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View Poll Results: What age group do you fit in?
0-16 61.23%
17-19 224.52%
20-24 5912.11%
25-29 7114.58%
30-39 9319.10%
40-49 9619.71%
50-59 9319.10%
60-70 387.80%
70+ 71.44%
Don't care 20.41%
Voters: 487. You may not vote on this poll

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01-29-2009, 08:10 AM   #1
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The age of the average Pentax owner? Pentax Marketing.

I was reading a discussion of Pentax Marketing and service now that so much of the business is done online. Partly because there are so many fewer stores to show products (the Mom and Pop business is all but gone).

With Pentax Marketing what it is, are we a group of older shooters in general? People who learned to shoot for the first time on a K1000 or Spotmatic and have some brand loyalty or a closet full of backward compatible lenses?

Are they missing the boat with the new, younger customer looking for the first camera? Not because the KM (K2000D) isn't a great camera but because it's not hyped much and on fewer shelves. My recent issue of Outdoor Photographer has 2 full page ads for Sigma (sure they have a large lens lineup) and one for Olympus near the front of the mag. Even Tokina has a full page ad and they are a very small company.

Nothing from Pentax, even though the camera is featured in one article and Kerrick James is featured in a seperate multi-page article and discusses Pentax a little. It would have been a perfect month to advertise in that magazine. Kerrick James showing off his stuff and the fact that Pentax makes weathersealed bodies and lenses suited to the Outdoor Photographer audience.

So is the line supported by older shooters that knew Pentax back in the day when millions of Pentax cameras where out taking pictures? (Remember when Pentax was the first company to hit 10 Million SLR's in sales?)

When you vote, I'd be curious to know if you brought a Pentax because you had lenses from older cameras or just chose the brand for other reasons. I had older gear and just evolved to Digital's from film.


Last edited by Peter Zack; 01-29-2009 at 01:11 PM.
01-29-2009, 08:20 AM   #2
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I didn't start with shooting a Pentax. But I did my research before jumping into a dslr and the k10d was the perfect fit for me. Now my oldest son (24 yrs old, 25 in March) shoots with a k10d. Would he have found this choice on his own? I doubt it. But he is very happy with it.
01-29-2009, 08:36 AM   #3
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I just jumped into a new Age Catagory (thanks Peter !). I was always a point and shoot guy from the day I had kids. Thought about the (D)SLR world for years before at the ripe old age of 48 jumped into a K100D. I did a lot of research and for me Pentax seemed to offer the best bang for the buck. I enjoy my K10D and have almost pulled the trigger on a K20D a couple of times. I think I will stick with my K10D and wait until the next generation comes out, but no promises.

Like Laree my daughter who will be 20 this year is starting to get into DSLR. I have a spare K10D that I let her take on some outings with me as well as out on her own. She is going to Nigaragua for a month as part of a Project Hope (College thing ) at school so I think I will let he take a K10D and two Tammy's the 18-250 and 28-75.

I almost went Canon the main reason was one article suggested to factor in what friends and family have so you can share lenses. I have a few friends with Canon gear , but in the end (or the begining for me) price / performance - I was able to get a "starter kit" for less than $1k and that did it for me.

Last edited by daacon; 01-30-2009 at 05:46 AM.
01-29-2009, 09:01 AM   #4
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Backed into Pentax

Interesting topic.

After borrowing film cameras when I wanted pictures, I eventually gravitated to a wonderful "Mom and Pop" store (now long gone) in Annapolis. The proprieter was a well know pro who also ran a photography school in the evenings. He didn't sell any "major" brands but did offer both Chinon and Ricoh. I chose the Ricoh XR-7 as my first camera and eventually added another Ricoh body and a few 3rd party lenses. My wife bought a Pentax P-5 so we could share the lenses I had plus a few more that she bought. By the time I was ready to switch to a DSLR, the choice of a *IST-DS meant that much of our legacy equipment was usable. However, after a month or two of digital photography, I bundled up most of the film stuff and dontated it to a local arts center for use in their photography program, keeping the original XR-7, a winder and my original 50 f1.7 Kmount lens for nostalgia's sake. Once I understood the lens compatibility of the *IST-DS, I retreived the 50 from the nostalgia chest and it has become one of my most used lenses. I eventually ran across a deal on a K10D with two lenses and so the collection continues to grow. Now my wife is studying digital photography at the senior center and is using the *IST-DS.

