Focus on imaging show

No Pentax at the Focus on Imaging at the NEC this year...bit of a let down.
is there any reason, all their rivals will be present.

Gordon,
I'm not sure Pentax were there last year... or the year before. IIRC, ePhotozine hosted the main Pentax distributor.
Matt

I don't think Canon were there last year either. Perhaps it's not the place people go to buy cameras?

Well it wouldn't be if there are no manufacturers there...

Hi,

Pentax have had some representation for the last two years, but last years stand was awful...small with dreadful presentation. Maybe a high ranking Pentax exec saw it and told them do much better or do not go at all.

Canon have missed the last two years, but are back this time. Olympus missed last year, but are also back. Pentax UK really have missed an open goal here. The biggest show in Europe and all their competition with new DSLR's to show are there....without them..

cheers Steve.M.

I know some ex-Canon people and they said theft was a problem at the shows...

Even the retail outfits were poorly represented last year...

'Focus' is a useless show in a horrible venue.... It's been deteriorating over several years and is best avoided......

The last time I went I did actually wonder if serious photography had a future in the UK due to the attitude of both punters and demonstrators.

If theft is a big problem then perhaps they could drop prices to be in line with the rest of the world instead of nearly twice the US prices and they might find a better minded set of customers.

It's not surprising that Pentax does'nt bother,..why should they? The cameras are going like 'hot cakes' and the lenses are like rocking horse sh*t.

I think most people know that stealing is wrong, regardless of what they think of pricing levels. I don't think "The price was too high so I stole it" is a tenable argument.

We actually enjoy Focus. We don't go there to buy things but to have a look at what's going on generally and get a chance to handle things like camera bags that are not always that easy to get to see.

As for the venue, well I really dislike the parking arrangements - I don't see why we have to walk past empty car parks that are much closer than the ones allocated - but we still go there every year.

I keep hearing you guys complaining about high equipment price in your country. So, just for comparison sake, the Pentax K20d is at pre-sale right now in Canada for CAN$1259.00. To that, we have to add 7.5% for provincial sales tax in Quebec and 5% Goods and Service tax for the federal government. Right now Can$ is about the same as U.S.$. So, I would find it interesting to know how much your dealers are asking for the aforementionned K20d. Thank you guys for taking the time to consider my request.

The cheapest I have found it on preorder here was €1019, but I see they have put the price up again to €1099, and even that is cheaper than most have it for, the next cheapest is €1248. That is including taxes.
No idea when it will arrive here either.

Thank you Gwyn. With the current exchange rate, it ends up at about CAN$2001.15 (that is figuring out a price of 1019 Euro). With the taxes mine will cost CAN$1422.21. The difference is quite substantial. Now, I understand more the complaining. My dealer said he got confirmation from the folks at Pentax that they would start delivery early in march. I just hope they were not overly optimistic!

The prices of many items in the UK are, frankly, an outrage. Essentially we are 'ripped off' at every corner.....

I would like to aquire a K10D and may well do so but need to get a better price than is currently available in the UK, bearing in mind that it is now an obsolete camera and will become 'junk' sometime in the next year or so with no resale value and possibly no viable/cost effective repair options.

The K10D is available in the US for $500,...thats a touch over £250.

The 'best' UK price is at SRS and is £399,....that's a touch under $US 800

Typical of the 'problem' is the price of Photoshop,...Adobe has a policy of charging the same digits in either pounds or dollars,..despite the fact that there is usually about two to one so they sell PS here in the UK at TWICE (or very nearly) the US price!!

Don't get me going viewfinder. I echo your words here in Aust.
I took a walk around the city on my day off and visited a couple of camera stores, and not one of them have reduced the price of the K10 even though they have orders of 20 or more K20s.

You should complain Viewfinder. The cheapest price for a K10D in Holland is €598, which is GBP452 or USD880

Hi Gwyn,

£450 is the 'average' discount price here as well with most of the big retailers selling at £479 with kit zoom. It's only SRS who are showing a low price and that is only in the last few days,..they were asking £429 (body only) before that.

It would'nt be quite so bad if one was sure of longterm fixability but with the constant introduction of 'bigger and better' every year the chance of economic repair becomes less likely,...these are probably disposable cameras now. I've already been thru this with camcorders,...had three in the past ten years or so,..all different makes and all failed within a couple of years and were 'not worth the cost of repairing'. With mechanical cameras one could usually get a decent repair and/or I was able to repair my own cameras. However, when it comes to electronics (never mind computers!) I basically understand 'ON & OFF' only so no chance of taking it apart and recognising anything inside.........

452GBP is the cheapest price here - most are still offering it at around 500GBP or more. OK we get a two year guarantee on it for that but it is still a ridiculous price compared to the Uk or the US.

If it wasn't such a big step up from the Ds I'd proabably wait until my holiday in the US in May to buy one (or the K20D). As it is I want to learn to use it before I go. I'm still hanging fire on it though to see if it drops more once the K20D comes on line, and what price the K20D will be.

I may well wait with buying the lenses for it until I go to the US though. Even declaring them on my return and paying import duty and VAT on them they will be cheaper than I can get them here, by a long way.
It's a pity we are not visiting our friends on this trip or I could ask them to order them for me and so take advantage of any rebates going at the same time.