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08-23-2016, 07:50 PM   #31
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The fun fact is that so many here recall their K1000s, MEs and other film Pentax. Recalling their reliability from an earlier time gives them confidence that seeking out a Pentax is worth the effort. I used Pentax from 1982-2000, took a silly break and came back in 2010. If they'd only shipped that FF model when I was wavering..

For the others, DPR's Pentax history article is a fun reminder..

08-23-2016, 07:51 PM   #32
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Since buying my K-50 about 14 months go, I recall almost every single time I've seen someone else with a Pentax camera. I think it was about 8 times. Most of the time it was a K-3/K-3ii.
08-23-2016, 09:29 PM - 1 Like   #33
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QuoteOriginally posted by k70k1000 Quote
I went to a photography class at a local camera store. This store happens to be a Pentax Dealer. The instructor said I was the only person to ever take that class with a Pentax. Are Pentax users that rare?
Yep, but it's quality, not quantity, right?
08-23-2016, 09:46 PM   #34
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QuoteOriginally posted by Edgar_in_Indy Quote
Hmm...maybe somebody should bring them back, and sell them to hipsters to use with their Polaroid cameras.
haha don't give them ideas.

---------- Post added 08-23-16 at 11:50 PM ----------

QuoteOriginally posted by mythguy9 Quote
Do you guys ever get the "look" when you say that you're a Pentax user, or when you showed them your Pentax camera? Apart from the confusing looks, I mostly get the kinda "oh that's...a camera that I don't know, this guy must be serious"

I have not... but I have received the look of smugness from a Canon shooter with a long, white megaphone attached to his camera body.

Mostly, on the few occasions the convo has ever come up, I get looks of confusion.. such as the story I just shared above.. or complete silence (I don't think they know what is a Pentax or they think its a Bell+Howell caliber machine).

08-24-2016, 01:33 AM - 1 Like   #35
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I have a buddy who owns a nikon 7100. He told me he only researched canon and nikon when he bought it. Said if he knew about Pentax he may have gotten one instead. He loves my K3. Well this guy took a photography course to refine his skills. He told me he asked the instructor about other camera brands. She just talked about canikony. He mentioned he's used Pentax too (mine). The instructor said "don't even bother wasting your money on them. They're not taken seriously". Unfortunately this is the reality in the photography scene. Just absolute ignorance. There seems to be a status attached to owning a canikony. I have no interest in being part of that club.

Oddly enough, Leica people seem to be cool. I've been stopped on the street and been complimented on my gear. And of course MF shooters love the 645Z.

Now with the K1, more people are noticing Pentax. Everyone I've spoken to that own a canikony are blown away by it.
08-24-2016, 04:15 AM   #36
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QuoteOriginally posted by reh321 Quote
And, as I have said many times, that is exactly why I have a blue camera. In most circumstances I gain more being dismissed by likely subjects than I lose being dismissed by serious photographers.
I went blue for the same reason. I hoped people would just dismiss me as a tourist type. Not serious enough to bother paying attention to. I get away with more that way
08-24-2016, 04:52 AM - 1 Like   #37
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Back in the 60's my dad shot a yashica slr of some sort. Mid '70s I started shooting a Pentax SLR I have no idea of the model. I still have pentax manual focus and Vivitar Series 1 manual focus lenses (macro fousing zooms: 28 - 105 mm and 70 - 210 mm along with a Vivitar Series 1 200 mm prime (af mechanism in lens itself) from that time

I currently own a *1st dl (bought new), a K 5 II (bought used last fall) and I just got a new K 3 along with more "modern" pentax zooms

****Telephoto lens let you catch the action without your subject knowing you are photographing them****

Just a thought, lemmings run in large groups don't they??

08-24-2016, 05:57 AM   #38
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QuoteOriginally posted by snpsht Quote
but the teacher's eyes really open wide when she sees the images the K-1 delivers
"Conventional wisdom" would suggest that it is really you that made the photos great. So take that as a complement and have a great day! The K-1 did not hurt your effort, of course.

Relative to this thread, I also have not seen many Pentax cameras out and about. I started in 1980 with Pentax ME and M 50/1.4 and at that time considered Pentax to be one of the mainline camera makes. Odd how things develop and markets shift. I have continued to think of Pentax as great stills performance and great value.
08-24-2016, 06:25 AM   #39
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I suppose with everyone else telling their origin stories I will tell mine.

