[macman24054]

I think the best to help, is to buy something!

I have rearranged some funds into my GAS account and will be buying the K3 iii

[btnapa]

I would so love to see Pentax return to its former glory.

It would be photography euphoria to see that. I am all for it.

I did inquire at my local camera shop (Las Vegas, Nevada, USA) when the K1 came out. I told them that I would buy from them if they stocked it. The associate at the counter, a 20 something guy had never heard of the Pentax brand!! Can you imagine that. They have every brand except Pentax.

They have a dedicated corner and counter for Leica! Go figure. I am sure Leica is subsidizing their rent. I thought the Leica presence was a passing fad but they have been there ever since the shop moved to their new location 3 or 4 years ago. I am not sure what the sales results are for Leica. Either they are selling tons of Leica gear (not likely) or Leica is burning cash just to stay visible. The shop is perhaps the nicest retail camera shop I have seen in years and the Leica corner is just Leica class act.

Perhaps Pentax can do a similar thing. Pay for counter space or a dedicated corner in key cities and key local retailers. It is worth a try. Take some of their annual marketing budget and spend it trying a new approach.

[normhead]

If I had spare cash, I'd buy me some Pentax gears every year. That's one way of helping out. Let the inventory move. The second would be to endorse the brand. We can always post our good photos in Facebook or some other social media and say it was taken by a Pentax along with the data on the EXIF so as to disguise the campaign. I think those are the 2 things I can think of as an ordinary person.

If I had spare cash, I'd buy some Pentax gear and let local store try and sell it. Maybe pick it up after year if they couldn't move it. The problem is Pentax doesn't front people product. That's kept them out of the huge mess Canon, Sony and Nikon find themselves in having paid to have boxes of cameras in stores that are coming back to them unsold. The guy I like still has a Pentax display case in his store with a couple items in it. He just needs some stuff to put in it.

[tibbitts]

Does anyone here know the terms that Pentax and its competitors apply to retailers? That's probably necessary to know before asking a retailer to do anything.

[Sidney Porter]

My local camera store has a couple lenses and some extra batteries. I assume it is new old stock.

[cmohr]

One problem in Australia is that the best deals on Pentax are usually through the Pentax Webstore, run by the distributors CRK. This is especially true if you are willing to wait for one of their regular 15%-off sales. The bricks-and-mortar retailers (Digidirect, Teds, Georges, Michaels, etc) can't or won't match those prices any more, so why bother stocking the brand? I used to regularly buy from Digidirect when they were competitive, but I doubt I ever will again.

Yeah, now this is the case here in Oz, but , I think the main reason it has happened is not that CRK are doing this now, but , the fact that most stores simply stopped selling Pentax or even acknowledging Pentax years before. And , I think that really stemmed from the rise in Online shopping.
Once upon a time , to see what Camera's were out there, you had to actually walk into a store to see what was there, and in most stores there was always All brands, and people could see for themselves the real options in brands. With online shopping , people would goooogle Camera and the most popular ( and the brands that paid to have their brand come up in seaches first) results just pop up in front of them, and then social media pushing what is thought to be the best, but not only the best, the "best" to have other people see you with, just a different advertising strategy , and as we know on the internet "hearsay" about how bad something is, becomes a "fact" , then theres no coming back from it. Camera stores were caught in the middle of this, sales dropping off due to online sales, they had to do something to keep competitive and in business, so only stocking and selling the most popular brands makes sense in that way. Unfortunate, but true. So where does that leave Pentax and the Australian distributor, it leaves them selling the product itself, and I'm very thankful for that, Imagine not even having an Australian distributor......... Oh the humanity

[BarryE]

I think the best to help, is to buy something!

Yup, I agree. In the UK there are a few stores that support Pentax well. The two that stand out, to me, are SRS and Wex. I try and buy most of my accessories from them too, keeping my business flowing to them. I will not buy photo stuff from Amazon, unless I'm stuck for a small widget that I want quickly. Same for computer gear - I avoid Amazon. Yes, it may cost a little more, but I prefer it this way. Amazon get enough from my household as it is. Supporting the specialised retailers makes sense to me.

