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07-23-2013, 07:56 AM   #16
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QuoteOriginally posted by JF Jayhawk Quote
I DID READ THE ANNOUNCEMENT....and I am referring to the Company Name, and addressing the issue that this all sets up the Branding on the camera itself to be threatened. If Ricoh owns Pentax financially and invests in Pentax, that is one thing. But the Company, the Website, the Camera gear, and anything Pentax of the past needs to remain labeled "PENTAX".
It will continue to be labeled "PENTAX!" As many others in this thread have pointed out, PENTAX is simply a brand name owned by a company. In the past, that company has been Asahi, which changed its name to Pentax, which was bought by Hoya, whose camera brand Pentax was bought by Pentax-Ricoh, who changed their name back to simply Ricoh. In the history of Pentax this name has changed many times and only for a few years has that name even mentioned the word "Pentax."

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Seriously, with as competitive and good as Nikon and Canon are, I would switch in a heart beat to those companies if "Ricoh" gets branded on anything else. This is the EXACT kind of thing that devalues products. Anything named Pentax that you currently own becomes laughable to the general public if future products get labeled "Ricoh".
And they won't. Did you read the press release? It said that the name Pentax will continue to be used for their (D)SLR business.

I think a lot of people are dramatically overestimating the significance of the company name. The name Pentax will continue to be used as a brand name; it really makes no difference what the name of the company that makes said brand is. Ricoh will not phase out the Pentax name (and it would be unwise for them to do so).

07-23-2013, 10:27 AM   #17
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So much anger, but little history knowledge... as people pointed out, there was a "Pentax Corporation" only for few years. Their best years were when they were still "Asahi Optical".

Ricoh promised to keep using the Pentax name, and they will keep the promise because it makes sense to do it.
07-23-2013, 10:45 AM - 4 Likes   #18
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Of bearing gifts and watering camels

Rebecca was born under the surname of her father, who was married to her mother, but always was she addressed "Asa. Hi Rebecca!" (except in America, where she was Well met with the sweetness of Honey). Her father ascended to the penta-ultimate peak at, oh, mmmM 42, when viewed through the prismatic eye of the beholder, but alas, he was bombarded by cannon and pierced by bayonets and chased by a Minoltaur, and no Kin came to his rescue.

In decline for some years thereafter her father, tragically, died.

Her mother Sparked, then married a firm but kindly man, a Hoy, who not only supported Rebecca, but adopted her and her younger siblings and made them his own - but as she was the eldest daughter, he invested little in her further education and preparation for future life (though he has paid considerably for her younger siblings).

My family having been acquainted with her's for several generations (and I with my eye always upon her mount), I courted ("Oh, Ric," she sighed) and married Rebecca, though she had but a trifling dowry, and I paid but a pittance for her most comfortable hand. Together we form a new and colorful union, at once the same as and as yet different from both of our histories.

Now taking my surname, through all these changes of name and filial association Rebecca has remained Rebecca, unique, determined, humble, at times insightful and at times confoundingly misguided, capable of brilliance at any moment yet seemingly unable to complete the journey, but always and forever Rebecca.

Give it a rest.

[EDIT:] My fine fellow THoog messages me his fond felicitations and asks how it can be that, though she be a (frankly) fair and lovely lady, she has not in her maturity developed a fuller frame.

Last edited by monochrome; 07-24-2013 at 05:57 AM.
09-10-2013, 03:55 PM   #19
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Just received the program for the pdn Photoplus Expo (THE major photo show at the Javits Center in NYC, October 23-26).
Unless I've forgotten how to use the alphabet, I don't see Pentax or Ricoh listed on the exhibitor's list.
Hmmmmm.....


10-04-2013, 07:48 AM   #20
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I have owned a lot of film cameras from SLR to point and shoots and many brands. My old Ricoh point and shoot is one of the toughest cameras I have owned and is still tacking really good photos. I did a lot of research on brands before I committed to a new DSLR. My choice was the K5 because of how rugged it is. Witch far out weighs any trick the other brands may do better. One time out in a rain storm or one stumble and dropped on the pavement....Well the other brands just don't hold a candle to Pentax or Ricoh. Just as long as they don't start making them out of all plastic.....Like some other brands. When I picked it up and felt the difference I was sold on it. Other brands have to really push the sale and advertising because they have too. I am glad to see some companies put more into product than into advertising.
10-07-2013, 09:43 PM   #21
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Once upon a time, in the deep dark days of 35mm Kodachromes and dodgy film libraries, I borrowed a Nikon, complete with fancy name strap, and got the owner to photograph me wearing it.
This pic adorned my Curriculum Vitae for many years.
It was, of course, taken on my own Ricoh.
And so were many of the successful submissions that, undoubtedly, the agencies assumed were Nikon made images.
The ever reliable MX series cameras did many of the others.
Brand snobbery was as common then as it is today.
Even to the point of one agency that would only accept 6x6 images made on Hasselblad, they thought, being duped by slightly modifying my lovely Mamiya C330s . ( I got that idea from another "cheat")
The 'Blads had an identifying 'pimple' on the edge of the frame which could be imitated by affixing a false mask to the Mamiyas.
The quality of the images was never in question.
There's an old saying: ""Bull$#it baffles brains" which certainly applied to the industry in those days.
10-13-2013, 09:58 AM   #22
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QuoteOriginally posted by Kunzite Quote
Ricoh promised to keep using the Pentax name, and they will keep the promise because it makes sense to do it.
Ricoh is a corporation. Corporations make promises all the time, and they are rarely kept. Even when (and sometimes it seems especially when) to do otherwise doesn't make sense.

