Pentax K-5: How come no one told me?!

[gsgary]

One of the Babes on here uses one

 

[audiobomber]

Grrr.. clear indication that Pentax has Failed at marketing..... If you haven't heard, Pentax was recently sold to Ricoh (after being sold to to Hoya several years earlier). In my mind, this places their future as questionable.

I participate in two Pentax forums. Most owners are quite optimistic about the Ricoh takeover. Hoya had no interest in the camera business, they bought Pentax for its medical division. It was no secret the camera division was for sale ever since it was acquired. Ricoh OTOH is a camera company, and expressly bought Pentax to participate in the interchangeable lens market. Ricoh is the largest copier company in the world, ten times the size of Hoya, so we are expecting new gear and a boosted market presence after the transition in October.
http://www.ricoh.com/release/2011/pdf/0701.pdf

 

[audiobomber]

Do you understand the limitations that apply by having image stabilization in the camera body, rather than in the lens?

Both systems have limitations. I don't know if you saw my reply in the other thread? http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...ws-reviews/251466-pentax-k-r.html#post2304966

 

[audiobomber]

Here you are camera reference where you can compare Pentax K-5 and Nikon D7000.

Here's another: Nikon D7000 vs Pentax K-5

 

[Nikon_Josh]

It is a shame about Pentax really, they are a great brand and I hope they continue to exist and make a comeback at some point!

They really do seem to make some good cameras, but does anyone ever notice? Seems not, something with the marketing seems to be amiss. They even offer weather sealed build quality for extremely cheap. And I wish they would compete more, because this would push Nikon and Canon to improve build quality on lower end bodies.

But I guess something has to be said for the 'cool' factor! And Canon definitely has that more than any other brand in my opinion, when I first started before I did any research. I wanted 'Canon' because in my mind they were the brand to have, they were the brand all the pros used and the brand I had always seen growing up. Now I realise that is the power of Canon marketing and it became very ingrained in my mind.

Only when I discovered that the Canon rebel bodies felt cheap and plastic and the Nikon low end bodies did not feel so cheap and plastic did I decide that I wanted 'Nikon' instead. Even then I wondered if I had made the right choice, as I had always wanted a Canon before that. Pentax were not even a consideration, this to me shows the power of marketing. Pentax could have had a camera that was twenty times better than any Canon or Nikon, but I would not of even noticed it because 'brand' name sometimes has enough power alone to the non researching consumer.

Even more a shame though is the fact that Pentax used to be one of the brands to have in film, Nikon were the 'cool' brand and even more weirdly Canon were not really that popular.

 

[Infinite_Day]

I hope Pentax gets going as well. Lack of reviews and consistency is what steered me away when I was just looking at cameras. I'm a Nikon guy anyway and stuck with a new D7000. The real reason for this post is the Ricoh takeover - I have a Ricoh GPS camera for work and for the ridiculous cost for a P&S it's really not impressive at all. The design is crap and the photos suck. When you look through the viewfinder the end of the lens shroud takes up about 25% of the field of view in the corner. I hope they throw some money toward good R&D and invest in making Pentax a serious 3rd player.

 

[pez]

Just noticed this thread, and I agree with most of the things everyone pointed out. I started in DSLRs with a K10D, because I had a bunch of great K-mount lenses from the film days. It was a good camera, but a little behind the curve. The K20D (which I still have) was way better and more capable. But the K-5 is da bomb- I absolutely love mine. I only hope that Ricoh concentrates on expanding the Pentax lens base and hires some real marketeers so that it stays afloat.

OP: there are nearly zero Pentax brick & mortar dealers left, reducing one to online purchases (which I am fine with, really), so camera dealers universally trash the brand since they don't carry it. You can't walk into a Ford dealership and expect the sales weasel to talk up Toyota product. Pentax is too small to afford to front lots of product to dealers like Canon and Nikon do- the dealer has to buy stock outright, I am told.

