Pentax promotional activity in Oz

[jibbonpoint]

I've just received the lates C-NET e-mail espousing great things Nikon regarding entry level dSLR's. The D3100 @ $939.

I don't recall C-NET ever reviewing a Pentax; in fact, I'm struggling to remember anyone, outside of international publishers, making any comment about Pentax in Australia. You don't see the like's of Pentax in Harvey Norman etc; only in the specialist retailers.

I wonder why CR Kennedy isn't getting into the faces of these reviewers. There's a fairly loyal group of users out here that quite enjoy seeing the Pentax name out & about.

[xjjohnno]

Try The Age's technology section.

[MarkChap]

This is all too true.

Another site that I am a member of, the admin fellow also publishes tech stuff blog (http://www.total-image.com.au/2010/10/07/pentax-k-5-dslr-specifications/) and contacted CR Kennedy direct for some information to use as editorial, so no cost to them, at last report they didn't even respond at all to his requests.

[jibbonpoint]

Try The Age's technology section.

More info? :)

[Tannin]

1: Do C R Kennedy particularly care if Pentax sells well? Sure, they are the importer, but they import a lot of other stuff too, so it's not crucial for them.

2: Assume that CR Kennedy decide to spend a lot of money promoting Pentax. If it works for them, they might double Australian Pentax sales, and what happens? Yep, you got it. Pentax says "thanks very much for all your work over the years, now bugger off, the Australian market is big enough for us to open a branch office in now. How do they know this won't happen? Their best strategy is to spend as little on promotion as they sensibly can.

3: Pentax have always flown under the radar. That's their style. It works for them. They save and incredible amount of money by not participating in the marketing hi-jimks Canikon get up to. Do you know how much it costs to buy prime shelf space at a Hardly Normal type chain? We are talking hundreds of thousands of dollars as a minimum. As a Pentax customer, I'd prefer that they do not do this nonsense. No wait, I shoot Canon ... doesn't matter. You get the idea.

[Tannin]

Try The Age's technology section


More info? :)

What? More info? From The Age technology section? (snigger)

[jibbonpoint]

Info on how to view the info. Was it today, yesterday (hint - link?)

[jibbonpoint]

I don't agree with 1: That's just unprofessional if it's true.
Certainly 2: But surely that's a contractual issue. Again, it's hardly professional to deliberately underperform.
3: As MarkChap said, they were offered free advertising & didn't take that up so you could understand that they wern't going to pay for it.

I've found CR Kennedy very easy to deal with on most occasions with the odd not so easy.

[David Kembrey]

I asked at my local Hardly Normal why they didnt stock Pentax and the reply was that they were not interested due to warranty issues not being resolved quick enough. Dont know how true that statement is because I have had my K10D back to CR Kennedy's twice and both times was about a 2 week turn around, which I do not find a bad serivce.

[Kym]

I asked at my local Hardly Normal why they didnt stock Pentax and the reply was that they were not interested due to warranty issues not being resolved quick enough. Dont know how true that statement is because I have had my K10D back to CR Kennedy's twice and both times was about a 2 week turn around, which I do not find a bad serivce.

:D You trust a HN sales person? ha! The BS all the time - you can tell coz their lips move.
CRK have excellent service with offices in
* Victoria (Head Office)
* New South Wales
* Queensland - unlike Canon! :p
* South Australia
* Western Australia
* New Zealand

HN "This one has bigger megapixels" "twin lense (sic) kits are great value" "no one uses prime lenses anymore" etc.

[Cage]

What's wrong with Pentax in Oz you ask.

I think you could start with an 'out of touch with reality' distributor, who doesn't seem to show any real interest in promoting the product.

If you do a staticice check on the DA* 300mm lens you will find local prices between $1988.85 and $2159.00.
B & H currently list the lens at $US1119.95 Add shipping and GST and you have it in your hands for around $AU1300.00.

Some of the more recently released lens don't show this huge disparity but hey, if your looking for a new system this would have to be a factor in your decision making process.

I think Tannin got it right. To CRK, Pentax is just one of the products in their line up. They don't share the passion that we, who have chosen Pentax as our photography platform, have.

Will this change? Possibly, if Pentax International get off their arse and give their new promo appointee the bucks to make some noise.
But if you believe the rumours, Hoya would like to offload Pentax. However a company with a highly sought after product will be more appealing to potential buyers.

