Originally posted by BarneyL I have a Nokia phone with a Zeiss branded camera module. The Zeiss' actual involvement in this phone is about the image processing software, not the optics.
Right - but the point is, Zeiss was involved. They didn't just allow their brand name to be plastered on the phone. It's the same with Leica and Panasonic, and the same will almost certainly be true of Pentax and Meizu... Ricoh will be involved
somehow, whether it's the lens, camera module, image processing software, whatever.
Originally posted by BarneyL Also, even if Ricoh designed the lens, it's still not their own consumer product. Licensing agreement with Hoya may permit the use of Pentax brand for such things, but may as well not.
Hoya owns the PENTAX Medical brand. Ricoh owns what was the imaging division, and the rights to the PENTAX brand in that specific respect. This prospective collaboration won't have anything to do with Hoya unless Meizu is marketing the phone as some kind of endoscope, and it doesn't strike me as the ideal shape for such purposes. Imagine having that stuck down your throat or up your bum!