Pentax is a brand name used primarily by Ricoh Imaging Company for cameras, sport optics (including binoculars and rifle scopes), and CCTV optics. The brand is also used by Hoya Corporation for medical products & services, TI Asahi for surveying instruments, and Seiko Optical Products for certain optical lenses.
Corporate history
Early history
The company was founded as Asahi Kogaku Goshi Kaisha in November 1919 by Kumao Kajiwara, at a shop in the Toshima suburb of Tokyo, and began producing spectacle lenses (which it still manufactures). In 1938 it changed its name to Asahi Optical Co., Ltd.(旭光学工業株式会社,Asahi Kōgaku Kōgyō Kabushiki-gaisha), and by this time it was also manufacturing camera/cine lenses. In the lead-up to World War II, Asahi Optical devoted much of its time to fulfilling military contracts for optical instruments. At the end of the war Asahi Optical was disbanded by the occupying powers, being allowed to re-form in 1948. The company resumed its pre-war activities, manufacturing binoculars and consumer camera lenses for Konishiroku and Chiyoda Kōgaku Seikō (later Konica and Minolta respectively).
Pentax lenses were first badged as Takumar. The Takumar branded lenses were well respected for their line of Super Takumar, which designated the high performance coating applied to the lens as well as the optical formulas used to make them. The majority of the industry at the time was still satisfied with the variations of the "plumb" coating process and later some of the two and three layer processes as well. Asahi Pentax soon introduced the Takumar Super-Multi-Coated line of lenses witch was a 7 layer process as the industry had just caught up with similar forms of 5 layer multi-coated optics. Eventually Asahi Optical and Pentax slowly shifted much of their lens production under the Pentax name and transitioned some of the successful designs that were first introduced under the Takumar name to use Asahi/Pentax badging as well as beginning to use the "smc" abbreviation. Eventually the Asahi partnership disappeared and the Pentax name became solely used. Pentax lenses saw many feature changes to answer the market, such as: incorporating "Auto-Aperture" with the M42, the light weight and compactness with the 'M' series, Aperture Priority overrides with the 'A' series, and Auto-Focus with the FA series. Modern Pentax lenses have seen the elimination of the aperture ring completely as found on Pentax DA and DA* lenses Pentaxdigital SLR cameras. They use the Pentax KAF(And its variants, KAF2 and KAF3) Mount. All of these lenses have an autofocus feature, either operated from the camera body or from an internal SDM motor. Pentax compatible lenses are also made by third-party companies.
This article discusses the cameras– mainly 35 mm SLRs– manufactured by Pentax(ペンタックス,Pentakkusu) Ricoh Imaging Corp. and its predecessors, Pentax Corporation(ペンタックス株式会社,Pentakkusu Kabushiki-gaisha) and Asahi Optical Co., Ltd.(旭光学工業株式会社,Asahi Kōgaku Kōgyō Kabushiki-gaisha).
The period around 1950 marked the return of the Japanese photographic industry to the vigorous level of the early 1940s, and its emergence as a major exporter. The newly reborn industry had sold many of its cameras to the occupation forces (with hugely more disposable income than the Japanese) and they were well received. The Korean War saw a huge influx of journalists and photographers to the Far East, where they were impressed by lenses from companies such as Nikon and Canon for their Leica rangefinder cameras, and also by bodies by these and other companies to supplement and replace the Leica and Contax cameras they were using. This was the background to the development of Asahi Optical's first camera.
Pay tax, payta, pay tax We're gonna pay tax Na na na na pay tax We're gonna pay tax I never knew about such a duty When I was a child And now that I am paying I'm dreaming of running away Pay tax, payta, pay tax We're gonna pay tax Na na na na pay tax We all have to pay tax ...In this country (?)
Image. Ricoh. Ricoh is now selling a software graduated ND filter for select Pentax DSLRs... Image. Ricoh. According to an Instagram post by Ned Bunnell , former president of Pentax US, the effect works by taking two exposures and compositing them together.
Ricoh Imaging announced the Pentax AF180FG auto flash, a compact strobe that is compatible with all Pentax DSLRs as well as the Ricoh GR series of compact fixed-lens cameras such as the GR IIIHDF. [Read More] ... .
Ricoh has announced a new flash unit that it will sell under the Pentax brand. Dubbed the AF180FG auto flash, it fits the hotshoes of Pentax DSLRs and Ricoh's GR-series of compact cameras.
Analog photographer, self-taught camera repairman, and engineer Evan Dorsky purchased the new Pentax 17 half-frame film camera, and, like any enthusiastic repairman, he took it apart to see what makes it tick. [Read More] ... .
Ricoh ImagingCompany. Ltd has posted its financial results for the first quarter of FY2024, and the imaging segment's performance is trending positively, helping to reduce an ongoing operational loss. [Read More] ... .
The collaboration between PENTAX Medical and ASP has resulted in a groundbreaking advancement in addressing the ongoing challenges of duodenoscope reprocessing ... About PENTAX MedicalPENTAX Medical is a division of HOYA Group.
... for now, a Ricoh representative tells us, "Ricoh ImagingAmericas confirmed that the premium firmware features for the PENTAXK-1 and PENTAX K-1 Mark II will eventually be available to US customers."
Ricoh announced a new paid firmware expansion for the Pentax K-1 and K-1 Mark II cameras that will add three new functions aimed specifically at astrophotography. [Read More] ... .
The Newport Daily Express
07 Aug 2024
The Newport Daily Express
07 Aug 2024