The bottom line? Buggered if I know. I love my K20D, am lusting for a K-5 and some glass longer than 300mm.

Cheers

Kevin

[I @ M]

If you do a staticice check on the DA* 300mm lens you will find local prices between $1988.85 and $2159.00.


The bottom line? Buggered if I know. I love my K20D, am lusting for a K-5 and some glass longer than 300mm.

Cheers

Kevin

Call me cynical if you like Kev but with those prices and your lust for something maybe in the 400 to 500 mm range of lens it rather stands out that maybe you should be looking at Sigma lenses which can be had at reasonable prices and quality and probably have a higher profit margin and are imported in Australia by oops, I didn't really think that out loud did I? :D

[Cage]

Andrew, I'm hearing what you say.

It's a shame that Pentax aren't listening. They have given us a bloody good body, but left us long range shooters in the lurch.

My next lens is probably going to be the Sigma 150-500. Pisses me off that I have to change camps though.

And I love my Sigma 105 Macro, so it won't exactly be breaking new ground.

Cheers

Kevin

[Tannin]

Pentax have a new 400/4 which I have not seen reviews of, but will undoubtedly be utterly superb. You could get one of those.

Er ... with the change, you could buy a nice new DSLR and a night out for eight at the restaurant of your choice. :(

[Cage]

Pentax have a new 400/4 which I have not seen reviews of, but will undoubtedly be utterly superb. You could get one of those.

Er ... with the change, you could buy a nice new DSLR and a night out for eight at the restaurant of your choice. :(

:lol::lol:


I think that is still on the Pentax carrot dangle list.

Kevin

[Kym]

There used to be a SMC Pentax-FA* 400mm f/2.8 ED IF (6kgs) and you can get a SMC Pentax-FA* 600mm f4 ED IF on special order.

[OzzieTraveller]

G'day all

I posed a very similar Q to this thread some 6-9-12 months back
I agree with the sentiments of the O.P here ... yes, I note also that the chain stores only seem to stock, and flog to death via the letter-box junk mail stuff, the basic 2 dSLR lines, while the ACT camera stores stock an occasional 'other' they are hard to find

I am surprised by this, as back in the ole dayz when the Spotmatic was king, CRK was very much to the forefront in the industry. Nowadays, I don't know any more

Regards, phil

[jibbonpoint]

Well, maybe someone from CRK may care to comment. Perhaps they only watch the "other" thread. ;)

[farmer_rob]

Andrew, I'm hearing what you say.

It's a shame that Pentax aren't listening. They have given us a bloody good body, but left us long range shooters in the lurch.

My next lens is probably going to be the Sigma 150-500. Pisses me off that I have to change camps though.

And I love my Sigma 105 Macro, so it won't exactly be breaking new ground.

Cheers

Kevin

What was the name of the Sigma distributor locally? Ken someone?

I tend to agree with I@M and Tannin. CR Kennedy sell a wide range of stuff, and there are too many cases of making a brand successful and then having the international company come in and set up a local subsidiary. I don't think this is a lack of professionalism, just business.

At the same time, with an owner that is not committed

But if you believe the rumours, Hoya would like to offload Pentax. However a company with a highly sought after product will be more appealing to potential buyers.

you're never going to get the product and marketing investment needed to rival Nikon or Canon (or even Sony) - regardless of the quality of the offering.

[Falcons]

CRK are the distributor for Sigma as well.

Disagree that Hoya is not commited to Pentax Brand for DSLR and if you want to look at product iinvestment to rival canikon and sony then just take a look at 645D . Pentax has done very well - it has the best APS-C sensor currently on the market with the K5 and the 645D is making a worldwide impact and all on a shoestring marketing budget.

Think Pentax 600mm F4 is still available to order, a professional surf photographer uses Pentax equipment and utilises that lens.

[farmer_rob]

There you go... "shoestring marketing budget". I am NOT arguing that the cameras are poor or not worthy - there are too many examples of photographers who demonstrate they are great cameras*.

I AM arguing that they are not going to get the visibility of Canikon to the wider public without a much greater investment in marketing, and their product investment is IMO a bit off-beam for global domination. Although I am sure the 645 is a great MF camera, this is a specialised market relative to the DSLR market (and only released in the US after much clamoring over there - not indicative of a very proactive company.) Note that Nikon are where they are without an MF offering at all. The K5 is certainly getting some traction, but it needs more than great technology and high DxO scores to break away from a small, dedicated market segment.

