Pentax page 2

In 1919, the history of PENTAX began, originally founded by Asahi Optical Joint Stock Co., as a manufacturer of spectacle lenses. The uniquely developed technologies for polishing and coating spectacle lenses were later used for making projection lenses, binoculars and camera lenses. In 1952, PENTAX produced 'Asahiflex I', the first DSLR camera with a single lens produced in the own country. From the release of this camera, PENTAX grew from a lens manufacturer to a brand that is large in the area of DSLR cameras. Since then, PENTAX continued to market innovative products which were the first of their kind, not only in Japan, but also in the rest of the world. The K-bayonet mount developed by PENTAX in the 70's is still compatible with the very latest lenses! Since 2011, PENTAX has been owned by Ricoh. Under the Ricoh name, 360 degree THETA cameras and compact cameras are produced.