I have been using a Pentax K-x here in Hong Kong for about the last 4-5 years. I remember when I bought it, I had to specially order it through a local electronics store, who kept encouraging me to buy Canon or Nikon. But as it was a gift for my wife, who'd specifically asked for that model, my hands were tied... After living and shooting with that great little camera for all this time, I recently decided to upgrade to a K-3...
After searching around on the forums and looking everywhere online I could think of, it turns out, getting Pentax stuff here can be easier than I thought... There are very few (or no) specially Pentax places, but it turns out that's not a big issue.
Here in hk, there are a lot of unscrupulous businesses, who hardly even try to hide that they just want your money and want you to get out... Or, they look at the bag you're carrying, shoes you're wearing and decide on the spot how much they will charge your for something. I get the rough end of this stick all the time, cause despite speaking Cantonese and having lived in hk for nearly 10 years, I still look like a tourist...
Because of this, there is a great website
????? Price.com.hk
Just to be clear, I don't work for this website... But as I'm getting pretty passionate about Pentax, it is gonna be useful to me in the coming months/years!
It works like this... Shops advertise their products on the website, including clear info about how much it is, what's included for the price, whether it's from the local distributor or a 'grey' import and their address and phone number. Other users (customers) can rate the shops after they buy things there...
So, in my case, I found 4 shops selling the k-3 body for hkd$6950 and a few more selling it with the 18-135mm lens for $8750 (us$1,128). I called around, confirmed that the price was correct and went to pick it up. When I looked on B&H, they were asking for us$1,446 + shipping...
The shop I ended up buying from WAS in Mong kok (a touristy, shopping district) but WAS NOT in one of the big camera centers... Instead, it was in a commercial building. When I went to pick it up, I checked the local warranty card was present and the serial numbers matched (which they did)...I tested the body and lens (all in order) and then paid. No dramas at all.
As a comparison, I checked at shop@DCfever (which I'm told is a popular camera place)... They had a decent collection of Pentax cameras and lenses on sale in their Causeway Bay store...but the K-3 was hkd$9990 just for the body... So checking the prices online before rushing into buying saved me a heap!
If anyone is looking to buy camera equipment in Hong Kong (no matter which brand) I encourage you to check the prices on price.com.hk before you actually go visiting any shops, just to make sure you're getting the bargain you're hoping for!!!
Good luck fellow pentaxians!!!