(BTW, the "hoya not committed" comment was taken from Trublubiker earlier in the thread. I have no idea.)

*EDIT: I don't mean to imply that the camera makes the photographer either - more that there are photographers who know their gear and reckon the Pentax is good.

[Cage]

farmer_rob
(BTW, the "hoya not committed" comment was taken from Trublubiker earlier in the thread. I have no idea.)

I just re-read my earlier post, and nowhere did it say that Hoya were not committed.


Will this change? Possibly, if Pentax International get off their arse and give their new promo appointee the bucks to make some noise.
But if you believe the rumours, Hoya would like to offload Pentax. However a company with a highly sought after product will be more appealing to potential buyers.

My main beef, as a Pentax user in Australia, is the extortionate prices we are expected to pay for our gear.
The pricing on more than the odd item seems to have been set when the Oz dollar (aka the Pacific Peso at the time) was around $US0.65.


trublubiker

If you do a staticice check on the DA* 300mm lens you will find local prices between $1988.85 and $2159.00.
B & H currently list the lens at $US1119.95. Add shipping and GST and you have it in your hands for around $AU1300.00.

That sort of pricing is not encouraging for potential Pentax users, and forces current users to look overseas for their gear, knowing they are up poo creek in a barbed wire canoe if, heaven forbid, they have a problem.

Falcons, I totally agree with your comments about the standard of the Pentax product. It's up there with the best, and is possibly the leader, technology wise, in several areas.

After 25 years as a Canon SLR user, when I decided to get into DSLR 2 years ago I chose Pentax as my platform. It was not a decision I made without lots of research.

Regrets? With the product, nil, nada, zip. With the prices I'm asked to pay in Australia for my add-ons, many. And that applies to suppliers of other gear too.

My next purchase? The Pentax K-5. If the revamped AF and the higher ISO capability is half as good as reported, I'll be one happy camper.

Cheers

Kevin

[Falcons]

Agree on prices and i have always bought lenses and accessories overseas as savings are dramatic. CRK will match price of Sigma products on overseas internet prices but not Pentax - it may be more profitable for CRK to promote the Pentax mount lenses and flashes from Sigma over the Pentax variants.

[farmer_rob]

Sorry trublubiker, I and another poster put words in your mouth, taking "Hoya ... offload pentax" to be "Hoya not committed". I think this is a reasonable interpretation, but agree that it is not what you said. My apologies.

[Falcons]

Farmer_rob - since I have owned a Pentax Digital Camera all I have ever heard from the Rumour mill is Pentax is going broke and every year the same rumour comes out. It seems rabid owners of a canikon camera feel the need to defend their brand and jump on any rumour about Pentax and twist them into something they are not.

No it is not a reasonable interpretation to take a comment about a rumour used in the context of " If you believe the rumours.." then twist this into no longer being a rumour but fact by an assumption of your interpretation.

Despite all the rumour mongers and naysayers Pentax still manages to bring out new models that push boundries and lets not forget the fact that it was Pentax that actually invented the SLR as we know it today.

How about this for a rumour Pentax to be #1 by 2013 - Just remember where you heard it first. (Don't forget to spread it!)

[TOM]

If you do a staticice check on the DA* 300mm lens you will find local prices between $1988.85 and $2159.00.
B & H currently list the lens at $US1119.95 Add shipping and GST and you have it in your hands for around $AU1300.00.

I see nothing out of the ordinary with that pricing structure. It is typical of all of the manufacturers here in Australia I think (although Cosina/Voigtlander seem to be an exception). I have the PDF file for Nikon dealer prices, and the above pricing looks rather tame compared to.

[farmer_rob]

...
No it is not a reasonable interpretation to take a comment about a rumour used in the context of " If you believe the rumours.." then twist this into no longer being a rumour but fact by an assumption of your interpretation....

You have seriously misunderstood my post and intention. I was outlining the consequence of the rumour being true - not trying to make it true. It will only be good for the camera market if Pentax thrives and prospers.

[Analog6]

Link (http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/cameras/Cameras/Pentax)to 18 items at smh.com.au digital life