Pentax Corporation was a Japanese camera and optical equipment manufacturer, and currently, it exists as the Pentax Life Care Business Division of Hoya's medical endoscope business, as well as the digital camera brand of Ricoh Imaging, a subsidiary of Ricoh.
A digital single-lens reflex camera is a digital camera that combines the optics and the mechanisms of a single-lens reflex camera with a solid-state image sensor and digitally records the images from the sensor.
Sigma Corporation is a Japanese company, manufacturing cameras, lenses, flashes and other photographic accessories. All Sigma products are produced in the company's own Aizu factory in Bandai, Fukushima, Japan. Although Sigma produces several camera models, the company is best known for producing high-quality lenses and other accessories that are compatible with the cameras produced by other companies.
Advanced Photo System type-C (APS-C) is an image sensor format approximately equivalent in size to the Advanced Photo System film negative in its C ("Classic") format, of 25.1×16.7 mm, an aspect ratio of 3:2 and Ø 30.15 mm field diameter. It is therefore also equivalent in size to the Super 35 motion picture film format, which has the dimensions of 24.89 mm × 18.66 mm and Ø 31.11 mm field diameter.
The Pentax K10D and similar Samsung GX-10 are 10.2-megapixel digital single-lens reflex cameras launched in late 2006. They were developed in a collaboration between Pentax of Japan and Samsung of South Korea.
The Pentax MZ-S is a 35mm single-lens reflex camera from Pentax of Japan. It was introduced in 2001 and discontinued in February 2006. It is closely related to the prototype MZ-D Full-frame digital SLR, which never entered production. It was the top-of-the-line model of Pentax's MZ/ZX series and replaced the PZ-1p as the high-end Pentax camera. No camera was produced to replace the MZ-S, making it Pentax's last high-end 35 mm camera. The MZ-S is the last film camera from Pentax that was manufactured in Japan.
The Pentax ME F was an amateur level, interchangeable lens, 35 mm film, single-lens reflex (SLR) camera. It was manufactured by Asahi Optical Co., Ltd. of Japan from November 1981 to 1984. The ME F was a heavily modified version of the Pentax ME-Super, and a member of the Pentax M-series family of SLRs. It was the first mass-produced SLR camera to come with an autofocus system.
The Pentax K20D and its clone, the Samsung GX-20, are 14.6 megapixel digital single-lens reflex cameras manufactured by Pentax that were announced on January 23, 2008. The K20D was available in the U.S. market from February 2008 through autumn 2009.
This article discusses the cameras – mainly 35 mm SLRs – manufactured by Pentax Ricoh Imaging Corp. and its predecessors, Pentax Corporation and Asahi Optical Co., Ltd.. Pentax must not be confused with Pentax 6x7 or Pentax 67 which are 120 medium format 6x7cm film cameras.
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 which 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 'F' series. Modern Pentax lenses for digital SLR cameras have seen the elimination of the aperture ring completely as found on Pentax DA and D-FA series lenses. They use the Pentax KAF 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.
The Pentax K-x is a 12.4 megapixel digital single-lens reflex camera, which was announced on September 16, 2009. The Pentax K-x uses a Sony Exmor sensor. In some cases it even approaches the quality produced by full-frame DSLRs like the Nikon D700 and the Canon 5DMkII, both with larger sensors. The Pentax K-x is suitable for low light conditions for both still and video photography.
The E-mount is a lens mount designed by Sony for their NEX and ILCE series of camcorders and mirrorless cameras. The E-mount supplements Sony's α mount, allowing the company to develop more compact imaging devices while maintaining compatibility with 35mm sensors. E-mount achieves this by:
The Pentax K-5 is a 16.3-megapixel digital single-lens reflex camera, announced on September 20, 2010. It began shipping in mid-October 2010 and it was replaced by the Pentax K-5 II in the third quarter of 2012.
The Pentax 645 is a medium format single-lens reflex system camera manufactured by Pentax. It was introduced in 1984, along with a complementary line of lenses. It captures images nominally 6 cm × 4.5 cm on 120, 220, and 70 mm film, though the actual size of the images is 56 mm × 41.5 mm.
The Ricoh GR is a digital large sensor compact camera announced by Ricoh on April 17, 2013, one of a number of Ricoh GR digital cameras. It was succeeded by the Ricoh GR II in 2015 and the Ricoh GR III in 2019.
The Pentax K-70 is a 24 megapixel compact APS-C digital SLR camera announced by Ricoh on June 8, 2016. In contrast to the previously introduced APS-C flagship K-3 II, it includes a flash, flip-out display and built-in WiFi. In common with that camera, the K-70 is capable of Pixel Shift Resolution images, which provide higher colour resolution and require the camera to be stationary. It is the first Pentax camera to also include on-sensor PDAF elements that support hybrid autofocus, enabling continuous autofocus during video capture.
The HD Pentax-D FA* 50mm f/1.4 SDM AW lens is a professional normal prime lens for the Pentax K-mount. It was officially announced on October 27, 2017, launched on June 28, 2018, and first shipped on July 26, 2018.
The HD Pentax-D FA* 85mm f/1.4 SDM AW lens is a professional short telephoto prime lens for the Pentax K-mount. The lens was officially announced on February 26, 2019, launched on June 25, 2020 and announced to be first shipped on June 26, 2020.
The Pentax K-3 II was a flagship APS-C DSLR camera announced by Ricoh on April 23, 2015.
