> I was in Dortmund last week. The two major department stores "Karstadt" > and "Saturn" no longer sell Pentax. Also in two of three photo shops > there was no more Pentax gear at stock. I talked to two shop assistants > and they told me, that the SLR sales have dropped so dramatically that > they have reduced their product range to the two big ones (Nikon and > Canon). This seems to confirm the descent of conventional SLR cameras. > On the other hand this makes niche products more promising. Hard to > say...
Lots of stores here don't handle Pentax at all (some never, some not anymore "they just don't sell"). For this to occur in what is supposed to be Pentax's market (Europe and such), makes me wonder. How many camera companies have come and gone since Pentax has been around? At Dave's Camera Repair shop is a beautiful museum of great cameras long gone. Dare we count the brands? Nothing lasts forever, is Pentax winding down? This new age is different from the past, small stores close to bigger ones, large once family owned businesses (Eaton's in Canada, to name just one of many) have gone. Whatever happened recently to all those little computer stores, or all those 'brand clone' computers? Big Box, mega companies. Does Pentax fit the model in the camera world? New models and a DSLR as death throws?<sp?> and last ditch efforts? We have rumours, little facts. What is Pentax's status in Japan? Won't change my stance on Pentax, love the stuff, and will use it until I can't buy a roll for less than $100 :) Then go digital, with, well, hopefully Pentax and K mount. All this is a valid question. Anyone here fear this? They seem like a 'loss leader' type in the industry and am I wrong with them being a still distant 4th? When will they publish some new material for lens, accessories, and such? Why aren't they? And what's with the lack of ads? Is Asahi Optical Co. on it's last leg? Could this be THE END? (sorry, dry humour there) They've had once heck of a run.... Or is North America a pain with trading, shipping, duties and taxes and laws? Will NA just be cut out? Please, this is real stuff, real questions. I've stated I love my stuff and will continue to use it. But no one has ever raised the question but loves to speculate on everything else. So I'm tossing it out. Be open minded. Since we've all gone through withdrawal when the board was down, this topic may light the fires. Brad