01-29-2009, 09:25 AM   #5
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I was able to choose my platform from a completly clean slate. I have no camera shops around to cloud my opinion. That also means that I have to order everything online without handling and looking at it in person. It can be good and bad. I also don't have many people around that are into advanced photography to steer me toward one brand or another. I spent most of two years looking for a DSLR (boy was I in a hurry or what?). The only influence that I really had going into the decision process was an old Canon Rebel film body that my parents bought, and never used. I commandeered it, and used it for quite a few years. It made great pictures, and was easy to use. When I started looking for a DSLR, Pentax stood out to me as the best value. I kicked it around with a couple of college buddies (one a diehard Nikon user, and the other diehard Canon), and hearing them argue and never really seeing them use their cameras kind of clinched the matter for me. Their cameras were basically status symbols and not something they really used that much. I ordered my K20d and have not regretted the decision in the least. I have finally decided that in general: Canon people brag about long lenses and dreamy picture, Nikon people brag about sharpness and high speed, and Pentax people smile and show you a photo.
01-29-2009, 09:47 AM   #6
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I'm in the 50 -59 age group and have been a Pentax user and owner for over 40 years. I've had other systems but have always go back to Pentax. My reasons are simple, the biggest bang for the buck. Pentax has always been the least costly system on the market, both in cameras and lenses. I have found Pentax to always meet my needs and give me the results I have demanded. I can live with out all the bells other brands have brought out. I won't give up quality which has always been delivered by Pentax.
01-29-2009, 10:06 AM   #7
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Interesting Bell Curve developing.

01-29-2009, 10:19 AM   #8
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I fall in the 20-24 group, I bought it because the price was right to get into dslr, and the lens compatibility made building up a decent kit feasible on a limited budget. The compatibility also convinced me to make the (sideways? backwards?) jump to a spotmatic to get the most out of my m42's.
01-29-2009, 12:19 PM   #9
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Hi Peter,

I fall into the 50-59 yo range, but just barely. . .

Although my first SLR was a Honeywell Spotmatic in '67, most of my film SLR use over the years was with a Nikon Ftn or a Canon original F1 (which I still have, but it hasn't seen a roll of film for many, many years).

I started in digital with a series of P&Ss and then superzooms in 2000, and moved up to a DSLR in '04 with a DS. I was then an early adopter for the K10 and K20. In between bodies, I collected a few lenses and flash units. . .

I'm probably a bit unusual in the Pentax DSLR camp as my overwhelming preference is to shoot long teles. I currently have 8 lenses that cover the 300mm FL, the latest acquisition being a nice used FA*300/2.8.

Scott
01-29-2009, 12:59 PM   #10
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46 here...

Started with Pentax in the late 70's (high school), but did most of my SLR shooting with Minolta (SRT101 and X-700). I shot with Konica for a while after the X-700 got stolen. Then it was a series of P&S cameras until I came full circle and ended up where I started. I didn't have any leftover lenses from way back then. There's a good chance I would've looked at Minolta, but I'm not a big fan of Sony stuff in general. The bridge camera I ahd previously was an Olympus. I looked at those, but when I picked up the Pentax I knew which direction I was headed. It feel good to be back home.
01-29-2009, 01:00 PM   #11
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I too am from the Spotmatic II era, early 70's. Hadn't used film since kids started arriving in early 80's, then jumped to P&S (and camcorders). Pentax of course. Got more serious into digital with Fuji and Casio P&S. Then stumbled on Adam's PentaxForums and discovered the miracle of using my old Tak's. The rest is history, although my K10D is keeping me perfectly happy (for now)

Last edited by rormeister; 01-29-2009 at 02:10 PM. Reason: Not Splotmatic :)
01-29-2009, 01:07 PM   #12
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Nice feature set, very good price. As a manual lens user, there is no better system for old lenses in my mind.

I think pretty much everyone regardless of SLR brand has a Pentax prime lens of M42 variety...that should say something
01-29-2009, 01:15 PM   #13
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I personally picked Pentax for film cameras a long time ago. I decided to go with the digital bodies with the release of the K200d and k20d.
01-29-2009, 01:25 PM   #14
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I grew up on the front side of a Spotmatic F held by my Dad predominantly. Well, when I got old enough I got to use it and basically took it from him (funny enough he didn't know where it went until about 2 months ago - after I had it for well over 10 years).

I was always impressed with the quality of the camera and the quality of the photos and it's still going strong, although I don't use it as much as the DSLR.

When my wife and I were having our first baby we decided that a good camera was essential so we got a K10D kit. Loved it, used it a lot. Picked up a K20D not too long ago and now we use the two of them.....although my wife still doesn't know I have two bodies, I just don't let her see both at the same time - but I'm not hiding the fact that we have two, just waiting to see how long it takes her to figure out that there's a difference.

Picked Pentax mostly because it's what I grew up with and knew there was quality in the product. Also, through some research, and lots of reading on here, I realized that Pentax had a great quality product for a lot less money than the other large names.

Funny thing though. My brother in law (who just had a baby with my sister) made the same decision - to get a quality camera for documenting his daughter's life, and a buddy of mine, same situation. BOTH of them (separate times/days/stores/no talking to each other) got the Sony a200 after visiting the local Best Buy - I guess they were really pushing that model/brand. And that was even after I told them everything I could about the Pentax and let each of them borrow my K10D for a few days.....oh well.
01-29-2009, 01:28 PM   #15
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I'm just glad there are two more age groups above mine and a don't care.
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