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02-14-2010, 02:05 PM   #46
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I'm in the Canadian Prairies. We have 3 Don's, two Henry's, One Photo Central, one London Drugs. All seem to have a very good selection of Pentax lenses and cameras.
I've bought five lenses, one flash, two digital bodies since Nov., 2007.

Got them all from each of the companies listed. Just walked in, got new from stock with two exceptions...two lenses that had to be ordered in from Pentax. Both got to stores within a couple of days.

Pentax Canada seems to be doing what they're supposed to be doing.

I was in the U.S. mid west this past summer at a camera dealer that billed itself as the leading camera store in the tri state area. They had two new Pentax bodies and a few lenses. When I told them about the Pentax 55-300 lens they asked me if that was a Pentax lens or after market.

But they didn't have much more Canon or Nikon stuff either.

02-14-2010, 03:42 PM   #47
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QuoteOriginally posted by lesmore49 Quote
I'm in the Canadian Prairies. We have 3 Don's, two Henry's, One Photo Central, one London Drugs. All seem to have a very good selection of Pentax lenses and cameras.
I've bought five lenses, one flash, two digital bodies since Nov., 2007.

Got them all from each of the companies listed. Just walked in, got new from stock with two exceptions...two lenses that had to be ordered in from Pentax. Both got to stores within a couple of days.

Pentax Canada seems to be doing what they're supposed to be doing.

I was in the U.S. mid west this past summer at a camera dealer that billed itself as the leading camera store in the tri state area. They had two new Pentax bodies and a few lenses. When I told them about the Pentax 55-300 lens they asked me if that was a Pentax lens or after market.

But they didn't have much more Canon or Nikon stuff either.
I seem to be just down the road a way from you.
Don's here is a fantastic dealer for Pentax gear.
I haven't looked at London Drugs recently as they are a PITA for me to get to.
Other than that we have Bird Films, which likes Pentax but is too small to have much of anything from anyone.
02-14-2010, 06:22 PM   #48
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I am from India and its hard to find a store which has pentax gear with him. There are more then a billion people in here with atleast few million using some sort of digital camera, still pentax is no where. They had some authorized distributor but they dont have anything to sell .
Most of the other brands are available (cost is way high if compared to US), but are available. Pentax should also wakeup now & push its stuff in India.
02-14-2010, 07:51 PM   #49
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Pentax is on the resurgence in Singapore

Well here in Singapore, Pentax was previously under the distributorship of two different trading companies.
Both did a mediocre job in promoting the brand, adopting a low volume high margin approach that meant you couldn't find Pentax stuff freely available in the many photo shops we have here.
Many bought their Pentax gear overseas because it was so hard to get the local agent to keep stock.

Well that has changed dramatically late last year with the new distributor Emjay. Prices in the shops are as good as or even better than online merchants and there is a pretty wide availability of lenses in the shops. The recent prices for the K-7 and K-x has dramatically increased the number of Pentax new users at our monthly Pentax photo outings, which is a fantastic achievement. We got so many newbies who opted for the K-x instead of Nikons and Canons, something that would have been unheard off in the past.

The local distributor obviously can't compete with Canon, Nikon, Sony or Olympus in terms of marketing dollars but they have done a stellar job in building brand awareness and selling more Pentax cameras here in Singapore, a no easy feat considering the high shop rentals and business costs and the 7% GST. My conclusion is everything depends on how committed the local distributor is and whether they have a coherent marketing plan in place to grow the Pentax brand. The Pentax community in Singapore is really excited with the new changes. Kudos to Emjay!

Proof of the new resurgence of new Pentax users in Singapore:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/870890-post8.html
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/885462-post9.html
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/920165-post12.html


Last edited by creampuff; 02-14-2010 at 07:59 PM.
02-15-2010, 03:36 AM   #50
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The problem, in my mind at least, is that people won't buy what they don't know about.
To be honest, If I had not been a Pentax user for the last 35 years, I would have gone with Canon or Nikon simply because I would go with a reputable company rather than an obscure one.
Entry level users don't buy photo magazines, and if they don't see Pentax advertised on billboards or TV they won't even check out how reputable Pentax is.
On the other hand, if they did advertise, the prices would probably go up (in the short term at least)
In the suburbs of Montreal, Best Buy & future Shop carry Pentax, but virtually no lenses. Weirdly enough, the best prices I've found are from my local photo shop 'Photoco', but they don't keep Pentax lenses in stock either simply because they can't afford to have them sit on the shelf.
In all, I'm content with Pentax being kind of unknown, as long as the company stays afloat. I stopped keeping up with the Jones' a long time ago. I know the quality is there, and that,s all that matters to me.

Last edited by Gillies; 02-15-2010 at 03:46 AM.
02-15-2010, 10:16 PM   #51
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It's been almost a year since I started this thread and it's hard to know which way Pentax is going. I was shooting with a sales person from one of the larger stores here and he was saying that he doesn't see very many K-x sales. With that said, there is more gear on the shelves than 6 months ago or so. There were more Pentax than any other brand of camera at a gathering a few weeks ago. I don't know if the 645d will make it onto the shelves for people to see, but it would make people take notice....
02-16-2010, 03:22 AM   #52
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Surprisingly, Pentax is vaguely visible in this part of the world. I live walking distance from a large mall with three camera stores (two are just photo labs that stock some compacts, one is a proper camera store). One of the labs used to stock Pentax DSLRs but now just stocks the compacts, the other only stocks Kodak compacts, and while the proper camera store stocks Pentax bodies, they've got next to nothing by way of accessories and lenses. They're willing to order, but their prices are exorbitant - particularly where individual orders are concerned (but that's understandable).

Curiously, I was in a chain electronics store (that I thought had long since closed up shop) last weekend and found they stock a decent amount of Pentax gear, but the same price problems exist. Like the UK, our camera gear is far more expensive than the USA or Asia, so aside from the K200D and 18-55 kit (which I found on sale on a local online store) all of my subsequent purchases have either been from overseas sellers, international online stores, or secondhand shops. The weak dollar helps. A while back I picked up a battery grip for $35 from Amazon's marketplace that would've cost over $100 here.

The short version: Pentax is visible, but the mark-up is so much I'd rather shop in US Dollars or Yen than shop locally.

02-16-2010, 08:31 PM   #53
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QuoteOriginally posted by Wheatfield Quote
I seem to be just down the road a way from you.I'm in Winnipeg, where are you ?
Don's here is a fantastic dealer for Pentax gear.Don's, Henry's, London Drugs, Photo Central...dealt with them all in Wpg...all good, no complaints....
I haven't looked at London Drugs recently as they are a PITA for me to get to.
Other than that we have Bird Films, which likes Pentax but is too Dto have much of anything from anyone.
I'm not familiar with Bird Films.
02-23-2010, 10:00 AM   #54
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Getting better.

That means, there's now a 30% chance shops here'll have a Pentax camera in, and there's now a 0.8% chance (up from a few years ago from 0.5%) that the staff in the shop will actually know anything about it. Still, 97% of staff will be amazed they actually have a Pentax in-store. 80% of these staff members will be further amazed that Pentax is still in business.

And there's now a 10% chance a Pentax camera will actually have a Genuine Pentax lens on it! Glory! Will wonders never cease.

Still, though, there are some downsides. Fully 99% of camera store staff are amazed that Pentax makes better lenses that Sigma. Nearly half that amount are amazed that Pentax makes lenses...after all, don't they come with Sigma lenses?

A K-7 commands a bit of respect, rather than a ceaseless, high-speed monologue from some guy, probably working in IT, about how his 5D MkII is a true professional's choice. (Note: if you meet this guy three month's later, he'll have switched to Nikon after the 5D "failed to meet his needs" of impressing people in Javascript coding online forums.)

There's even a store that places Pentax up there with the ranks of Nikon and Canon! Granted, they're still a bit clueless about what Pentax actually makes.

In short, it's getting better. One good thing about the distributor down here is that they match grey-market prices for gear. Ring them up, say Adorama is selling Product X for Price Y and they'll send you it at the same price, with local warranty.

They'll be doing that less, as they've since brought their prices inline with the rest of the world, except the US. The K-7 sells for about $1300, which is closer to the US price than the K20D. K20D, new, sold for about $2500 when it first came out, if not more.

