Why Pentax will never be a 'Pro' brand

They may make good cameras, they may make good lenses, they may (ultimately) make the best FF camera ever invented but.....


...unless they can sort out the warranty and repair mess that they currently have they could never be taken seriously

I have already recounted my tale of woe about the poor service I received from Johnsons Photopia (Pentax authorised Service Centre in the UK) when my camera fell and broke. Ages waiting for a part and then two weeks for their "Highly skilled factory-trained technicians" to notice that they had recieved the wrong bit

Now comes the SDM failure debacle. Just under a month ago I returned my 16-50 lens to SRS, under warranty, for a 'simple' SDM repair.

3 weeks (and several emails) later I get this:

"Unfortunately they are saying that the lens will have to go to Pentax in France to be fixed."

When I asked what they have been doing with it for the last 24 days I get:

"To be honest I have asked them the very same questions, and predictably the answer is that they had the lens on extensive tests for the three weeks that they have had it.
They have then come to the conclusion that the best way to ensure that the lens is fixed and calibrated properly is to forward it to the Pentax European Service centre in France."

It took me all of 30 seconds mounted on my camera to diagnose that it doesn't autofocus. There's not that many parts in there that could cause the problem!!

They will now send it off. I am really bl**dy angry that I could be weeks more without this lens. SRS have now offered me a 'loan lens' while I'm waiting but that's nothing to do with Pentax and everything to do with SRS.

I'm not a pro (yet) but I could be reliant upon this kit for my living. For Ricoh to post this:

"Our authorised Service Centre is unrivalled in terms of experience, expertise and technical facilities. Highly skilled factory-trained technicians use state-of-the-art equipment and genuine PENTAX parts to restore your camera to its original specification."

and then offer this level of service is another indicator of why they could never be taken seriously by the main body of professional shooters.



Rant, rant, rant,ran............

FWIW, Johnsons are used by other marques, not just Pentax...

I've had some very good service from JPS in the past. Can I relate my recent Nikon support story to show other marquee have similar issues.

Bought a Nikon refurbished 85mm 1.8 at the photography show this year early April.

Used lens to try and it was ok, used it on a job a week later and wouldn't focus on either of my bodies
Was told it will be returned to nikon for service three weeks later lens returned tried it on both bodies again same fault
Returned again didn't hear anything until last week when nikon said they could find no fault but replaced all the af mechanism as a precaution
Finally got lens back yesterday and it finally works the whole debacle has taken nearly two months to rectify and this is nikon not a third party repairer.

So I guess this level of service is not just limited to Pentax..

A great shame that you are having these issues. I have used Johnson's twice previously and found the service to be very good.

I know we often hear the phrase "it's not like it used to be in the (good?) old days" - but there is more than an element of truth to it.

I used to work in a camera shop and when there was a problem with a high-end product (Contax and Bronica spring to mind) we would phone the Rep, he would arrange for collection, and as soon as it arrived at the service centre he was advised on how long the issue would take to resolve. If it was likely to be more than a few days he would arrange for a "loan" item to be sent to us so the customer would not be without for any extended period.

There was talk of a Pentax Pro Network being set up in the US a little while ago, but whether this materialised or will be adopted over here I don't know. Maybe Chris (SRS) could advise?

I have used Johnsons on four occasions and have found them fast and efficient. The only time I had to wait was when I found my second K-5 had the stain (as did the first) and there was literally no stock in the UK so I had to wait until some shipped from France. Saying that, at that time I would imagine they were replacing rather a lot of cameras.

A very sour experience, and one that I hope resolves itself sooner rather than much later. But it's a bit of a marathon from that to your post's headline. In one area at least, Pentax already has good claim to being a pro brand, with its medium-frame camera.

I have used Johnsons twice - one for my k10 and one for my sons compact - great service both times

What sort of time-frames do "we" class as fast/quick/efficient ?

You might find some key people to complain to on twitter

I have to say I found the service at JPS first class and very effiecient. After losing confidience in a third party repairer. (Yes I tried to get it repaired cheaply) Who claimed to be a Pentax specialist. After two attempts. My 55-300 still would not auto focus. So I took it along to JPS. Who, gave me a quote. Repaired it the next day, perfectly..

Aw come on,allow me a little poetic licence

Although to be fair a making pro-cameras is not the only requirement to being a 'pro' brand. A decent support network is essential as well.

For all of you that are telling me about your wonderful customer experiences with JPS........


...you're not helping you know

I think with any serviced based organisation there will be cock ups, however in the service industry we tend to only hear the bad stories. Most of the replies here tend to be of a positive nature with regards to JPS.

In you case and same with mine with Nikon after a certain period of time say two weeks a loaner should be sent out. To be honest though speaking as a pro if a piece of my kit failed and needed repair and I was on a shoot I would just hire or make do, I have enough back ups, I think most pros rely on back up rather than brand service as a first resort too.

Due to my kit ownership I do have NPS as standard and saw no benefit to it so maybe pro services are overrated to begin with.

My IIs is STILL with them. I sent it off because one of the steel locating pins on the grip had broke off and got stuck in the body. The day before I sent it back it developed a shutter problem. Off it went, it came back a couple of weeks later with the shutter all fettled, but the pin still stuck! Off it went again, over a month later I inquire and I'm told it was due for shipping that very day and I'll have it back in a day or two. A week later I'm told that they had fixed he bent data pin!!??? 3 weeks later I'm told they are waiting for a part to complete the repair. I wish I'd of just lived with the bloody stuck pin now..

Of course. If it breaks down down a day before the gig even the quickest of service centres isn't going to be any help