Photography show, Nec, Birmingham

I have to admit, I thought it was brilliant to see Ricoh at the show...
I am however very disappointed with the very negative attitude of forum members...
I was there on Monday, very busy day. I was told the busiest of the show.
The guys on stand never had a minute to spare!
A constant stream of people wanting to play and ask about the 645Z, as well as the other kit.
I spent a long time on the stand and I must say, the staff members handled it all very well. If anything, even I got annoyed with people asking questions that they knew they would not get an answer to!!!! Or asking questions that were overly technical and would not be information I would expect these guys to know.
Lets put it all into perspective, I know for a fact (from talking to the staff), Ricoh Imaging (or Pentax as we like to call them) have 7, full time employees in the UK. 7 !! yes 7!! That includes a guy that joined only two weeks ago....Sorry, cant remember his name.
I have a good friend that owns a successful camera business and I know this to be true.
So, Thanks Ricoh, from me, and I am sure others for being at the Photography Show.
The stand might not have been the biggest, or the most interesting to look at. But I got what I wanted out of it and I hope you are there next year.
I also hope you continue to develop great kit for me to buy....
Oh, and by the way, LCE were selling at the show for Pentax....some great deals on virtually everything.....so for people to moan about no show deals....not true...maybe you should have looked at one of the leaflets on the stand that have all the show specials......I was handed one by a very helpful chap when we were having a chat.....
And yes....I did buy as well.

Don't be disappointed. It's well known that Internet forums are a form of safety valve to enable people to let off steam.

If they couldn't winge here, they might go home and kick the dog. Or beat the wife. Or punch a producer.

All over Britain, dogs, wives, and producers are thankful for forums, and welcome the whingeing.

In the United States, of course, many people owe their very lives to the Internet.

Don't knock it.

G

George. What makes you think we are "whingeing"?. On this thread and the other one "NOT IMPRESED"?. We are all just passing opinions which northernmonkey and yourself can decide to agree or not to agree with. There is no need to call us whingers.
As you can see on the other tread I've done more exhibitions than most people have had hot dinners and believe you me the stand was not that well organised or set up by the standards I was used to.
CHEERS Vic.

Vic,

My post was intended to be light-hearted, and I was referring to people on Internet forums generally, not just this one. So please don't take it personally. I am sure your comments were well-founded.

I would just note in passing, however, that often on this forum there has been criticism of Pentax (irrespective of owner) for not turning up at all at a show. So when they do turn up, perhaps we should give them encouragement. Carrots often work better than sticks.

Cheers

G

I just wanted to give them ideas .. Good ways to showcase the DSLR system as a whole, opportunities that seem to have been missed.

I like your post George.
I agree with what you say.
I just experienced people asking questions that obviously could not be be answered by the sales team while I was on stand.
These events are so customers can see the range of kit, not so we can try our best to extract obviously confidential information from a staff member (who probably does not know anyway....that is how the Japanese work), so somebody can then go and shout about it on the internet.

I'm sure they will have learned a great deal and I hope if they are there next year, things will be bigger and better.....they will have a new FF DSLR to shout about.

It was a major presence, so much better than not being there at all. I think as enthusiasts we would always like more depth of knowledge in these things, but only a very small percentage of the audience as a whole will actually want this. So there has to be a balance, and for now being there with a credible space and display is IMHO a very good start.

A good start ? The start? Should they be at ' the start' ... ?

No, of course they shouldn't. In an ideal world.

But Pentax has been fighting its way back from near collapse on a very small budget. Thank goodness they at last have an owner with decent resources, but it would be unreasonable to expect Ricoh to throw money at Pentax. They have other calls on their cash.

No doubt the stand will be better next year. And no doubt people will be complaining that there aren't enough lenses for the big new sensor.

Things ain't perfect. It was ever thus.

I think it's the start of seeing the real effect of the Ricoh stewardship of Pentax. It's the start of seeing Pentax return to the main arena of awareness for the larger public.

So yes, I think start is a fair description. Before that start of course there has been a fair bit going on to build to it for some time!

Ah, so its not the very first start then ... Look, I don't think its right to see this feedback as negativity ... Of course everyone's pleased they were actually there, with a good presence ... But that's the basics, that's the minimum required.

My points are all positive ... Positive criticism that looks towards improvement. It's because of my passion and care for the brand that I bother writing my thoughts here. If I want to think about practical demonstrations, proving results and showing that it's the best system for people, then the actual sales staff should be wanting that 10 times over .. That's their job!

A start yes, but missed opportunities as well ... You're there already! Just be doing stuff! No excuse to say, well, that's all things to try next time ....

i aggree it is a start and with the positives and the negatives if they are reading these posts

it meens they can step up there game next year
as if you dont get both sides you just carry on being blinkerd
and miss the oppertunitys

Which should get interesting, when it does happen . My answer to those complaints... There are presently on the market (sold as new) almost 50 PK full frame lenses. Add to that the hundredS that were formerly produced. Depending upon how a Pentax full-frame digital body catches market share, and also the sales of their existing full-frame lenses... There's easily the possibility of 75++ PK full-frame being on the market within one year.

But it could be worse... Take a look at a company such as Sony. Look at their camera body sales for full-frame, and then take a look at the lenses that are also available for those camera bodies in full-frame

It's irrelevant to me ... But I'll take a guess ... Not many?

But it could be worse... Take a look at a company such as Sony. Look at their camera body sales for full-frame, and then take a look at the lenses that are also available for those camera bodies in full-frame[/quote]

at the end of the day sony wont be worried as they are supplying the senser to pentax canon and nikon
so really at the moment they are in a win win situation