[Adam]

News update from the official Pentax website:

RICOH IMAGING COMPANY, LTD. is excited to announce a complete new line-up of PENTAX Sport Optics product. For over 75 years PENTAX binoculars have pushed optical technology to the edge to ensure that world travelers, wildlife adventurers, devoted birders, and stargazers never miss a moment.

With this announcement, Ricoh Imaging reveals 34 new high quality PENTAX viewing options, each with new fe...

Pentax news announcement: http://www.us.ricoh-imaging.com/about/press/346

Adam
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[pete-tarmigan]

News update from the official Pentax website:

RICOH IMAGING COMPANY, LTD. is excited to announce a complete new line-up of PENTAX Sport Optics product. For over 75 years PENTAX binoculars have pushed optical technology to the edge to ensure that world travelers, wildlife adventurers, devoted birders, and stargazers never miss a moment.

With this announcement, Ricoh Imaging reveals 34 new high quality PENTAX viewing options, each with new fe...

I wonder how to get a hold of the attachment with the new line-up and specs mentioned in the press release.

"See attached for complete line-up and specifications."

[crewl1]

I wonder how to get a hold of the attachment with the new line-up and specs mentioned in the press release.

"See attached for complete line-up and specifications."

The new series have been added to the website now. Bird Watching Binoculars-PENTAX Binoculars for Birding

[RobA_Oz]

Nice to see they're highlighting the long eye relief models. That's what sold me on the Eschenbach model I bought some years ago, not having to take my specs off to use them.

[DeadJohn]

I'm not in the market for binoculars but this gives a little hope Ricoh will relaunch the legendary 125 (5" APO) telescope. Not likely, just a little hope.

[jatrax]

I think that is very good news. Indicates that Ricoh is pushing the whole Pentax optics division not just cameras and that is good news for Pentax in general.

Now if they can get about 6 feet of case space at Cabela's for cameras and binoculars I think they will be shocked at the sales and publicity.

[pete-tarmigan]

I think that is very good news. Indicates that Ricoh is pushing the whole Pentax optics division not just cameras and that is good news for Pentax in general.

Now if they can get about 6 feet of case space at Cabela's for cameras and binoculars I think they will be shocked at the sales and publicity.

Maybe they'll update the spotting scope and eyepiece line-up in the competitive birding market. A now defunct birding optics review website called "Better View Desired" designated the PF-80ED scope and 8-16mm zoom eyepiece its "Reference Standard" for birding spotting scopes when that model came out, in part because of the large diameter lenses in the eyepieces. That zoom eyepiece was dramatically better than the competition. This was despite the fact that the Pentax scopes had drastically lower prices than the German and Austrian scopes. After that, Swarovski, Leica and Kowa came out with larger diameter, brighter eyepieces. Pentax needs to respond.

It would be nice if Pentax came out with an image-stabilized, weather-resistant binocular like Canon's 10x42 L IS WP. Maybe the in-lens stabilization in some of the newer 645 lenses is adaptable to binoculars.

---------- Post added 15th Jan 2015 at 11:11 ----------

The new series have been added to the website now. Bird Watching Binoculars-PENTAX Binoculars for Birding

It looks like they just re-branded the existing models, e.g.,
DCF ED 8x43 will be called ZD 8x43 ED
DCF BR 8x42 will be called SD 9x42 WP
DCF BC 9x32 will be called AD 9x32 WP
PCF CW 8x30 will be called AP 8x30 WP
UCF 8-16X21 Zoom II will be called UP 8-16x21

and they added pink, navy, brown and green versions of the UC F series, renamed the UP series

---

Last edited by pete-tarmigan; 01-15-2015 at 08:09 AM. Reason: additional clarification

[6BQ5]

Pentax binoculars seem to relatively unknown - even to us Pentaxians! Like others, I'm glad to see that Ricoh is pushing Pentax to be an optics-centric business vs. just camera-centric. The Sports Optics line could yield some advancements that trickle over to the K-mount and Q-mount lenses.

[RobA_Oz]

I think that is very good news. Indicates that Ricoh is pushing the whole Pentax optics division not just cameras and that is good news for Pentax in general.

Now if they can get about 6 feet of case space at Cabela's for cameras and binoculars I think they will be shocked at the sales and publicity.

Re-establishing the telescope lines might be helpful, if they have a strategy to rebuild the brand as an optics manufacturer. It isn't that long ago, under Hoya I think, that they stopped making telescopes. It's ironic, if true, that the DA560 is said to have been designed along the principles of refractor telescopes.

[THoog]

It isn't that long ago, under Hoya I think, that they stopped making telescopes.

IIRC, the factory that made Pentax telescopes was badly damaged in the 2011 earthquake, and Hoya decided it was beyond economic repair.

[RobA_Oz]

IIRC, the factory that made Pentax telescopes was badly damaged in the 2011 earthquake, and Hoya decided it was beyond economic repair.

Sounds like an excuse to me, or at best a last straw. Why would you separate telescope manufacture from that of binoculars, or even long FL camera lenses, come to that?

[danxraydan]

Approximately 3 years ago Pentax rebranded their sports optics line. I'm trying to determine which binoculars replaced the DCF SP line. I believe the Z series, ZD WP binoculars are the same as the DCF SP binoculars with minor coating upgrade, but would like to verify if possible.

Pete-tarmigan posted a response (below) to the original thread but the DCF SP's are not listed:

It looks like they just re-branded the existing models, e.g.,
DCF ED 8x43 will be called ZD 8x43 ED
DCF BR 8x42 will be called SD 9x42 WP
DCF BC 9x32 will be called AD 9x32 WP
PCF CW 8x30 will be called AP 8x30 WP
UCF 8-16X21 Zoom II will be called UP 8-16x21

and they added pink, navy, brown and green versions of the UC F series, renamed the UP series