A widely known name in the camera industry, Pentax Corporation is a Japanese company that continues to produce cameras and other photographic equipment. Their product line includes a variety of other optical-related products and medical equipment. Founded by Kumao Kajiwara in 1919 and formerly known as Asahi Kogaku Goshi Kaisha, the company started out as a small manufacturer of eyeglass lenses. They quickly established a reputation for the quality of their lenses adapting the polishing techniques used in microscopes and telescopes. The company also expanded its operations and ventured into making film projection lenses in 1923. By the early 1930s, Asahi also started production on camera lenses for Minolta in 1932 and then Konica in 1933. During this period, the company was starting to focus production on camera lenses while producing optical equipment for the Japanese military. They later on renamed as Asahi Optical Co. Ltd. In 1952, the company introduced its first Japanese SLR using 35-mm called the Asahiflex. Asahi then renamed as Pentax Corporation in 2002. In December 2006, Pentax started merging talks with Hoya Corporation hoping to strengthen its medical-related business. They officially merged on March 2008 with Hoya acquiring 90.59% of the company. On July 2011, Hoya announced that it would sell its Pentax camera business to Ricoh – a copier and printer company. Pentax Imaging Systems was transferred to a new subsidiary called Pentax Imaging Corporation in the same month. On October 2011, Ricoh acquired all shares and it was renamed Pentax Ricoh Imaging Company, Ltd. Hoya continues to use the Pentax brand name for their medical related products. In 2013, the company name was changed to Ricoh Imaging Company Ltd. Pentax is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange and is led by its President, CEO and chairman Fumio Urano.
With such a rich history, it’s no wonder the company has so many products out there, from new to used. Finding the right documentation can be difficult, especially in the English language. This is the reason why we opened up a section dedicated to Pentax User Manuals, where you can view or download each PDF.