I had been using better and better digital cameras since about 2002 or 2003, and I finally wanted to get a DSLR when my old Sony was a huge limit to me, and so back in 2010 I started talking about getting one with some friends online on another site. One of them (and the owner of the site) was a member here and a Pentax shooter. I was close to pulling the trigger on either a Sony or a Nikon, and he told me to look at the Kx which was at the time their current higher ISO king. I bought one with an 18-55 kit lens for 450 on here (which is also my first feedback) and then a month or so later bought a Quantaray 70-300 (rebadged Tamron) and have not looked back. I upgraded to the K5 and sold the Kx to my older sister and her husband along with the kit lens, later on got the K-01 when it was on fire sale for the sake of a full spectrum conversion, then a K3, and now the K1. I've moved through a bunch of lenses in that time and currently have what is in my signature.

I've had some photographers be dismissive of me, and others handle my stuff and think it was really awesome. I've made some converts too. It really boils down to being happy with your gear, and being able to get nice pictures that please you with it. Also, one thing that Pentax has is the backwards compatibility, great form with function, and features that punch well above its weight at the price point. The guy with the 5Dmkiii and giant white lens can laugh, but for what I take pictures of I bet my results will be at least as good or even better than his. Ohh, wait, that has happened before! Yep, a smug 5Dmkiii user was upset at my results with the K5 on landscape stuff.
08-24-2016, 06:39 AM   #40
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I was attracted for two major reasons. First, weathersealing. I've had cameras freeze up in the cold. We have active dogs which thrive in adverse weather (huskies and a malamute) so anything I have needs to be ready to rock. Second, I cut my teeth on all-manual cameras back in the early '80s. I liked Pentax's approach to controls, and support of older lenses and equipment. Manual control is the difference between telling the camera what to do and letting it make the decisions, and can be the difference between getting the shot or not in challenging conditions. Of course that implies you need to understand how your camera works and how your settings affect your images.

This thread has popped up many times here. We could well be as guilty as other fanboys, though most of us did a bit of research before picking the less popular brand. That makes us a bit defensive but we can let the pictures do the talking.
08-24-2016, 07:21 AM   #41
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QuoteOriginally posted by patrick9 Quote
I went blue for the same reason. I hoped people would just dismiss me as a tourist type. Not serious enough to bother paying attention to. I get away with more that way
Now that is a good idea. Maybe Pentax should make some type of snap on shell for K3 or K1. Maybe I will get pink or rainbow colored. I have been told "you can't take photos here" while I was walking over to a park with my daughter...I suspect because I am walking around with a big black camera.
08-24-2016, 08:29 AM   #42
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QuoteOriginally posted by Murfy Quote
I suspect because I am walking around with a big black camera.

The pancakes serve a similar purpose. They look very unassuming. I don't have the 70mm, but have thought about buying it as a tiny mid-tele. They do make even the flagship bodies look like a Bridge camera (which everyone always underestimates anyway)
08-24-2016, 09:41 AM   #43
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Thoroughly discussed in this thread (299 pages; started in 2010):

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/6-pentax-dslr-discussion/109990-we-really-rare.html

Yes, we are a lot rarer than we were before the 1980s.
08-25-2016, 07:42 PM   #44
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Oddy, Pentax keeps popping up in movies. It seems like half the time, when a camera pops up in am movie it turns out to be a Pentax.

In my opinion, the reason why Pentax is kind of rare and kind of the big foot of the photography world is that they are all function and no form. They try to compete with numbers. Seems like every camera they try to squeeze more and more into it without having any idea of how it all fits together. I mean, their image quality is pretty nice, but even if they had more of an opening in retail outlets, I doubt it would gain them much in the way of new market share.

Think about sony or panasonic. In 2010, the only thing in camera stores across the globe was either canon or nikon. Now, we have sony, panasonic, etc. The market has become very crowded. Point is that sony earned their spot on camera shelves. They brought a radical new approach that has since taken the photography world by storm. Even if Pentax was on shelves what do you think someone would think when they see that down right bizarre screen rotating mechanism on the back of the K1? It just screams quirky, and archaic. Honestly, that thing looks like it was designed by some high school kid for a science project or something. Sure, it's robust and whatever, but it also turns people off.

Like they say, people shop with their eyes. Well, I guess that's eat, but I think a lot of the same applies to something like a camera. Back in the 80s cameras were just tools, but now with such a diverse market they have come to be ways for people to express themselves, just like phones.

Pentax is like cosmic background radiation. It gives you a glimpse into the past. Ever since the advent of the a6000, the market trend has been towards smaller, lighter cameras that do it all. Pentax comes onto the market with a camera that bis bigger and heavier and can't even match the burst rate of full frame cameras from a few years back. They wonder why they aren't taking off with names like "Flu" card.

Last edited by neostyles; 08-25-2016 at 07:47 PM.
08-25-2016, 07:50 PM - 2 Likes   #45
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QuoteOriginally posted by neostyles Quote

Like they say, people shop with their eyes.
I'm afraid I don't trust the market judgment of a guy who backed the Samsung NX!

Last edited by clackers; 08-25-2016 at 10:22 PM.
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