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.
The Ricoh Company, Ltd. is a Japanese multinational imaging and electronics company. It was founded by the now-defunct commercial division of the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (Riken) known as the Riken Concern, on 6 February 1936 as Riken Sensitized Paper. Ricoh's headquarters are located in Ota, Tokyo.
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.
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.
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-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 Q series is a series of mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras made by Pentax and introduced in 2011 with the initial model Pentax Q. As of September 2012, it was the world's smallest, lightest interchangeable lens digital camera. The first models used a 1/2.3" back-illuminated sensor CMOS image sensor. The Q7, introduced in June 2013, uses a larger 1/1.7" type sensor. The Q system is now discontinued.
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 Pentax Q is a mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera introduced by Pentax on June 23, 2011.
The Pentax K-3 is a 24-megapixel Pentax high-end digital single-lens reflex camera with an APS-C sensor, announced on 7 October 2013. The Pentax K-3 is the successor to both the K-5 II and K-5 IIs models, which have a 16-megapixel sensor. The K-5 II had an optical low pass filter or anti-aliasing (AA) filter that can prevent the appearance of moire patterning on the captured image. This filter reduces the sharpness of the image, so Pentax also produced the K-5 IIs which omitted this filter. In the K-3, Pentax obviated the need for providing two separate models by including a selectable AA filter "simulator". This mechanism vibrates the sensor when switched on, slightly blurring the image in a way that replaces the function of the optical AA filter, providing the same benefit as the filter in the K-5 II and other cameras with an optical AA filter. When the AA simulator is disabled, the sensor records a sharper image, as in the K-5 IIs.
The SMC Pentax-DA 50mm f/1.8 lens is a normal prime lens for the Pentax K-mount. The 75mm equivalent focal length on APS-C cameras and fast f/1.8 aperture make it well suited for portrait photography. It uses a simple double-Gauss design of 6 elements in 5 groups.
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-S1 is a midrange DSLR camera announced by Ricoh on August 27, 2014. It has a 20 megapixel sensor — new to the Pentax line-up — and an anti-aliasing filter simulator as previously seen in the Pentax K-3. Also adopted from the K-3 is compatibility with the Pentax FluCard, which allows wireless tethered shooting and wireless download of images from the camera.
The DA* 16–50mm lens is a family of professional wide-angle lenses made by Ricoh Imaging. The current version, the HD DA* 16-50mm f/2.8L ED PLM AW, replaced the older smc DA* 16-50mm f/2.8 ED IF SDM lens in 2021.
The Pentax K-1 is the first production Pentax full-frame digital SLR camera. As the flagship model of the Pentax K-mount system, it includes several new and improved features, including a five-axis SR II in-body image stabilization system, newly designed flexible tilt articulating screen mounted on four metal struts allowing for rotation about the optical axis in addition to upward and downward tilt, and improved autofocus and metering systems.
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 Pentax KP is a 24 megapixel compact APS-C AA-filterless digital SLR camera announced by Ricoh on January 25, 2017. It features a PRIME IV image processor with an "image accelerator unit" that supports its operation up to ISO 819,200. It has a 1/6000s conventional and 1/24,000s electronic shutter. In terms of bracketing modes, it adds depth of field and shutter speed bracketing. The Pentax KP uses the Pentax K-mount interchangeable lens system.
The Pentax K-3 II was a flagship APS-C DSLR camera announced by Ricoh on April 23, 2015.
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