Oh, the reason is pretty simple, Cotty.
You see, Pentax is all but virtually non-existent in Israel. You have to
actively want to break barriers to buy Pentax. Newly announced cameras
arrive with months of delay here. The international warranty means
nothing to local service centers. To get your camera serviced by Karat
(the one I've been praising) - you either have to be in close vicinity
of Big Tel Aviv or you even have to pay to messenger service to have it
delivered there. Or you have to deal with shops with rather gray
reputation(*).
Ultimately, being a Pentax owner means that from the start you have to
overcome some very serious inconveniences and/or silly logistical issues.
In fact, I wouldn't recommend Olympus and/or Panasonic too. I mean I
would, but I would repeat time and again that the person who asked for
my advice would have to start by figuring out who's giving the service
and what do people say about that specific company.
If I lived in Great Britain, France or United States - then I would
certainly give a different answer.
(*) A friend of mine bought Canon outfit from one such shop. We went for
shoot. Focus was all over the place, the exposure was decidedly
over-burned too. I suggested to him that he requests for his gear to be
serviced. Ultimately they said that the camera and lenses were withing
specified tolerances... Bullshit, if you ask me.
On 10/19/2013 9:16 PM, Steve Cottrell wrote:
On 19/10/13, Boris Liberman, discombobulated, unleashed:
How would you convince a beginner to get a Pentax?
I wouldn't. Sorry. In fact, even a beginner has some idea as to why they
would want to get into photography. So I would probably ask them and see
what kind of result they're after. Because, say, if they're not going to
print bigger than 10x15 cm or if they're going to look at the photos
only on their computer screen, I wouldn't suggest a DSLR for them to
begin with.
Boris, I find this odd.
Why not recommend Pentax? For a beginner, the product line-up is ideal.
Something like the MX-1 can give a better experience than just a
cheapshit point n shoot.
If they want to get into using different lenses, then a Pentax DSLR is
ideal. They will get better value for money - even pointing them to
(say) DP Review reviews (there an echo in here??) will confirm Pentax
status as such. Sure, some will be swayed by wanting Nikon or Canon on
the front - but a lot won't - and in fact you'd be surprised how many
want to avoid the heard instinct. Pentax still does carry a certain
charm as a 'cult' following. A lot of people like that.
So what if they don't want to print - even at all? The point is they can
be creative and make some amazing pictures using some simple lenses.
In the old days, anyone wanting to do some better photography - students
included - would pick up an SLR camera. Why not a DSLR?
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