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07-02-2013, 11:05 AM   #106
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This is not really the kind of news I hope for when I come around here...

07-02-2013, 11:15 AM - 1 Like   #107
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I really do not care on company name, just keep building this awesome hardware. I own Pentax cameras and lenses since 1998. If they change product name from Pentax to Ricoh, no problem, just keep K-Mount on it, since most of Pentax users still own it because of lenses heritage. I myself have 5 lenses and moved from MZ-30 to K-30, and will move up to K-5 IIs or higher level as soon as my pocket allows me.
07-02-2013, 11:22 AM - 2 Likes   #108
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The solution here, for those who are over worried.
07-02-2013, 11:25 AM   #109
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QuoteOriginally posted by bossa Quote
It begs the question, "Is this still Pentax?" What's the point of it if it's just Ricoh by another name? I've had Pentax cameras since the 70's. This is a sad day.

I don't understand what you are talking about. Pentax branded cameras was once made by a company called Asahi Optical, Then Hoya and now Ricoh. Thats all. It is still the same factories and engineers (augmented by even moe of them). Nothing has changed except for the name on the letterheads.

As for Pentax making DSLR's and Ricoh making the P&S is exactly the same they said at the takeover of Pentax camera division; hence, no change.

07-02-2013, 11:44 AM   #110
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QuoteOriginally posted by Parallax Quote
Yes, but did you know who owns it?

ricohforums.com: About Motec
*gasp* surprise twist!

directed by M Night Shyamalan
07-02-2013, 11:44 AM   #111
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I was going to joke that Ricoh would be sending Pentax owners 'Ricoh' labels to paste over the 'Pentax' name on all in-warranty bodies, but at this point, people seem willing to believe anything.

I will say that:
From the early 1980s until 2002, I never worried that my Pentax cameras were made by Asahi Optical.
From 2002 until 2007, I never worried that Pentax was now made by Pentax Corporation instead of Asahi Optical.
From 2007 until 2011, I was somewhat concerned that Pentax was made by Hoya Pentax, because Hoya didn't appear interested in the brand.
From 2011 until yesterday, I was less concerned than I had been because Pentax was made by Pentax Ricoh, and Ricoh seemed more interested in the brand than Hoya ever was.

Since yesterday, I haven't seen anything to change that opinion.
07-02-2013, 11:45 AM   #112
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QuoteOriginally posted by Fl_Gulfer Quote
If they remove the Pentax brand name from the camera's I won't be supporting them in the future.
Gee, maybe I should hope there are more current Pentax owners like this? Assuming they have more than a body and a kit lens, maybe I'll be able to round out my investment in Pentax much more inexpensively?

07-02-2013, 12:52 PM - 1 Like   #113
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As long as they don't remove Pentax branding from the cameras, I don't care.

It will be a huge missed opportunity get rid of the Pentax brand as a lot of people out there still own Pentax film bodies and if they find out their lenses still mount and work on a 2013 DSLR, which one do you think they will lean towards? Besides, one could argue that Pentax is a much more 'camera oriented' name than Ricoh.
07-02-2013, 01:04 PM   #114
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QuoteOriginally posted by K57XR Quote
I guess the question is who would be the standard and who would be the luxury brand – Pentax or Ricoh?
Pentax, of course!
07-02-2013, 01:04 PM   #115
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Response from US Pentax rep, Jim Malcolm:Pentax Ricoh announces name change, but what will it mean for the Pentax brand?

Our contact for Pentax Ricoh Imaging in the U.S. said this was consistent with a plan that had already been in the works.

"The announcement of the official name change to Ricoh Imaging Americas Corporation is not a major departure from the direction we were headed in before, it is more of a legal formality," Jim Malcolm, executive vice president of the newly christened company, told Imaging Resource

And, in fact, the Pentax name has been "just" a brand for most of its life, so in some ways this is a return the status quo. Here's a breakdown of how the Pentax name has been used over the years.

