Originally posted by lesmore49 My nearest Pentax store is about a 1/2 mile away. The next closest one is about another 500 yards from there. Then the next one is about 2.5 miles away.
Fast forward from the above post made in 2013, to the current situation in 2016. The nearest Pentax store that was a 1/2 mile away closed a month ago. BTW, they stopped handling Pentax a couple of years ago, I stopped going there. I had bought a fair amount of other non Pentax things, but I figured I would use other sources.
The other two stores are still around and I usually go to one of them, fairly regularly. They don't handle Pentax anymore, but I've got to the point...three Pentax bodies, 12 lenses...that I've pretty well got everything I want. However the K-1 and possibly a 15-30 or 24-70 is appealing. But is Pentax even cutting back on manufacture of their own lenses ? I understand the 15-30 is a rebadged Tamron and I'm not sure who makes the 24-70 ?
Who knows what I'll do ? I'm not sure myself.... but if I do make the plunge, I'll have to order online.
This online ordering is ok...sort of... but I would much rather be able to go down and buy in a local shop, from their in store inventory. I'd like to actually handle camera equipment, see what it's like, run it through the gears, kick the tires as it were.
I could do that with Canon, Nikon or Sony...but don't think in all cases could I do so..with...Olympus, Fuji or Panasonic. Or Pentax.
If it is true that 90 % or more (not an accurate figure, just a guess) people buy Nikon , Canon to to a lesser degree...Sony... how long can P, O,F or Panasonic survive on the meager crumbs that are left ?
If I do go FF, it will be sometime in 2017.I'd prefer a K-1. One factor I will consider...is how Pentax are doing. If not so hot, I might just go with a FF non Pentax, such as a Canon 5D3, 24-105 L and 17-40 or a Nikon DF or D 750 and 24-120 (think that's it).
I'd probably just keep my ASP-C Pentax bodies and still use all the lenses and Pentax bodies, and if I got a Canikon FF, probably just one or two lenses...ie; a wide angle and a wide angle to portrait lens.
So after 50 years of Pentax ownership, I may finally cave and go Canikon. If you can't beat them, I might join them...as sad as that prospect would seem.
Aren't there any monopoly laws ?
Just an attempt at a feeble joke....anyways thanks for reading my rant. Old men like me appreciate the interest.