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Aussie K10D kit.. what is the bet....

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Don't you wish that you could get Pentax Lenses and not Sigma as a kit?

When you buy, do you buy just the body ?

wll
 
Correct me if I've misunderstood what I'm reading, but CRK's Parallel and Grey Imports page at http://www.crkennedy.com.au/v1/index.cfm?pageID=465 states:

"C.R.Kennedy & Company Pty Ltd are the sole authorised Australian distributors for Pentax, Sigma, Hasselblad and iriver."

"Parallel and Grey Imports are described as product imported directly into a country by a company or persons other than the manufacturer's authorised distributor in that country."

"Please Note

1) CR Kennedy & Company Pty Ltd does not provide any warranty or guarantee for parallel grey imports. We will not honour any warranty guarantee supplied by http://www.camerasdirect.com.au , http://www.d-d.photographics.com.au and http://www.globalmediapro.com ."

-- however the CRK Photo and Imaging FAQ at http://www.crkennedy.com.au/v1/index.cfm?pageID=269 includes the lines:

"Q. I bought my camera outside Australia and repair is needed within 12 months of purchase.

A. You must provide a properly completed International Warranty Certificate and purchase receipt, which can only be provided by the retailer or distributor in the country of purchase. C.R Kennedy & Company cannot provide free service without sighting these documents."

-- so it seems gear is not covered by a Pentax warranty per se, but rather by a CRK warranty unless (and this point is emphasised) its accompanied by a Pentax international warranty for the simple reason that CRK is not a Pentax subsidary.

... and leads back to a re-statement of the original question: ignoring obvious differences such as battery chargers that may or may not accompany bodies sourced from overseas, is it better and/or cheaper to buy bodies and not just lenses overseas?
 
Joele said:
GWP said:
I have tried to buy a Pentax lens in australia and its difficult,
you get pushed towards the Sigma product. So you buy overseas
instead...I did...are you listening Kennedy's?
Click to expand...
A common situation in Australia i think... unfortunately I don't
think they really care at CRK.. We are in the minoirty, most users
just want the cheapest price and have little idea about lenses, so
the Sigma lenses being cheaper means they are the obvious choice
for CRK to bundle...
Click to expand...
Exactly what CRK are doing. They are not concerned with brand loyalty to Pentax or Sigma. They look at a price point and say what is the best looking package we can come up with at that point. In most cases that will be a Pentax body and Sigma lens.
Do they make other bundles but resellers aren't willing to stock them?
Joele said:
They have been operating this way since well back into the film
days, and considering Pentax still does better here than many other
countries, it seems to work?
Click to expand...
Hasn't always been that way. I remember my first Pentax P30 came bundles with a 50f1.8.

But then my dealings with CRK have been very much a mixed bag.
 
Brett St Pierre said:
.. that it will be sold with the Sigma 18-50 (like every other
Penatx DSLR seems to have been matched with this lens)?

The romored Aussie price looks good but if it includes a lens I can
only image it can be this one. I think it would be doing the
camera a big injustice.....
Click to expand...
They won't get a cent out of me unless I can buy the body sans lens at a reasonable price (ie relative to the best O/S prices + shipping/GST).

--
Rob

 
jkirk@oz said:
jkirk@oz said:
Interesting point...I asked the Harvey Norman (a large chain store in Australia) Canberra sales manager why they didn't stock Pentax and he claimed it was due to the "appalling" after sales service of Kennedys. It's a bit of a mystery why Pentax lenses are so expensive in this country - like many others, I've found buying from B & H - even with expensive shipping fees - far cheaper overall. If an individual can import retail Pentax lenses at reasonable prices, I fail to understand why Kennedys cannot. Perhaps its time for Pentax corp to look for a new distributor.
Click to expand...
All my dealings with them have NOT been good, especially trying to
get spare parts. I was never really happy with the results when I
bought the istD (waay back) with the 2 Sigma lens deal. Ages later
I got the Pentax 50 1.4 (from USA) and was blown away ! IF ONLY I
had that choice waay back then. So most likely, I'll be picking up
the K100D plus PENTAX lenses from USA .. cya CRK. Time for a new
distributor.
JKirk
Click to expand...
I understand what you say but I have had nothing but excellent service from CRK over the years. I had my old MZ5n repaired recently and the work was well done and fast turn around. Also my FA20 (obtained locally at cheaper than US~ prices) needed adjustment as it would try to focus on my *istD past infinity - all serviced well. I have no beef with them at all as I have found them very accommodating but the Pentax lens situtation is not good.

--
Brett
http://www.pbase.com/shreder



The Journey is the Thing
 
distudio said:
They won't get a cent out of me unless I can buy the body sans lens
at a reasonable price (ie relative to the best O/S prices +
shipping/GST).
Click to expand...
Yes Rob, in my situation I am only interested in the body. To their credit, back when I bought my *istD (Jan 04) the website advertised they would match any internatioanl pricing (including shipping + GST) and they were good to their word. Saved me 30% of the best local price I could find.

--
Brett
http://www.pbase.com/shreder



The Journey is the Thing
 
Brett St Pierre said:
distudio said:
They won't get a cent out of me unless I can buy the body sans lens
at a reasonable price (ie relative to the best O/S prices +
shipping/GST).
Click to expand...
Yes Rob, in my situation I am only interested in the body. To their
credit, back when I bought my *istD (Jan 04) the website advertised
they would match any internatioanl pricing (including shipping +
GST) and they were good to their word. Saved me 30% of the best
local price I could find.
Click to expand...
So what was the website and store?
Brett St Pierre said:
--
Brett
http://www.pbase.com/shreder



The Journey is the Thing
Click to expand...
 
wll said:
Don't you wish that you could get Pentax Lenses and not Sigma as a
kit?
Click to expand...
Of course! I understand that the Sigma 18-50 allows them to seriously undercut Nikon, Canon and Olympus with their base models (but a significant margin) but I would like to see at the DA18-55 offered as the standard kit with ANY Pentax (I have onlt come across one store in Sydney that does so they ARE available.)

But with the K10D I question even the DA18-55 as a kit lens. By all accounts (I have not used it, just the DA16-45) it's fine but when the premium MZ-S was released it was also offered with the premium FA24-90 as the kit lens. Anyway, many buyers of the K10D won't want an extra lens as they will already have good Pentax glass (or am I wrong, maybe?)
wll said:
When you buy, do you buy just the body ?
Click to expand...
In my situation I just buy the body. The only "kit" lens I could possibly be interested in is the upcoming DA16-50/2.8 but it won't be ready in time.

--
Brett
http://www.pbase.com/shreder



The Journey is the Thing
 
distudio said:
geoffcole said:
So what was the website and store?
Click to expand...
Direct from the importers, CR Kennedys, I did the same on the
purchase of my *ist D.
Click to expand...
Yeh, that was just when the *istD pricing was out of step with the US. Since the DS 'body' pricing has got keen here and that offer was withdrawn. The K10D will be very competively priced in Australia through the normal retail network and we won't need to go overseas. The AUD price will be very close to US$ price allowing for GST I believe.

--
Brett
http://www.pbase.com/shreder



The Journey is the Thing
 
is the only place worth buying from here.

I got some good quotes on the 10-20 (around $700) and also the Tamron 90mm zoom.

Both were cheap enough to make me buy from them when i have the cash.

As for pentax lenses, i'd only get them from the USA or HK.

Oh yeah Digital city was the old Fletchers. Still seems to be a good place to go and the staff haven't yet tried to tell me to buy a canon :-)
 
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