New member from Canada

Hi everybody! I'm new on this forum and think I will spend quite a bit of time with you. I used to be member of an American site, but the attitude of some members ( a minority, but...) towards non American kind of turned me off. On this site, so far, I like what I have seen.

Hello, and welcome.

There are great people here from all over the world, and the help you get is just as great. I have noticed that there are not so many US contributers, I don't know why, Come on everybody, join in the friendliest debating society you can find.

Yo!

And welcome!

How far north of me are you?

I either live in Pincourt or Lachute.

Welcome to the forum - enjoy your stay!

Hi, Mac! I live in Ste-Anne des Plaines, about 30km. north of Montreal. I have a few friends in Lachute, so I know the place a little bit. Bye.
Yves

It's interesting that so many contributors to this and other Pentax forums are from Canada. Seems like a disproportionate number in relation to the population of the country.

If that means there are more Pentax owners in Canada per capita than other countries, I hope Pentax do whatever they are doing right in Canland for the rest of the world too - to keep the brand going strong.

I'm in the UK - though I have a sort of connection with Canada since my bother and sister-in-law emigrated there, and I hope to be visiting again this year.

By the way, what are the prices of the K10D like in the shops in Vancouver now (including tax)? Cheers.

You have to feel sorry for our American cousins like Mac they don't seem to sure where they live!!



Dave

Dan

Dan,

Dave needs a little geography lesson.

Dave,

Canada is that little country just north of America.

I have two houses - one in Montreal where I work, and one on a country lake near Lachute where I shoot sunsets and sunrises while kayaking.

Canadians know quality - we have to to survive. Thus the high percentage of Pentax users.

Blinker,

We have some faithful members in British Columbia, and I'll ask them to let us know about prices way out there. I hope you can visit there - it's spectacular.

Yves,

You live in a very nice area - maybe we'll hook up one day.

Welcome to the forum, dont be too hard on your American neigbours they have the weight of the world on their shoulders As for this forum you will be made extremely welcome (see, your loyalty to King George paid off in the end )

To impotentspider,

Thank you for your welcome words. As for my southern neighbours, ùùùi learned a long time ago that you have to understand them, but not necessarily believe them.

I wouldn't say we are disproportionate, as we have just over half the population of the UK and I don't think half the members here are Canadian are they? Or by "disproportionate" did you mean our legs are short and our knuckles drag on the ground? (That's just an Eastern thing here)

I would say by the sound of things Pentax struggles for identity in Canada every bit as much as elsewhere in the world. Most retailers in and around Vancouver do at least stock a minimum number of Pentax items though and they always seem to be able to quickly get anything if they are out of stock. I do see a few large Pentax billboards on the highways here and there (one for an *ist D near me ) but there seems to be a downward trend to more conventional advertising lately and almost no trade show support compared to the past. I bought Pentax because of quality and features vs. price and size, and I actually care little if I am in the minority or not. (in fact I think most of us here secretly enjoy being black sheep don't we?) As far as the brand still going strong I think the product speaks for itself and as long as they keep doing what they do we'll all be OK.

Just so you have somewhere to shop when you do visit Vancouver, here are some popular bricks and mortar stores in Vancouver with websites and K10D (body only) retail prices. BC's provincial tax is 7% and Canada's GST (VAT) is 5% so add 12% to these prices.

Broadway Camera www.bcCamera.com $650
Kerrisdale Camera www.kerrisdaleCamera.com K10D not listed but has K20D at $1400
Lens & Shutter www.LensAndShutter.com $700
Leo's Camera's www.LeosCameras.com K10D listed but no prices.
London Drugs (my favourite) www.LondonDrugs.com K10D not listed at the moment and that surprises me.

Here are two great Canadian on-line sellers that would deliver to your Vancouver relatives place if you planned ahead.
http://www.cameracanada.com/index.asp
http://www.thecamerastore.com/


Hope that helps you iceblinker

Regards

Drew

Thanks very much indeed for the prices, Drew. Doing the sums I see I could save £44 by buying from Broadway Camera. I don't think that's enough of a saving to justify waiting for it, though. Plus there's the chance that I would be done for VAT as I return to the UK if Customs didn't believe I bought the camera in the UK. (I think digital still cameras are except from Duty, but not Value Added Tax).

I saw a K10D with 18-55 lens in the Maple Ridge branch of London Drugs last summer at $999.

I suppose I thought the number of Canadians on the forum was disproportiante considering this is a British based website and we don't get five times as many Americans as Brits. But perhaps that says more about Americans than Canadians! Anyway the more the merrier as far as I'm concerned.

I'm looking forward to visiting Greater Vancouver again very much. Cheers,

Disproportionate? Even if 50% of all Canadian DSLR Users used Pentax, we'd still be a smaller market than many European countries...

I think the real reason Canadians like it here, other than the congenial atmosphere (focused on the result not the equipment mostly), has to be the spelling... I mean - COLOR? Where's the 'u'...

BTW, I live about an hour east of Toronto (one of Drew's knuckle draggers, I suppose) and about 90 minutes south of Algonquin Park, where I have yet to go since getting my K10D...

to Classvino, I can"t disagree with your comments about the spelling. For a North American, it is sometimes strange. But stranger yet are the expressions you guys are using. And I don"t mean that in a mean way. Actually' I love British comedies like "Allo! Allo!" and so on...