Nikon has a long and storied history of giving equipment, either out-right or on "extended loan" to influential photogs/organizations in order to be seen as the "equipment the pros use." That practice, along with availability of loaners/repairs for those same organizations/photogs or at high-profile events like the Olympics or the Super Bowl, form the basis of their whole "marketing to pros" approach. When Canon wanted in on the PJ/sportshooter market, they did the same thing.
They can then market to the Podunk Press by saying, "look what the big boys use. You should too." And in ads, they can feature big names, and Joe Snapshooter can see that the photog he loves uses Nikon/Canon, and Nikon/Canon sell Joe a camera. It's a valid approach and I admire it. It works. And the trickle down effect is useful as well; If I'm a Canon shooter covering something that is likely to draw other photographers, I can be pretty comfortable knowing that I can probably hook up with another shooter there if anything should go wrong with one of my pieces of equipment. That alone is reason enough only to consider the Nikon/Canon offerings if I'm going to do that type of photography. But again, I'm not complaining about it. All I'm saying is that Pentax has never shown any interest in gaining that market, so they don't do the dance. What Pentax =does= do like the other companies, is feature an occasional Name Pro who uses their equipment. Invariably, though, they are Name Pros who use Pentax Medium Format equipment, which is what Pentax considers "professional" equipment. Doug At 07:47 AM 3/27/02 -0800, Bruce wrote: >Give to keep, or give to try out? Companies don't stay in business giving >things away. What companies, who deal with corporate clients, will do is >send a >rep over to give a presentation/demo and lend some gear for evaluation. >This is >pretty standard in many industries. I know when the LA Times was going digital >Nikon and Canon both made presentations and gave demonstrations. The Times was >looking to buy several dozen kits with each consisting of 2 bodies, a >20-35/2.8 >& 80-200/2.8 lens. - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