And it still came with a f*cking Sigma lens.

In short, though, I believe CRK have done a great amount of harm to the Pentax brand by selling "kits" down here only with Sigma lenses, a practice they're now just ceasing. It's been going on since the 90s, though.

But the damage has been done. Pentax, as mentioned before, isn't seen as a capable optics maker - in fact, half the time, they're seen as a worse lens maker than Sigma(!) or as not making any lenses at all! The word "ludicrous" does not even begin to describe this situation. Surely Pentax can rework their contract to forbid the sale of kits that do not consist entirely of Pentax products.

Good luck getting your hands on a Limited in-store, too.

Still, though, I'm seeing more advertising. And the K-7 just took "Advanced DSLR of 2009" in Camera magazine, which called it "something special" like the LX was. And the editor, Paul Burrows, of that magazine bought a red K-x...just because it was red (and made mention that he wanted every one of the 100 colour combos for his collection.)

I still think the colour cams idea is pure genius, the kind of so-simple-it-should-be-obvious thinking that only Pentax seems to figure out. I'm seeing more Pentax ads than I was five years ago, too.
02-23-2010, 10:56 AM   #55
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Where I live, a hand full of pentax camera and the other people don't even know what Pentax is ....
02-23-2010, 11:51 AM   #56
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There are two dedicated brick n' mortar full service shops in Phoenix (Phoenix is the fifth largest city in the country now) and one in neighboring Mesa, and only one stocks Pentax, and then only a couple of newest DSLRs with maybe 2-3 lenses at any given time. The other two won't even rent Pentax at this point much less sell the brand. Sure we can buy online, but what about the recurrent advice to "test drive" a new model, see how it feels and if it fits your style of shooting? Or testing a new lens against one you have with known qualities? I live with it because I like Pentax, but it does make it difficult to keep the faith when you can walk into these camera stores to handle, compare/contrast, and get professional advice on, virtually every current model Olympus, Canon, Nikon and Sony body and lens,
Brian
02-23-2010, 02:25 PM   #57
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In my neck of the woods, there's one store selling Pentax and by the looks of it, they seem to sell very few. They also have a very, very limited in-store supply of compatible lenses.
This same store also sells point-and-shoot cameras such as Panasonic. If you have a problem with your Pentax, they send it away to the proper authorities, which is Toronto! Another 9 hours drive from here!!
They don't provide with a loaner either.
The closest /big" camera outfit in about 2 hours drive (Quebec City) from where I am and they sell 90% + Canon and Nikon. They do have Pentax ... in very limited supply.

JP
02-23-2010, 03:51 PM   #58
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QuoteOriginally posted by jpzk Quote
In my neck of the woods, there's one store selling Pentax and by the looks of it, they seem to sell very few. They also have a very, very limited in-store supply of compatible lenses.
This same store also sells point-and-shoot cameras such as Panasonic. If you have a problem with your Pentax, they send it away to the proper authorities, which is Toronto! Another 9 hours drive from here!!
They don't provide with a loaner either.
The closest /big" camera outfit in about 2 hours drive (Quebec City) from where I am and they sell 90% + Canon and Nikon. They do have Pentax ... in very limited supply.

JP
Damm, that's weird. Cause when I look on ebay for Pentax lenses I always wince in jealousy at what some of you canadian fellas get to pay for your gear. About half what we pay!

*cries*
02-23-2010, 04:45 PM   #59
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Portugal is closing

The local representative in Lisbon has financial problems and is closing down, unless some breath aid is applied. They didn't ordered any K-x either. We'll have to stick to online stores.
02-23-2010, 07:15 PM   #60
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QuoteOriginally posted by Nass Quote
Damm, that's weird. Cause when I look on ebay for Pentax lenses I always wince in jealousy at what some of you canadian fellas get to pay for your gear. About half what we pay!

*cries*
Yes, I agree that we pay much less than some other people abroad, however, the availability of the Pentax gear is to be desired. I could easily take over the seller's job too: he knows just enough about Pentax so that he can sell.
But, as you mention, you pay more than we do here. How about buying from Canada? Would you be submitted to heavy taxes? Would it be worth it?

JP
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