Why ?.

Was this when they did everything in house and before they farmed out all their repairs to another company?

The K-m and K-x aren't exactly massive, especially if you put a prime lens on. Not quite down to the incredible compactness of an ME Super and 40mm f2.8 but hardly a lumbering monster of a camera.

I think the lack of mass market exposure does the damage. I was at the RIAT airshow and only noticed one other Pentax owner (white K-m or K-x, didn't look that closely) compared to the sea of CaNikSons, many of which sported lenses costing the same as a decent car. If Pentax wanted to jump-start their sales then they'd do well to get an exhibition trailer together for events like that, with examples of the latest models and maybe some classics (say a Spotmatic with 50mm f1.4 and K2 with 55mm f1. to demonstrate how the system is backwards compatible.

From looking around the web recently, two reasons suggest themselves.

First, folks are jumping in advance of what they think will soon come from Canonikon: less bulky and markedly less expensive full-frame cameras. It's a punt, because no one knows, but it's probably not too risky. The lack of activity from Pentax over the past couple of years may have led such folks to think they've waited long enough and that a Pentax full frame, if ever, will be very expensive. Forget whether full-frame generally is a dodgy idea, unnecessary, etc. If enough folks want it, herd instinct will take over, economies of scale will kick in and we'll be deluged with the things.

The second reason is as Snootchies suggests, the high price of Pentax lenses, coupled with, first, a suspicion of SDM and, second, the feeling that the Pentax lens line has been treading water for a while and no one seems to know what gives. It looks as if SDM has done some harm to Pentax. It doesn't matter if the claims about its unreliability are completely overblown, what matters is what the market thinks. And the market thinks SDM is bad news, at a guess.

Anyway, the next few months will be an important time for Pentax, perhaps. If they get really stuck in with new products and new directions (and bury SDM for good), then they'll keep most of these jumpers. But if they do only just enough to keep things ticking over, then I reckon a lot of folks will start switching away from Pentax. The old guard won't, but the old guard probably isn't the audience that spends lots of money on nice new Pentax lenses which, at a guess, is where a generous slice of profit lies.

Yes I dealt with Pentax directely although Samsung did contract the repair to another firm. Even so that firm were very helpful and did not take long to do the clean and return the camera.
Ian

Sorry Don, you can't sell that here, it's not Pentax branded.

I'm not sure I really want a Pentax toilet? I know they make medical imaging gear!

On the plus side it would at least be compatible with all people. As opposed to the Canon version where you'd have to upgrade your rear end every few years in order to fit on it...

John

That has just reminded me of a very unpleasant experience

But then if you went on holiday and didn't use it for a month, the flush motor would break down

Interesting thread. I recently had a conversation with someone who was switching brands, and asked him why - and I must confess, in the circumstances, I totally understood his rationale.

Here's the gist, and I hope I've got it right, but I don't think I'm far from the mark.

He found it very difficult to make contact with other Pentaxians locally. There either weren't enough, or they weren't interested in swapping tales, organising shoots, getting together - whatever. Point is, he was in a class of one.

A friend (whom he had no idea was into photography) randomly spied his Pentax, and it transpired that he too, had no idea till then, that the Pentaxian had been into photography all this time. Turns out that a whole bunch of already-connected mates were secretly (and some not-so-secretly) SLR photo hobbyists of some seriousness, and were already 'ganging together' and going on interesting trips and jollies.

Pentax man joins in the fun, but discovers they're entirely Canonistas.

The fact that they were Canonistas was not a problem - they accepted him and his Pentax - but there's a twist. A twist of the lens...

It turns out that between themselves, the Canonistas had been very careful to only buy lenses that their 'circle of friends' hadn't already bought. Thus, they had a very handy little 'lens pool' which they could pretty freely share and swap under 'mates rules' of damage/replacement, etc. Pretty smart, really. But of course, the Pentaxian was entirely self-reliant, and in the circumstances, a tad shut-out, despite still being welcomed on the jollies, etc.

Couple that with a desire to move to full-frame dSLR, and where is this 'squeezed' Pentaxian going to go? Obvious, really... liquidate his Pentax kit, buy a decent full-frame Canon, and join in the lens-swapping party that his mates had already begun.

I found it very hard to find fault with that, really. I sincerely hope that if I find a local bunch of photography nuts that I want to be with, they're not all Canonistas already, or close mates of mine already, and, if they are, that they haven't all gone 'communista cooperative' like his lot were!

It'd be damned hard to resist that kind of pressure, over time!

I've been following this thread from the start with great anticipation, I will comment when it starts to dwindle,

Jack.

if the most common person had a pentax it wouldn't feel the same and there wouldn't be the "I belong to a special group" spirit. We're part of the pentax club, and whether we want it or not we're being elitist and tend to judge people (part of the minority makes it even better, constantly trying to justify our choice)

My best friend is looking to buy a canon (first DSLR for him) and it's simply impossible to convince him to get pentax. (would you chose a lotus over a porsche?)

I guess everyone's got its own reason to be on pentax, but to me the main reason is not just material but personal; basically i wouldnt expect someone to flip through a catalogue and choose pentax over canon - it has to be related to someone, a moment, an experience.

In my case i didnt chose to have a pentax, my dad had one, i played with it, then for my 18's birthday i chose to get a pentax slr (MZ30), was really happy as could play with my dad's lenses too
10 years later my dad's moved to a panasonic all in one camera, and i'm still on pentax

Now i have to admit i find it annoying to find a sigma lens not available for pentax fit or to be 40% cheaper for the canon fit!!

I had a Lotus and a Porsche, which would you choose, the Porsche or Lotus?
the Porsche every time, it's better made, so which camera the minorities or the majorities you choose,

Jack.

The Lotus, it has character in spades, but there again I'd rather have a Ducati than a Honda

John

Perhaps they used to be indecisive, and now they cant make their minds up....................