History of Pentax (1919 - 2022)
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- Опубликовано: 7 авг 2024
- Here we present a History of Pentax. While we aim to be as accurate as possible, Pentax has had an extremely long and impressive history. This video is not a definitive guide as there is undoubtedly content we have missed along the way. If we made any errors or omissions, please let us know in the comments below!
Video too long? Try watching by decade:
00:00:00 - 1919
00:02:44 - 1950s
00:11:36 - 1960s
00:19:52 - 1970s
00:34:31 - 1980s
00:49:23 - 1990s
01:02:03 - 2000s
01:16:57 - 2010s
01:33:05 - 2020s
Are you ready to take a hands-on journey through the entire history of Pentax cameras, from the company's early roots in 1919 to the latest and greatest technology available in 2022?
In this comprehensive video, we showcase all Pentax interchangeable lens cameras as well as important lenses and innovations throughout the years. We cover key features along with the historical significance of each camera.
This crowdsourced power-montage incorporates over 40 unique video contributors displaying over 185 pieces of equipment: a sincerely impressive catalogue of Pentax cameras.
Please see the credits at the end of the video for a list of all contributors and reviewers.
We’d like to extend a special thanks to Luis Salazar. This project wouldn’t have started without his collection and support. If you like this video, head over to his Instagram (@spaceman_lou) and send your love his way!
Another special thank you Adam and the entire PentaxForums (PF) community, and to all my contributors who made this video possible:
Contributors (alphabetical):
Adam (PF)
arnold (PF)
Baard-Einar Moe
Bernard (PF: bdery)
BigMackCam (PF)
Bob Roberts (PF: roberrl)
Brad Shea (PF: UncleVanya)
Brian Stirling
Bruce Raynor
ChristianRock (PF)
Don Voigt (PF: DonV)
Edwin Gossert (PF: grog85361)
Fred Schröter from the Netherlands
Gary Wakeling
GGascay
Ismael Gonzalez - Puerto Rico
Jan (Reijnaart) from ‘s-Heer Abtskerke, the Netherlands
Karl Stevens
Kris K. (RUclips: Quest Studios)
kypfer (PF)
Lars Holte (PF: Laho)
Luis Salazar (Insta: spaceman_lou)
M. Butkus, NJ. (mike@butkus.org)
Martyn (PF: microlight)
McBain Camera (mcbaincamera.com)
Michelle Foster
MightyMike (PF)
Mitch (Insta: @mkellertravels)
Morgan Harwell (PF: Moe49)
Nicholas Van Tol (nostalgiccameras.ca)
Ole (PF)
Peter Schluter (Flickr: peter_schluter2002)
Rene Gruenwald (Insta: @th3_pentaxian)
Rob Allen
Sandy Hancock (PF)
senicar (PF) Insta: @senicar.bostjan
Sherri Foster
Stephen (PF: FozzFoster)
Steven Kovick
Tim Morgan (PF: blackcloudbrew)
Tom Ramsey
Tyler Satchwill (Insta: @tsatch)
Corrections:
1) It's Luis Salazar @spaceman_lou, not @spacemanlou, as the video might suggest
2) The Pentax ME F uses 4x AAA batteries, not AA as the video suggests
3) EI-200 is not the same as the EI-2000 as the video suggests
4) The Schneider-Kreuznach on display is a 50-200mm, not 55-200mm as the video suggests
References:
www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/english/pentax/pentaxhistory/course/
www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/english/pentax/pentaxhistory/evidence/
www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/english/pentax/pentaxhistory/archives/
www.pentaxforums.com/camerareviews/
www.pentaxforums.com/articles/photo-articles/evolution-of-pentax-k-mount.html
www.pentaxforums.com/articles/columns/origins-of-the-slr-pathway-to-100-years-pentax.html
www.aohc.it/index.php
The Definitive Asahi Pentax Collector's Guide 1952 - 1977 - Gerjan van Oosten
www.pentax-slr.com/
www.camerapedia.fandom.com/wiki/Pentax
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I can't believe I just sat through 1:40 minutes of Pentax on parade without getting bored. It's that well done. Thank you!
As I posted on Pentax Forum, this is a substantial documentary on a hundred year history of Pentax. Well done.
What a wonderful resource for the Pentax community, thank you so much for all the work and networking you have put in to this project
I've had several Pentax SLRs (film and digital) over the years and always wanted to see a chronology of them. Excellent work.
As soon as it was posted in Pentax Forums I went straight to the video, and loved it!
Thank you for this overview.
What a nice history!
I hope they can continue for many years.
Great historic compilation and narrative.
This was quite mind-blowing! Amazing work putting this together!
Excellent work. Congratulations.
Incredible work. Thank you very much for all your efforts.
Thank you for releasing this video!
Excellent video. Very informative and interesting. Appreciate all the time and work invested in this project. Thank you!
That’s for such a great video. I haven’t touched my Pentax gear in awhile. It’s time to break it out again.
A great presentation and resource thanks. My first SLR was a Pentax S in the late 1950s, It's long gone. Now I'm using k20d's. Pentax cameras, everything you need nothing you don't "long may they reign"
Thank you so much for this! a very comprehensive and easy to watch video.
A super well done for producing a fantastic film. So interesting & exceptionally well presented.
Now that was one hell of an excellent video! Well done indeed. I watched it all the way up to My K10D then had to break for dinner. After finishing the dinner dishes I continued on. I love the brand. I have also have a K-5II and two film cameras; a Spotmatic SP and an ME Super. Pentax has a rich history and with that a depth of photographic knowledge unmatched in the field.
I just found this through a link at PF - this is great! Thanks so much for putting it together!
Many thanks for this accurate and comprehensive work ! Just posted on Pentax Forums.
What an awesome video! Thank you very much!
thanks for your contribution, actually Pentax is a small group of photographers, you still try for sharing with valuable information, Pentax fans should thanks you very much.
What a great video clip.
Thanks for the content this magnificent.
Great video, it was cool to see some of the history and context of the various Pentax cameras I've owned. They may have an uncertain future at the moment, but I'm staying with them.
And btw, the K3 Mark III is the most advanced and impactive camera released under the Pentax brand. Its' the first camera that I see reaches every kind of photographer- even pro level action/sports/moving subject photographers. It does everything not only well but better than the competition in many many respects. IMHO, its the best Pentax camera since the 1970's.
Excellent video.
I just want to say that I love Pentax, and love my vintage lenses that work beautifully with my K70, hope one day to be able to get a K1
Just bought a superprogram. I'm so excited to shoot my first roll on it. Love my Tak lenses on digital. Stoked to try them on film.
I had a Spotmatic F for over 15 years, great workhorse. While in Germany I had the opportunity to purchase a ME at great price reduction. The ME lasted about 6 years, I wore it out from use. I like all my Pentax products. I am going to subscribe to you , and search your vlogs for anything you might have on RICOH, NIKON, or CANON cameras. If not already available, you might put these names in your bucket lists for future vlogs. Great stuff you have produced and I look forward to any subscription projects to review. Good luck in the future and to the puppy baby too! Lol!
A really good video. Thank you for uploading. I hadn't seen an Asahiflex before. It reminds me of my Praktina FX, also a beautiful camera.
It would be interesting to do a topic on REBRANDING of cameras,
lenses and films.
It happened in Europa and Asia.
The Dacora works in Western-Germany rebranded their range-
finder cameras into Ferrania and ILFORD.
The Porstreflex SLR cameras were rebranded in Japan by Konica
and Fuji.
A Japanese optical company rebranded its 400 mm telelens into
eight different lens brands. The 400 mm was sold at any price.
Tokina rebranded its 14 mm into a Minolta Rokkor.
Cosina "can make" all brands; also Voigtländer and Zeiss.
Photo magazines and photo shops were not very keen on the
rebranded cameras having the name of a mail order company.
A hate campaign was started by editors of photo magazines.
It is a mistake thinking Schneider, Rodenstock and Zeiss had a
special optical line for Linhof and Sinar.
First cameras I bought after college graduation around 1965. They were Honeywell in USA. At a car race I was standing in grass and shutter surround and small parts popped off , no warning. With 2 or three lenses they fell 12" to my bed when they did not engage the body screws. One would not think a drop less than my forearm to a bed would damage it, but the diaphragms all became sticky instantly.
My wife knows nothing about photography and she could tell my Leica prints from Pentax, same film and developer and careful printing technique. I tried for years to make my prints match the sample books without success. First try with Leica. Sold all these consumer grade cameras, 3 + 12 newish lenses.
Recently sold a Pentax ES w/55mm 1.8 to a very young college student. I sat down and explained it was historic for being the first TTL automatic exposure (AP only) SLR.
One of my main cameras is the Pentax 645z which competes very well with 50mgpx Hassy and Fuji mirrorless. Also, the access to excellent legacy glass is a huge advantage.
Will Pentax join the mirrorless revolution? Well, that will require an entire new line of lenses, plus the extension/adapter.
Simply awesome, such brilliant imaging machines!!
I bought the Pentax Spotmatic II and SMC Takumar lenses in 1972. It served me well for many years.
Wow. This a great video which have real love to pentax.
Marvellous viewing for any Pentax fan! Very interesting, thank you for your detailed work on this.
I have a Honeywell Pentax Spotmatic 35mm SLR camera, with a Pentax Super Takumar 55mm f/1.8 lens. I believe the camera and lens dates from about 1969 or thereabouts. One of my favorite 35mm SLR cameras. Images taken with the 55mm lens very sharp with excellent color rendition.
Thank you so much for this. I did not know how innovative Pentax had been throughout it's history and how many cameras they had made. I am aghast at the homework you must have done and the amount of time yo must have spent producing this wonderful documentary. You really did a great job.
Thank you for the kind comments. I didn’t quite know what I was getting into either haha and may have bit off more than I could chew. I’m glad people see value and appreciate the video :)
Beautiful, Pentax always the best 💖
Thank you!
Great job on this guys. I added a link to it on one of my articles.
Thanks!
The first camera I bought was a Pentax SL then a Spotmatic followed by an ES, ME, MX, LX, 67, 645 plus many lenses, bellows, digital spotmeter, etc. I used to get the quarterly Pentax family magazine and another one I forgot the name. Wish I still had them all 😅
@39:53 I had the Super A camera, which was brilliant .. shutter priority as well as aperture priority meant having the best of both worlds. i had pondered about the Canon A1 at the time, another popular camera in the mid 80s but decided on the Pentax.
Very nice. The K1000 was my first SLR. I bought it on my 20 year birthday in January 1978
Wow Awesome I Love Pentax Camera. Watching from Philippines.. my first SLR Camera is Ricoh KRsuper Kmount Lens a Pentax made for Ricoh..thank you for effort made this document video.. God Bless Pentaxian community including me🙏👍👍
Pentax fixed my K-30 solenoid for free many years after my warranty had expired. Kudos!
(K-5/K30/SF-X/SP-F & SP owner.)
That was outstanding! I thought I knew most Pentax cameras. But I didn't.
I learned a lot too :)
David Bailey used a Pentax S3 to do the famous Jean Shrimpton shoot for Vogue
My first SLR was a Pentax MX with the bayonet fitting (K-mount from memory?) it came with a fixed 50mm lens which was excellent and I bought a Pentax fixed 135mm lens to go with it, which produced beautiful portraits. Loved the MX as it was bullet-proof and did everything this novice photographer wanted and more. I bought a tripod and a bounce flash and a whole bunch of the more affordable accessories and then discovered Fuji slide film! Nothing could stop me now ...except for when the whole lot was stolen. I got insurance money but I let the "professional photographer" at the local camera shop talk me into an all singing, all dancing, Pentax SLR with a 28-80 zoom lens - all I could afford with the insurance payout. Nothing wrong with the lens, other than it being bulky as an early auto-focus jobby, but I soon tired of the fact that *nothing* other than proprietary accessories would fit on the camera. If I wanted a flash, it would cost me more than I paid for the entire MX setup. The camera relied on a battery, which although rechargeable, had a very limited lifespan and cost a fortune. The result was I barely used the camera, can't remember what model it was and I basically stopped faffing about with photography. (I bought an Olympus compact which fits in my pocket and does 95% of everything I want anyway - and after at least 15 years of use it's battery still recharges just fine!) I do still love original Pentax kit though...
I remember those Pentax Spotmatic II ads in Time, Life and Newsweek in the early 70s.That began an interest in photography, and a lust for Pentax cameras that lasts till this day. Since I was all of 10 years old I couldn't afford one, of course, though I did get to use a Spotmatic II several years later. I also remember lusting after the Pentax MX and ME, which we started to see in display cases in department stores - they were so TINY (I suppose this actually started with the Olympus OM-1). When I finally started earning money (when I was in college) I actually went with a Ricoh (the XR2s) with the K-mount - I used that camera for many years. You could pick up third party K-mount lenses for not very much, too, so I had three (including a Pentax A 50/1.4 I bought at the airport in Singapore - I think they pulled it off a body to sell to me). And then in the late-90s I made the discovery that all those neat cameras and lenses I was lusting after as a teenager were available, used, for not much money, in camera stores and on e-bay (about USD60 for a ME body, for instance) so I amassed a small collection - one ME, but several Ricohs and Sears-branded Ricohs, and a number of lenses. They're still out there on e-bay, for more or less the same prices, but film prices are, today, ridiculous - even if you could find somewhere to get it processed. I still have a few dozen rolls (and some 100 foot bulk rolls) in the freezer... Yes, I do have three digital Pentax bodies these days, will be getting more. But they don't have the same magic that the Spotmatic II and ME had back then, when they were beyond my reach.
It's true, film isn't cheap, but there's a lot out there easily available at least here in the UK. Same with processing and scanning services.
I've been able to satisfy my teenage longings for Pentax very cheaply which helps offset the increased cost of film.
So don't despair!
@@geofflb6537 I'd say about 15-20 years ago would have been the sweet spot - lots of camera bodies and lenses already available on shelves and on ebay, with lots and lots of film and processing services in departments stores (and on ebay). I remember checking out Freestyle back then and finding, to my surprise, the variety of film and photographic paper had actually increased over the old days - stuff from Eastern Europe like Fomapan was actually becoming mainstream (first came across Fomapan back in the 1970s - a camera store had a couple cartons of Fomapan 100, expired, for literally cents per roll, came in nice plastic 35mm cassettes, too, great for reloading. I must've bought 50 rolls!).
I started with the SPOTMATIC in 1966 in Viet Nam. While Heiland was charging $129 for it the BX price was $30! Before I went digital my favorite was the MX. I'm now with the 645Z waiting for a 100mp version
I still have my Asahi Pentecost that I had in Vietnam 67-68
This looks like an excellent production, which I just started watching.
I do have a question about statements in the very beginning. I am dubious about the claim that Asahi manufactured lenses with anti-reflection coatings in 1931 for the Pearlette. I am sure that in the late 1930's they would have lens coatings. The Germans (Zeiss) published work around 1935 and put them in production later using thin film deposition of low-index materials like MgF2. I am guessing the producers mix up later commercial products with the original Asahi work.
My favorite Pentax SLR is its M series model. Small, compact, simple and beautiful
Mine too!
Pheww; i need 2 come up 4 air. Was interested in the K-1000 & ME-Super. Had a ME-Super in the mid-80s from new, stupidly sold it & now reacquiring an all-black model shunning digital 4 film. (A ZBronica covers my 4ray into med-4mat square film). This's a serious reference video. Wow, 2wards the end is 100th anniversary accessories that look 2 b compatible on an MESuper
I had two Spotmatics, one chrome and one black, with 28, 55 and 135mm lenses. Lasted for years and loads of Kodachrome II film!
I have the pentax es2 which seems very similar my first camera this hekped me understand a lot. Unfortunately mine is missing the battery cover which is a lot different than the spotmatic
I have a Pentax ZX-60, I like it a lot!
Thanks for the vid and this superb work. just had to make some notes:
1) the AF Zoom lens for ME F uses 4xAAA, not AA
2) EI-200 is not the same as EI-2000(cooperated with Hewlett-Packard)
3) the K-01 uses the same sensor as K-5 II (or K-5 IIs) not as K-30
Best wishes 😊👍
My understanding is that the K30 uses the K5 sensor but with 12 bit depth instead of 14 bits in the K5 line. K-01 is also 12 bit depth. So it is technically the same as the K30, but both use the same base sensor as the K5.
Konnichiwa. Did you hear that Canon and Nikon are ending all production of DSLR cameras giving Pentax its time to take names and kick ass, Yee to the Haw
This SMC-Takumar 17mm f/4 pancake fisheye lens with built-in filters really kills everything. Huge technical innovation and, excuse me but BUILT-IN FILTERS ! Just a simple mechanism from a brand that care about their customers !
wow great video, oh but that shutter on tha H3 IS SO SO CRUMPLED
❤ *PENTAX*
I started with a Spotmatic I now have a K1.
Great informative video - but please get a pop filter for your microphone!
Konica - in 1873 then they merged with Minolta in the mid 2000's, and then SONY acquired them in which most of the lenses are made by the former Minolta Company - SONY does not make Lenses... The Spotmatic in 1964 had a Stop Down Metering not a spot metering, and is was not Center Weighted like the Nikon Tn & The Ftn metering in 1968 & 1969
The Asahi Pentax M 42 screw mount is not a Praktica thread but a
Zeiss Contax D thread; the Novoflex camera mount code is COA.
The best camera
For the money
Very sharp. Lenses. Takamar the best.
what are those two batteries that go in place of the 2cr5 ones? those 2cr5s are expencive.
What about the MX-1??
im sad the monochrome camera didn't make the list . . .
It would have been if it had been released when we made this video :)
At time frame...13:35...she said the
SPOT-MATIC and METALICA used a bayonet lens mount......REALLY? Was it their mount, or EXACTS.....any one know?
Sears was not a supplier, Sears would be a client or vendor or retailer in relation to Pentax. Pentax would be a supplier or manufacturer to Sears.
it's my camera K1000 SE
Wow🇨🇰
The original Spotmatic DID NOT have a center weighted meter. It was AVERAGING across the entire frame....
I got an Pentax p30 t
i love Pentax ... but as a dedicated semi-pro user of Pentax brand of lenses and cameras since the 1970s, i also have to criticize some of its products, namely, some of its camera models in particular, for being rather weak and cheaply built ... but its rugged models are truly well-built indeed of course ... and that super-large VF on the extremely small MX body for example ... not even other Pentax SLR bodies could beat it to this very day ...
At time frame...12:50....she said, it used a spot type focusing, and metering. If it was a SPOT metering, why did we use a standart LINIER ( normal ) pola filter ? If it really was a spot metering ( like the canon f1, and leica r3) we would have to use a CIRCULATOR Pola filter......we did nt.
People generally and unknowingly state the shutter speed incorrectly. For example, for shutter speed of 1/1000s, either "1000th of a second" or "one-1000-second" or "one over 1000 second" is correct. But saying "one-1000th of a second" is like saying 1/1/1000s.
But thanks for the video! Very well put together!
bit ot, but to be honest i think when talking about fractions of numbers, theres probably something psychologically difficult for people how to say it, because ive seen something similar in multiple languages. for example here in finnish language if someone should say something costs "a tenth of price of something else", they usually instead say something costs "ten times less"...which just actually doesnt make any sense if you think about it. ...the everyday language can be horrid if you understand math even a little bit ;)
Holy shit i legitimately couldn’t have expected anyone being this much of a prune.
I would have given it *1/1000ths of a chance*.
Yet here you are.
Sleuthing.
Why haven't you mentioned the Honeywell Pentax?
11:00 ;)
I think Olympus and Asahi Pentax are the two companies that pushed innovation so far back in the time.
I use both Olympus OM-1n and Spotmatic SP and love them so much. My digital Olympus E-M5 Mk II has been released in 2015 and it's features still make more sens as long as being capable in 2024 that most of the other brands later cameras. Never tried Pentax digital cameras but I had to change my e-m5 I would look at the brand.
Pentax LX: Digital?
Haha I wish
Not a single mention of iconic Espio line! 😐
00:39:35 - they are at least mentioned, just not covered extensively. This video is centered on interchangeable lens cameras. Maybe I'll cover Espio line more extensively in the future..
Great cameras , great image quality I absolutely love the outcome of my Pentax cameras , however , I'd love to hear about a modern mirrorless Pentax , one that would still retain the k-mount. Pentax should really moove on with the times or it will die and that would be very sad for photography world
I wonder why you did not consult me.
I only learned of your book (and purchased it, btw) nearing the end of production of the movie.
I wonder why you haven’t made your own movie. Annoying arrogance
I haver 3 Pentax67s !!!
worship me !!!
It's such a shame that from around the early 80s onward the cameras got more and more ugly. All that plastic and buttons instead of dials. Not a fan personally.
You missed the EI-2000/3000 cameras. Serious oversight.
What a dizzy intro Thumb down, however good content it has...
Very impressive historical video except for the totally irritating first 30 seconds of flashing images, why would anyone spoil such an interesting history in this way.
Well, I almost had a seizure from the opening.
Pentax has unfortunately degraded into a nich'e brand that serves only a few die hard old age Pentax fanatics. I still use my K5IIs and the K3 with the 5 ltd. lenses on occasions, but I don't believe that there will be a lot of younger photo enthusiasts jumping onto the Pentax train. Mirrorless rules the game and my game too. Pentax has a rich history but a bleak future. Great video and Pentax research.
Every time you say Ta-que-ma 🥴
and now this grate history has come to end....
Nah! Look at the K3Miii great new camera
No such word as transmitivity its just Transmition. !!!
Please omit that awful introduction which made me feel nauseous and hit the off button.
Pentax is going to end its life at the world.
So are you
it is T A K U M A...not T A K I M A!!
The voiceover is crud. This guy sounds like he’s trying not to sniffle and has an unruly toddler he has to keep minding while trying to read at the same time. Yikes.