry's taken when I was evaluating a Q, three years ago.

[shaX 07]

I live about 30 minutes from Hunt's, which is where I got my K-30. I never really looked too hard at how much Pentax they keep in stock but they don't seem to keep too much on hand. When I was torn on K30 or K5 the only thing they had in stock was the K30, and only had 1 left.

[normhead]

The local Henry's taken when I was evaluating a Q, three years ago.

Very cool, I wonder what it looks like now. That actually looks as good as what I saw at their main store on Church street a year ago.

I live about 30 minutes from Hunt's, which is where I got my K-30. I never really looked too hard at how much Pentax they keep in stock but they don't seem to keep too much on hand. When I was torn on K30 or K5 the only thing they had in stock was the K30, and only had 1 left.

That really simplifies the decision making process.

[audiobomber]

Very cool, I wonder what it looks like now. That actually looks as good as what I saw at their main store on Church street a year ago.

I believe the stock has slipped somewhat. At the time of the above photo, Dan S was a salesman there. Previously he had been the area rep for Pentax. (I believe his leaving Pentax coincided with the Hoya takeover.) I heard recently that he has been hired back by Ricoh Pentax. In the meantime, he sold a lot of Pentax gear locally. I commonly see Pentax shooters at various events around town.

[normhead]

that is pretty cool. Interesting to note, an employee who wants to sell Pentax, can.

[lesmore49]

I am visiting relatives in Winnipeg this weekend. Photo Central is an independent dealer in town. I popped in to check out several pieces of used gear. I was surprised to see that they have re-introduced Pentax - the manager mentioned that Ricoh is offering better terms. Last year they would not touch anything Pentax.

Without asking, the sales person handed a K-3 to me to try, saying they have had a very strong interest from buyers and potential customers. They have a small Pentax display, but include the K-50, K-500, K-5 II and K-3 and a decent mix of lenses.

So, there's another Pentax dealer in this city of 750,000.

- Craig

In Winnipeg, there are three Don's, three Henry's, one London Drugs... and they all handle Pentax and have for the past number of years. I have bought a Km , K-5 and 9 digital Pentax lenses from these dealers since 2008. They had product when I wanted it...and on the occasion they didn't have an item in stock...they ordered it in and it always arrived within a week or two. Price was always competitive and they price matched anywhere in Canada, as long as the price matched was from a store in Canada. Can't be fairer or better service than that.

The city has been well served.

[canajuneh]

We drive about three hours to the closest store dealing with Pentax and are well served by them - Don's Photo in Saskatoon. We've bought four Pentax DSLR cameras and seven lenses, plus tripods, filters, an external flash and various 'other bits' over the years. Sometimes we get to show the salesperson why we think our cameras are superior to the Canikons in similar price ranges and .sometimes they agree with us.

[john5100]

Again Robi's in Tacoma, Washington is very good too with very knowledgeable people. They do like to sell Tamron lenses though.

Robi's Camera Center, Labs and Custom Framing | Home

[stevebrot]

Again Robi's in Tacoma, Washington is very good too with very knowledgeable people. They do like to sell Tamron lenses though.

Robi's Camera Center, Labs and Custom Framing | Home

I forgot about Robi's. It is not quite local to me, but still not that far away.


Steve

[bigted]

There are 3 Henry's stores, 3 Don's Photo's and one Photo Central - all in Winnipeg. All carry varying amounts of Pentax gear. My K-r was on a shelf (I bought it at Don's). All my lenses have been bought at Henry's. The DA L 55-300mm was on the shelf. My DA 35mm F2.4 I ordered. The DA 50 1.8 was on the shelf. The DA 10-17mm I ordered. This week I wanted to play touchy, feely with a K-3 and they have to order it in from one of the other Henry's locations. If I am lucky it'l be here next week - if not the week after. My Q was ordered from B&H.

[Parry]

I can't even find one here in Thailand. I've emailed a few supposed suppliers but to no response. Been into Big Camera, they don't carry any Pentax DSLR stock, can't get any sense out of them at all. Maybe somewhere in Bangkok 600kms south? Who knows?

In the UK, Clifton Cameras in Dursley and Bristol Cameras carry some stock or can get it fairly easily. Those are about an hour away. SRS Microsystems I sometimes use in Watford, four to five hours away or WEX when I'm working in the east of England, very good store. Ordering online is the easiest. You can get pretty much anything online in the UK so the nearest dealer is only a few steps to the front door.