Pre-1954, Pentax was a brand name of VEB Zeiss Ikon. (The name was formed as a contraction of "pentaprism", and Zeiss Ikon's Contax brand).

From 1954 until 2002, Pentax became a brand of Asahi Optical, after the latter purchased the name.

From 2002 to 2007, Pentax was adopted as the company name for the first time in its history.

From 2007 to 2011, Pentax returned to brand status under new owner Hoya.

In 2011, it became a company in its own right again, but only briefly, before becoming Pentax Ricoh Imaging.

Today's Pentax Ricoh announcement comes on the heels of some other photography branding news. Just last week, famed optics manufacturer Carl Zeiss AG announced it would be removing "Carl" from its brand and become, simply, Zeiss, going forward.

As the French might say: "Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose."
07-02-2013, 01:05 PM - 1 Like   #116
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An installed base of consumer electronic devices with a brand distinction (the K-mount) is really the only hard asset Ricoh has aside from manufacturing plants. There is a moat around the Pentax brand - the K-mount. One can argue the relative value of a 40-ish year old technology, but there is a huge installed base of modern Pentax K-mount lenses. It would be a complex marketing challenge to remarket the K-mount under the Ricoh name to that installed base without sowing confusion and despair. The whole idea is to increase the installed base, not to zero it out and start over.

There is virtually no moat around the fixed-lens camera market, so it makes much more sense to brand those cameras Ricoh to intentionally distinguish them from Pentax, which Ricoh plans to develop as a premier camera brand.
07-02-2013, 01:07 PM   #117
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QuoteOriginally posted by Parallax Quote
Yes, but did you know who owns it?

ricohforums.com: About Motec
I wonder if this company has ever contacted Adam about the similarity of the names?

MoTeC
07-02-2013, 01:24 PM   #118
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QuoteOriginally posted by froeschle Quote
The German press release is a bit more specific:
....
The brand name PENTAX still will be used for cameras (system cameras, i.e. mirrorless and DSLRs), lenses and binoculars.
The brand name RICOH in future will be used for compact cameras and innovative products with new technologies.
This is all of the problem i think.

When you consider market competition and the necessity to innovate permanently, this for sure is quite bad news for the Pentax brand.

Moreover, whereas Pentax has still quite a clear "pedigree" and resonance in public consumers segments, Ricoh is typically a "Business to Business" tagged label with very limited public identification, at least in the occident.

imho, this decision is just bold nonsense, it will entail more defiance amongst loyal Pentax customers, and consequently accelerate the Pentax marketshares erosion, up to K-mount disparition.
If the "Pentax technical excellence" was so precious, the decision should have been to the opposite : drop the Ricoh's unsignificant label in the photography market, and boost the Pentax brand.

Having spent significantly more money in the Pentax products than in the automobile business for my entire life, I am really angry tonight.
07-02-2013, 01:30 PM   #119
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QuoteOriginally posted by Zygonyx Quote
imho, this decision is just bold nonsense, it will entail more defiance amongst loyal Pentax customers, and consequently accelerate the Pentax marketshares erosion, up to K-mount disparition. If the "Pentax technical excellence" was so precious, the decision should have been to the opposite : drop the Ricoh's unsignificant label in the photography market, and boost the Pentax brand.
For your own good humor, please read the entire thread. The Pentax brand name isn't going away. This is just a corporate registration and legal change - nothing is happening to the brands at all.

James Malcolm (Pentax USA) interview and Imaging Resource article


"As the French might say: 'Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.' "
07-02-2013, 01:43 PM   #120
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QuoteOriginally posted by JimJohnson Quote
Gee, maybe I should hope there are more current Pentax owners like this? Assuming they have more than a body and a kit lens, maybe I'll be able to round out my investment in Pentax much more inexpensively?
Pentaxians are a proud bunch of people and if they remove the brand name from being proudly displayed on there equipment I bet the loose a lot of pentaxians.
I'm not saying I will sell my gear but I won't be buying anything the say's Ricoh displayed on it, I don't need to try and explain why I switched brands to all the people I talked into buying a Pentax.
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