10 Facts About Pentax Corporation

Pentax Corporation is a brand name used primarily by the Japanese multinational imaging and electronics company Ricoh for DSLR cameras, lenses, sport optics, and CCTV optics.

Pentax Corporation resumed its pre-war activities, manufacturing binoculars and consumer camera lenses for Konishiroku and Chiyoda Kogaku Seiko .

The name "Pentax Corporation" was originally a registered trademark of the East German VEB Zeiss Ikon and acquired by the Asahi Optical company in 1957.

Equipment was exported to the United States from the 1950s until the mid-1970s by Honeywell Corporation and branded as "Heiland Pentax" and later "Honeywell Pentax".

In December 2006, Pentax started the process of merging with Hoya Corporation to form 'Hoya Pentax HD Corporation'.

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Pentax Corporation was under increasing pressure from its major shareholders, Sparx Asset Management in particular, to accept Hoya's bid.

Hoya closed the Pentax Corporation-owned factory in Tokyo, and moved all manufacturing facilities to Cebu, Philippines and Hanoi, Vietnam.

Pentax Corporation produced Pentax 67 cameras until 1999 and ceased distribution in 2002.

In 2005, Pentax Corporation partnered with Samsung to share work on camera technology and recapture market ground from Nikon and Canon.

Some Pentax Corporation lenses are rebranded and sold as Samsung Schneider Kreuznach D-Xenon and D-Xenogon lenses for Samsung DSLRs.