 

[2WheelPhoto]

More competition is good for good consumers (pricing) and adds to research and development efforts. I'd like to see a big 3or big 4 rather than just giants Canon and Nikon (c'mon Sony and Pentax step it up a notch), I hope more discover and purchase "the other brands"

 

[usayit]

OP: there are nearly zero Pentax brick & mortar dealers left, reducing one to online purchases (which I am fine with, really), so camera dealers universally trash the brand since they don't carry it.

Wonder Why?

People outside of business generally see manufacturer to retailer relationship as a one way street. It is NOT! You think its bad to piss off customers, its worse to piss off you retailers. Piss of a customer ... big deal one sour sale. You piss of a retailer... you could loose an unknown number of potential sales.

* Retailers do not have the resources to advertise a particular product... the manufacturer does. If you don't market your product properly, the retailers pay for it as well.
* Retailers are a single point of information. Good and bad.
* Retailers are usually the first in line to look an unsatisfied customer in the face.

just to name a few.

Have you seen a small shop with a good stock of Canon and/or Nikon? You'd be surprised that the shop itself probably has only a small portion of that stock's value paid out of pocket... the rest is "on loan" from the financial arms of Canon and Nikon. They both have traveling sales guys that spend time in the shop with the retailer AND incoming customers. The relationship improves as both work together and sales figures prove retailer's performance. The "loan" is paid off for that particular item at the time of purchase. This is how they establish market presence. Pentax and Sigma are notoriously bad about doing this.... that's why at times you'll see so few of their items on the shelf from these two.

Olympus recently made a mistake. Retailers wanted some opened demo units of their micro 43 cameras in order to explain the advantages of the system over an entry level DSLR. Do you know what they sent them? Non-functional mock ups. WTF? Yeh.. that's going to be helpful. They ended up opening a unit or two anyways...... probably at retailer's own expense.


Have you seen those converted mini-truck/moped looking displays from Pentax? I've seen them on the streets of NYC roaming around. Good idea.. bad execution... it was such a low class thing.. kinda like a street vendor hocking of knock offs of purses and sunglasses. Saw one in front of BH a few months ago. Wonder if that was with BH's permission.


Speaking of BH. Those guys know how to run a business. Smart enough to offer shuttles to and from the huge Photo expo over there. There was a lot of effort and thought put into the whole customer experience. I haven't seen so much interest in a mail catalog since Sears and Roebuck.

 

[pez]

Yeah, I get most of my gear from BH. :thumbup:

 

[awdSTi]

You're the one who needs to chill. Re-read your OP. Notice how emotional it sounds?

I was just commenting on how this awesome camera has seemingly been ignored by most consumers. Seems like a great alternative to the D7000.

No you weren't ,"just commenting on how this awesome camera has seemingly been ignored by most consumers.".

Your post was all about you, not other consumers.

How come no one told me about this before getting the D7000? ....... I could've saved a lot of money without having to buy VR lenses...

you both need to chill out for a few mins, and yes i know i am new but i am not new to forums. i am not trying to argue with either of you i believe we need to all focus back on the topic of the pentax k-5 being seen as underrated. i agree it pentax has had its up's and down's over the years but i see a company that is finally making a break through into the fanboy world of canon and nikon, and trust me i have shoot on canon and nikon and i for see pentax becoming the 3rd big camera company soon!

 

[fotosiamo]

If you're in Los Angeles, Samy's Camera on Fairfax sells Pentax from the Q to their medium format 645D, which I really love and was a joy to hold. Would be my step up to the MF arena if they have more lenses and can tether to a laptop when I'm in studio =)

 

[Nikon_Josh]

Oh wow, major bump on an annoying three month old thread. A thread started by someone who didn't do any research before a camera purchase!

 

[Buckster]

you both need to chill out for a few mins

...he said, more than 3 months after the last comment by either of them.

i for see pentax becoming the 3rd big camera company soon!

Yeah, okay...