Given the de-branding of Pentax from their websites, and now the logo-creep of Ricoh onto the back of the K-3, it should be obvious to everyone that the Pentax name is not really anything Ricoh values. They bought Pentax for the patents, not the name. Pentax as a brand name is moribund.

That doesn't matter to Ricoh in the slightest.

It matters to me, though, and I don't see myself ever purchasing a new product from the company formerly known as Pentax. That's primarily because I shoot film, mostly. But it's also due to my perception that we are now coming to a fork in the road, and I just don't care to journey on any further with Ricoh. I'm sure that doesn't matter to Ricoh in the slightest, either. They're just a fat corporation with a big head. Unfortunately, that head lacks much in the way of brains. But then it is a corporation, after all.

10-13-2013, 11:22 PM   #23
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Wrong, Pentax is important for Ricoh - as a product brand.
And they didn't bought Pentax just for patents, their small camera division couldn't do anything with just that. They bought Pentax for their mounts, the installed user base, the highly trained engineers with their expertise in various camera and optics-related fields, the production and research facilities.
10-13-2013, 11:36 PM   #24
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The name is getting spread thin, I guess -- there are now four corporations using the Pentax brand name for various different product types. (Ricoh w/ cameras, Hoya w/ medical, TI Asahi w/ surveying, and Seiko Optical w/ I don't even know -- eyewear lenses?).

Still, Ricoh is kind of stuck with it I think. If they were going to dump it, they should have done it immediately (like Minolta->Sony, although I realize Sony never even acquired the Minolta name). But here they are, about to release what will likely be the best-selling Pentax DSLR yet, growing the brand. If they manage to pump up their market share, surely they wouldn't be so stupid as to THEN dump the name.
10-14-2013, 01:49 AM   #25
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I suggest you read this management mid-term business plan presentation and Ricoh's use of the Pentax brand name. It is used on more than merely consumer products - and they are openly committed to retaining and exploiting it.
10-14-2013, 07:07 AM   #26
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QuoteOriginally posted by vonBaloney Quote
The name is getting spread thin, I guess -- there are now four corporations using the Pentax brand name for various different product types. (Ricoh w/ cameras, Hoya w/ medical, TI Asahi w/ surveying, and Seiko Optical w/ I don't even know -- eyewear lenses?).

Still, Ricoh is kind of stuck with it I think. If they were going to dump it, they should have done it immediately (like Minolta->Sony, although I realize Sony never even acquired the Minolta name). But here they are, about to release what will likely be the best-selling Pentax DSLR yet, growing the brand. If they manage to pump up their market share, surely they wouldn't be so stupid as to THEN dump the name.
IMHO they would have dropped it already if it were the plan. Instead they are keeping it on their new DSLR, that says a lot to me. And as I read on another thread, they further show their commitment by printing their name, Ricoh, on the back. Who would accept to associate their name to a brand like this if it weren't to promote it?
10-14-2013, 09:15 AM   #27
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If we don't like what they do, we could always get together and buy a whole lot of Ricoh stock and become "activist" investors...
10-14-2013, 09:19 AM   #28
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QuoteOriginally posted by tlong423 Quote
Given the de-branding of Pentax from their websites, and now the logo-creep of Ricoh onto the back of the K-3, it should be obvious to everyone that the Pentax name is not really anything Ricoh values. They bought Pentax for the patents, not the name. Pentax as a brand name is moribund.
Not completely true, since you first make the transition to make the Pentaxbrandvalue part off the Ricohname before even thinking off ditching it. That sometimes takes more time then you think.
11-21-2013, 02:38 AM   #29
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Sooo i should re-badge my K-30 to a RICOH K-30... hum doesn't sound as good.
I once had a RICOH KR-5 it was ok but felt a bit plasticy compared to other SLRs of the time and the Prism housing cracked open.

Last edited by OldNoob; 11-21-2013 at 08:49 AM.
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