Pentax
Pentax was originally the name of a 35mm SLR camera model, introduced in 1957 by Asahi Optical Co.. This Japanese optical company was founded in 1919 as Asahi Kōgaku Kōgyō Gōshi-gaisha (旭光学工業合資会社). It changed status in 1938, becoming Asahi Kōgaku Kōgyō K.K. (旭光学工業株式会社), and eventually changed its name to Pentax Corporation (ペンタックス株式会社) in 2002.
Asahi produced the lenses for various cameras before it produced its first camera, the Asahiflex. None of these lenses is marked as the product of Asahi.
The Asahiflex was the first Japanese 35mm SLR, made as a prototype in 1951 and released in 1952. Before that date, it had already produced camera lenses for other manufacturers, including Chiyoda (the predecessor of Minolta).
One of the models of the Asahiflex series, the Asahiflex IIb, was the first 35mm SLR to have an instant return mirror, thus solving the problem of mirror blackout which had plagued SLRs up to that time (early SLRs left the mirror in its "up" position until the camera was wound for the next shot, blacking out the viewfinder).
The successor of the Asahiflex was named Pentax. This name was derived from the shape of the prism used in SLR cameras (Pentaprism), and the ending deliberately looks like the Zeiss Ikon Contax. In fact, the name Pentax was a property of Zeiss Ikon until they sold it to Asahi Optical Co.
Many Pentax cameras were sold stamped with the name "Honeywell". Actually Honeywell was only a distributor, and these cameras were exactly the same as the ones stamped with the Asahi name.
Contents
Digital
SLR
- Pentax MZ-D 2000 (prototype, never released)
- Pentax *ist D 2003 - still in production
- Pentax *ist DS 2004 - 2005
- Pentax *ist DL 2005 - also sold by Samsung as GX-1L
- Pentax *ist DS2 2005 - also sold by Samsung as GX-1S
- Pentax K110D - 2006
- Pentax K100D - 2006
- Pentax K10D - projected
Point and Shoot Cameras
- Pentax Optio 330
- Pentax Optio 330 RS
- Pentax Optio 450
- Pentax Optio S
- Pentax Optio 33L
- Pentax Optio 750z
110 film
1979-1983 interchangeable lens SLR
APS film
35mm film
K-Mount Autofocus SLR
- Pentax *ist
- Pentax MZ-S
- Pentax PZ-1 (Z-1)
- Pentax PZ-1p (Z-1p)
- Pentax SF7 (SF10)
- Pentax SFX (SF1)
- Pentax SFXn (SF1n)
K-Mount Manual Focus SLR
Pentax K series:
- Pentax K2
- Pentax K2 DMD
- Pentax KX
- Pentax KM
- Pentax K1000
Pentax M series:
- Pentax MX
- Pentax ME
- Pentax ME Super
- Pentax ME-F
- Pentax MV
- Pentax MV1
- Pentax MG
- Pentax MF
- Pentax MF-1, scientific use
Pentax A series:
- Pentax Super-A, Super Program (USA)
- Pentax Program-A, Program Plus (USA)
- Pentax A3, A3000 (USA)
Pentax P series
- Pentax P3 (P30)
- Pentax P3n (P30n)
- Pentax P5 (P50)
Other:
- Pentax LX
- Pentax ZX-M (MZ-M)
Screw-Mount SLR
- Pentax AP
- Pentax K
- Pentax S
- Pentax S1 / H1
- Pentax S1a / H1a
- Pentax S2 / H2
- Pentax S3 / H3
- Pentax SV / H3v
- Pentax Spotmatic
- Pentax SL
- Pentax Spotmatic II
- Pentax SP500
- Pentax SP1000
- Pentax Spotmatic F
- Pentax Electro Spotmatic
- Pentax ES
- Pentax ES II
Asahiflex SLR
645 Medium Format
Manual Focus
- Pentax 645
Autofocus
- Pentax 645N
- Pentax 645N II
6x7 Medium Format
1969-present
- Pentax 6x7
- Pentax 67
- Pentax 67 II
Cameras from other makers with Asahi lenses
Not all examples of the cameras listed below have Asahi lenses
With lenses not labeled as by Asahi
With lenses labeled as by Asahi
- Mine Six IIFb
- Press Van
Links
- Pentax documentation to download at the official site
- Pentax Manual SLRs
- Boz's K-Mount Page
- Stan Halpin's Pentax Lens Page
- Pentax Discussion Mailing List
- Pentax 67 Lens Info
- Asahi Optical Historical Society
- Frank Mechelhoff's Pentax Page
- Pentaxiste French site
- Tsuga_Non Pentax pages
- http://www.butkus.org/chinon Listing of some 30+ Pentax manuals in PDF format (Adobe 5.0 or above required) and HTML version that can be translated.
- Asahi page at Collection G. Even's site
In Japanese:
