Kumamoto Earthquakes to Affect Pentax Camera Availability

Official notice posted by Ricoh Imaging

By PF Staff in Photo Industry News on May 30, 2016

Kumamoto Earthquakes to Affect Pentax Camera Availability

Ricoh Imaging has announced that the recent earthquakes in Kumamoto, Japan have affected some of its suppliers, and that this may have "some impact" on the availability of Pentax cameras and lenses in the near future.

We speculate that the limited availability of the Pentax K-1 beyond its initial shipments in late April/early May could have been caused by the earthquake.

Nearly all Pentax cameras and lenses are assembled in the Philippines and Vietnam, respectively, so Pentax's own facilities were not directly affected by the disaster. Pentax-branded full-frame lenses designed by Tamron are made in Japan, albeit far from the earthquake site (these lenses include the D FA 24-70mm and D FA 15-30mm). Ricoh-branded cameras including the Theta and GR are made in China.

Press Release

RICOH IMAGING COMPANY, LTD. extends our condolences to the victims of the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquakes, and expresses our sympathy to those who were directly affected by this tragedy.

We anticipate some impact on the future production of our lens-interchangeable digital SLR cameras, interchangeable lenses and digital compact cameras, because some of our suppliers in this region have been affected by the earthquakes and the continuing aftershocks.

We apologize to our customers and all affected parties for any inconvenience this might cause, and will try our best to restore the situation to normal as soon as possible. We truly appreciate your understanding of this difficult situation.

Cover image depicts the Kumamoto Castle; licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

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