[johnmflores]

Poor marketing by Pentax? For real?
Canon EOS-M wasn't a hit.
Nikon 1 has struggled
Micro Four Thirds hasn't taken over the world as predicted.
Samsung? They're even more rare than Pentax!
Sony just had big losses.
Even GoPro had a bad holiday season.

Welcome to cameras, post iPhone!

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Last edited by johnmflores; 01-26-2016 at 08:23 PM.

[monochrome]

I liked the rumor that had Nikon buying the Samsung camera division...

They should all be peeing their pants about the iPhone 7...after all, Apple has 800 engineers working on just the camera module. "DSLR quality" lens etc, etc, etc...

I'm holding out for the iFullFrame

[panoguy]

Poor marketing by Pentax? For real?
Canon EOS-M wasn't a hit.
Nikon 1 has struggled
Micro Four Thirds hasn't taken over the world as predicted.
Samsung? They're even more rare than Pentax!
Sony just had big losses.
Even GoPro had a bad holiday season.

Welcome the cameras, post iPhone!

Always a ray of sunshine, John!

My .02 CAD: I have a Samsung NX camera and a few lenses, and I just sold my Sigma SD1 Merrill and am currently liquidating my SA-mount lenses (how 'bout that for investment?), so oddly enough, Pentax is the most mainstream camera brand I use. As Clackers said, it's just a hobby that we (some of us, anyhow) enjoy. Plus, I make money using the Pentax gear professionally... just like you and your motorcycles.

[boriscleto]

Always a ray of sunshine, John!

My .02 CAD: I have a Samsung NX camera and a few lenses, and I just sold my Sigma SD1 Merrill and am currently liquidating my SA-mount lenses (how 'bout that for investment?), so oddly enough, Pentax is the most mainstream camera brand I use. As Clackers said, it's just a hobby that we (some of us, anyhow) enjoy. Plus, I make money using the Pentax gear professionally.

So you're not in the market for one of those 150-600s that Sigma won't make in K-mount, but will make in SA?

[calsan]

I can't remember the last time I bought something because I saw an advert, unless that advert was for a sale on something I had already decided to buy. Especially these days, when you can rapidly fact check any information and do your own research. I would suggest, most advertising is expensive, local in coverage and largely ignored.

[monochrome]

^^ This!

Ken Rockwell once suggested Pentax should go 100% internet in the USA - they had let the market get too far away from them. He had a point.

[btnapa]

So far behind you didn't even notice the brand is spelled Infiniti! :-)

I did not think anybody read the post. So you are the winner of the grand prize. So you get to chose from either a brand new 635Z or a K5IIsx.

[MadMathMind]

I'm comfortable even buying one more k mount apsc lens for $500, I consider it to be value zero after I use it for 2 or 3 years, but I can't imagine doing the same with $5000 lenses.

That seems kinda harsh. Unless you've got some crazy lens no one ever uses, things move here pretty easily. Local sales are harder but the marketplace here is pretty brisk.

For guys not interested to spend on heavy lenses, the spending is limited and as long as it's general purpose , you find a lot more potential users... I do not invent anything: there was someone selling a Pentax FA600 for a while... very hard to sell.

Are you speaking from experience here or just theorizing? Because if you're guessing, you're forgetting that the high-end market works a lot differently from the low-end market simply because the people who can spend that kind of money on lenses generally don't need to save money and thus aren't as concerned with lower prices. Let's face it: if you can't afford $5k for a lens, $4k isn't much better. Sure, $1k is $1k and that's nice, but if the DA560 would sell that better at $4k, that's where they'd price it. As it is, they may only move a few more lenses at $4k or even $3k than at $5k simply because there's a threshold there that most people won't exceed.

Furthermore, it's a big risk spending that kind of money on a lens with no warranty or return policy. As a result, I'd imagine those ultra expensive lenses skew toward new sales, simply because the people who buy them do not do so lightly (intend to use them extensively and keep them) and, well, the people buying these things don't look to the used market as much.

Conversely, at the low end, there's a lot more people who can say "$200 is much more affordable for me than $300 or $350."

[monochrome]

That's a vertically price-integrated brand. Pentax occupies a price slice (or two). Both companies, in my view, market to suit their brand profiles, but we (well they) keep applying the marketing rules suitable for Brand A to Brand B and saying Brand B is benighted. It isn't so. Brand B is doing things just about right.

[johnmflores]

Always a ray of sunshine, John!

My .02 CAD: I have a Samsung NX camera and a few lenses, and I just sold my Sigma SD1 Merrill and am currently liquidating my SA-mount lenses (how 'bout that for investment?), so oddly enough, Pentax is the most mainstream camera brand I use. As Clackers said, it's just a hobby that we (some of us, anyhow) enjoy. Plus, I make money using the Pentax gear professionally... just like you and your motorcycles.

Yup, it's just a hobby that I pay for with my other hobby. It's a great racket!

[Rupert]

In short, there's no way I'd spend the price of a car into into a brand of camera that has a considerable chance of going bust in the next couple of years, I consider it financially too risky.

Otis was sniffing around over here and is getting a little excited...he thinks he has spotted a potential Jumper. We all know how Otis loves a Jumper!

Biz-Engineer....Otis wants me to ask if you will give him an exclusive live interview before announcing any jumping activities. Many of the Jumpers in the past have simply vanished into thin air never to be heard from again, and he'd like an opportunity to get the last words of a real Jumper on record before it is too late. He offered to pay you in Pentax lenses, but then remembered your post that they are practically worthless. Would a small sack of roasted peanuts be acceptable?

BTW- Otis is also asking for volunteers to audition as " Pentax Saviors "......you know, those that post over and over in an attempt to save the Jumper from jumping. If you are good at squealing, crying, getting on the floor on your back and kicking and screaming...you might just be what Otis is looking for?

His goal is to have a ready platoon of "Pentax Saviors" on hand when a Jumper is spotted so he can send them a PM "Jumper Alert" and they can arrive on the scene of the post within minutes. He thinks this might overwhelm the Jumper's emotions and could cause him to trip up and jump sooner....rather than later. The sooner a Jumper jumps...the better..according to Otis!


Regards!

[boriscleto]

Otis was sniffing around over here and is getting a little excited...he thinks he has spotted a potential Jumper. We all know how Otis loves a Jumper!

Biz-Engineer....Otis wants me to ask if you will give him an exclusive live interview before announcing any jumping activities. Many of the Jumpers in the past have simply vanished into thin air never to be heard from again, and he'd like an opportunity to get the last words of a real Jumper on record before it is too late. He offered to pay you in Pentax lenses, but then remembered your post that they are practically worthless. Would a small sack of roasted peanuts be acceptable?

BTW- Otis is also asking for volunteers to audition as " Pentax Saviors "......you know, those that post over and over in an attempt to save the Jumper from jumping. If you are good at squealing, crying, getting on the floor on your back and kicking and screaming...you might just be what Otis is looking for?

His goal is to have a ready platoon of "Pentax Saviors" on hand when a Jumper is spotted so he can send them a PM "Jumper Alert" and they can arrive on the scene of the post within minutes. He thinks this might overwhelm the Jumper's emotions and could cause him to trip up and jump sooner....rather than later. The sooner a Jumper jumps...the better..according to Otis!


Regards!

Can I volunteer to push the jumper?

[clackers]

Can I volunteer to push the jumper?

We could form a team, like a bucket brigade. ☺

[luftfluss]

Hmm... I don't watch much TV, don't usually read magazines, don't do social media so please excuse my rather insular perspective, but wouldn't a community of happy and enthusiastic Pentax users be the most cost-effective "marketing" possible?

[yucatanPentax]

Hmm... I don't watch much TV, don't usually read magazines, don't do social media so please excuse my rather insular perspective, but wouldn't a community of happy and enthusiastic Pentax users be the most cost-effective "marketing" possible?

My Pentax gear is cheerfully displayed and explained for anyone who is interested. I'm not a door-knocking evangelical-type of promoter though. More the friendly neighbor-at-the-cafe-type Pentax guy. Remember those? Cafes. That's where people went for a cup of coffee -- only one flavor: coffee-flavored coffee -- and enjoyed friendly conversations on topics of the day with fellow townsfolk.

We had sad-sack and sour-puss neighbors in those days too, but they generally warmed to everyone, after thawing out from the winter snow and ice outside.