Getting the word out for the new K3iii would probably help, but this has been said for years. The problem is that most photo stores/magazines/reviewers have a Canon/Nikon/Sony self-interest, which can't be avoided. If the K3iii is good enough it will get noticed - at least for a short while. The hard work is maintaining the momentum ...

[Michail_P]

...(...)The hard work is maintaining the momentum ...

Yeah... that’s so true. That would mean sales. Not only for the new body, but for other products too. As a company, I mean. And for some, momentum would mean a new lens maybe..(?) Idk.

[MikeMcE]

Does anyone here know the terms that Pentax and its competitors apply to retailers? That's probably necessary to know before asking a retailer to do anything.

Most wholesalers demand “X” amount of product per order/ annually in order to get a “dealer “discount. Some wholesalers demand pricing control(MAP) and if you stray, back orders happen. I know when I had my shop each wholesaler had its own agreement and terms. I was blessed to have an account with VHI (Hasselblad) and that alone allowed me to make a good living due to access. Today’s margins and competition is totally different, but retail models are still similar.


Hang up and DRIVE!

[Alex645]

Get on the phone and create interest. Ring your local camera shop and start asking questions. When we this camera be in stock? What have you heard about the new Pentax? Am I right in saying that it will be more suitable for sports photographers? What are the test results saying? How much will it cost? Can I order one from you/ What lenses will work best with it? Will the PLM 55-300 be a good match?
What other ideas are there out there I wonder?
Is this pie in the sky or is it worthwhile considering?

I've tried this at a couple of our local shops and they all know about Pentax but claim Ricoh has an unreasonable amount of red tape compared to all their other brands that it's not worth it for them.

Most folks will also shop locally but then buy online for a better price. With Canons and Sonys there is enough impulse buying but for a small brand like Pentax, the margins are just too tight.

What else then to put Pentax on the 'radar'?
a) Go out and take photos with your Pentax and let others see them. The influence on my students, friends, family, or co-photographers may be subtle, but it instills that I believe in Pentax and the awareness starts.
b) Publish your work. Online, in self-published books, proudly include your Pentax visibly in your profile photo, etc. Exposure!
c) Teach, don't preach. Show others what your camera can do vs. putting down the other brands.
d) Promote and praise the model, not the brand. It's harder to get others to switch brands, but they may love the features of your model and switch brands just to have what the KP, K1, or 645Z offers.

It is all uphill. At the school where I teach, I took a lot of flak for suggesting we buy a KS2 and then a K70 for our art department, but once everyone saw how good those cameras were, their Canikony bias went away.

[E-man]

Yeah, I wouldn't be able to help with that effort. I have no idea where a bricks-and-mortar camera shop is anywhere within 100 miles of me, maybe even 200 miles. Back in 2004, when I moved to the city where I now live, there were exactly two dedicated camera stores—Ritz Camera and Ritz Camera. One location was shuttered in about 2008 or 2009 and the other one went out in 2012 when the whole company shut down. I have been using Pentax gear since 2012 and 100 percent of my Pentax purchases have been second hand via eBay. I honestly don't understand Ricoh's thinking regarding its (non)marketing strategy for Pentax. They don't seem to really care whether they sell any cameras or not.

[Hawkfan]

I think the best to help, is to buy something!

Agreed. I see more harm and dishonesty in shill interest. Just buy one if you are in need and like the product.

[Not a Number]

Ricoh's core market is domestic Japanese sales. That seems obvious to me from the Japanese only websites, events, interviews, articles and advertising. I've often imagined that Ricoh could stop export sales and still remain profitable from the money saved from cutting down regional staff, offices, support etc. Pure speculation as I have no numbers to back that up.

[DWS1]

The folks at my local store (75 miles away) all know how good the Pentax cameras and lens are. They all tell me Ricoh is extremely hard to do business with, and provide no help or incentive to sell their products like Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Panasonic does.

[MikeMcE]

Pentax rarely ever”spiffed” on sales, Canikon alway has. Sony never did. Marketing is a funny business in the Photography area.....


Hang up and DRIVE!