possible good supplier

I was meeting a friend near Warren Street (tube stop) in London and afterwards as I was walking around I noticed one of the my camera stores adversing a "Pentax Specialist" sign. I wandered in to find out how far they really went.

I have a soft spot for Nikon especially the D80/90 series and I asked to have a look. After five minutes the guy behind the counter mentioned I should go for the K20 instead. I asked why and if he owned one? He mentioned it was because it was the best value for money and the quality was equally as good.

I looked around the store and they were selling every brand of DSLR known and with every lens imaginable and for each fitting. I ask him again what he owned and he stated Nikon. But, he added, had it not been for the £20,000 worth of Nikon equipment he had he would have moved to Pentax in a flash. He was a professional.

It was most reassuring and not once did I tell him I owned the k10D. He proceeded to pull down the k20D and started showcasing its' features. It was fantastic to talk with someone who clearly knew plenty about cameras and the profession and also enjoyed every part of it. He showed of the stabilisation and how he could capture hand held with the Bigma (and any other lens in the vast Pentax catalogue) and then he showed the limited lenses which he loved. In addition he kept calling the 16-50 a professional lens but I think he was just trying to sell me the lens

All in all, I was thoroughly impressed that

a) they had Pentax
b) they had all Pentax and third party lenses for Pentax in stock
c) they knew what they were talking about

For some of you purists out there he was very quick to rubbish the live mode when I mentioned it was not a good the the Nikon equivalent and he again rubbished the ability of the Nikon to capture video. He did claim the Pentax SDM lenses where as quick in focussing as Nikon and I think that was his only aspersion.

For those that want to know the store is located on Tottenham Court Rd. The closest tube (underground) station is Warren Street on the Victoria line. When you come out of the station take a right, go past the Radisson hotel which is on your right and the store I a few yards further on on your right.

Happy shopping.

PS. I didn't but from them but they quoted a price of about £950 for K20d + 16-50 2.8 . The prices seemed to be made on the spot, no labels so if you can haggle you might be in for a bargain.

You haven't mentioned the name of the shop (unless I am more blind than I thought).

G

No you are not blind. I could not remember the name

Next time I am in the are I will make a note and post back.

It is a funny shop that one. Ask what the price is for something and they'll ask what you think you should pay! They have the ??? to 800mm Sigma in the window. What a monster.

And I cannot remember the name either...

Cheers, Kris.

Damn - back last spring I hunted up and down TCR for a good camera shop and never found one! I did visit a computer fair and what a waste of time that was...

Two reasonable ones at the top end. West End Cameras very close to the strip joint and the other one very close to Warren Street Station on the other side of the road.

K.

Ah ha. Now I have it - it's the other end of TCR from where I was...