Nikon and Pentax

Nippon Kogaku K.K. was founded on 25 July 1917 with Mitsubishi capital by combining the optical work of Tokyo Keiki, Iwaki Glass, and Fujii Lens Manufacturing. Optical-glass research began in 1918, resumed in 1922 after interruption, and reached a stable mass-production basis by 1927. Eight German engineers invited in 1921 helped develop design, production, and factory practice.

Nikon Corporate History

The Anytar 12 cm f/4.5 of 1929 was Nippon Kogaku's first photographic lens. The NIKKOR trademark was filed in 1931 and registered in 1932; production history under that name begins with aerial-survey lenses in 1933. Nippon Kogaku supplied the Nikkor lens, mount, viewfinder optics, and rangefinder mechanism for the Hansa Canon introduced in 1936. During the war the company became a large military-optics supplier, but public specialist histories disagree on its exact number of factories.

Nikon Corporate History · Canon Camera Museum: The Birth of Canon · Nippon Kogaku and Nikon History · History of Nippon Kogaku and Nikon

After Japan's surrender, Nippon Kogaku converted to civilian production. Drawings for a small camera were completed in September 1946, and the Nikon Model I reached the market in March 1948. Nikon was formed from the company's NIKKO abbreviation with a final N; Nikon's own history rejects the later claim that it was derived from Zeiss Ikon. Nikkor lenses used by LIFE photographers and Korean War correspondents helped establish the brand abroad. Canon began using its own Serenar lenses in 1948 rather than continuing to depend on Nippon Kogaku.

Nikon Corporate History · Frequently Asked Questions for Investors · Canon Camera Museum: Overcoming Postwar Difficulties · Debut of Nikon Rangefinder Camera

The Nikon F, announced in 1959, established the F bayonet as the organizing interface for Nikon's SLR system. The company combined a new mirror box and pentaprism SLR body with mechanisms and production knowledge from its rangefinder line. The system expanded through professional bodies, lenses, finders, screens, motor drives, and specialized accessories. A 1962 agreement with La Spirotechnique brought the French Calypso underwater-camera design into production as the Nikonos rather than as an original Nikon design.

Nikon Corporate History · Debut of Nikon F · Nikonos Underwater Cameras: Development History

Nikon introduced Automatic Maximum Aperture Indexing, or AI, in 1977 and offered modification of many earlier lenses. The F3 of 1980 used electronic shutter control and a Giorgetto Giugiaro exterior design. Autofocus evolved through the lens-motor F3AF in 1983 and the body-drive F-501 in 1986. In parallel, Ultra Micro NIKKOR optics and related precision work led to semiconductor lithography; the 1980 NSR-1010G was Nikon's first commercial stepper and the first made in Japan.

Nikon Corporate History · Debut of Nikon F3 · Nikon Family Cousins, Part 9: Nikon FM · Debut of Nikon F4 · History of Nikon Semiconductor Lithography Systems

Nippon Kogaku changed its legal name to Nikon Corporation on 1 April 1988. The F4 and later F5 developed the autofocus professional SLR while retaining the F-mount's basic bayonet. Compatibility remained substantial but not universal because different bodies and lenses supported different mechanical couplings, focus drives, CPUs, and aperture controls. Nikon also expanded its international production network and continued industrial, scientific, and precision-equipment businesses.

Nikon Corporate History · Frequently Asked Questions for Investors · Debut of Nikon F4 · Nikon Manufacturing and Group Companies · Nikon F-Mount and NIKKOR Lens Types

The Nikon D1 of 1999 made a Nikon-designed professional digital SLR available at 650,000 yen, approximately one third of the price of competing professional digital systems cited by Nikon. Digital bodies retained the F mount and accelerated the transition from film while adding sensor-format and electronic-compatibility distinctions. Nikon continued professional film-camera development through the F6 and introduced DX-format digital systems alongside the full-frame film mount.

Nikon Corporate History · The D1: A Camera That Changed Professional Digital Photography

In January 2006 Nikon sharply reduced its film-camera and manual-focus lens lineup, concentrating the remaining film range mainly on the F6 and FM10 as the business shifted toward digital. The separate Nikon 1 system appeared in 2011 with a CX-format sensor and its own mount. A contracting interchangeable-lens-camera market contributed to companywide restructuring between 2016 and 2018; Nikon's public record does not provide a single factory announcement that cleanly dates the end of every Nikon 1 product.

Nikon Announces the Nikon 1 Advanced Camera System · Nikon Announces Changes to Film Camera Product Lineup · Nikon Report 2018

Nikon introduced the Z 7 and Z 6 mirrorless cameras in 2018 with the new Z mount, whose 55 mm internal diameter and 16 mm flange distance created a distinct native lens system. The FTZ adapter preserved access to many F-mount lenses with model-dependent functional limits. Nikon Corporation continues to make and sell imaging, industrial, scientific, healthcare, and precision equipment and retains in-group capabilities in optical glass and components while manufacturing through a global network.

Nikon Corporate History · NIKKOR Z Lenses and Mount Adapter FTZ · Nikon Manufacturing and Group Companies

Kumao Kajiwara founded Asahi Optical Joint Stock Co. in Otsuka, Tokyo, in 1919. The company first made spectacle lenses and later binocular and projection optics. Its AOCO projection lens appeared in 1923. Camera-lens work began by 1931, including supply for the Pearlette camera, and the business was reorganized as Asahi Optical Co., Ltd. in 1938. The Promar camera lens appeared around 1940. Wartime disruption ended normal production, and manufacture resumed in 1946.

Announcement of PENTAX 100 YEARS OF HISTORY campaign · PENTAX HISTORY — Evidence · PENTAX HISTORY — Introduction · PENTAX HISTORY — Course of History

Postwar Asahi Optical rebuilt around binoculars and camera lenses, supplying other Japanese camera firms while developing its own camera. The company's first production camera and initial Asahiflex Takumar lenses followed in 1952. Contract optical manufacture therefore preceded Asahi's camera-system production and remains a separate attribution question.

PENTAX HISTORY — Introduction · PENTAX HISTORY — Course of History

The Asahiflex I reached the market in 1952 as Japan's first domestically produced 35mm single-lens-reflex camera. It used an M37 screw mount and Takumar lenses. The Asahiflex IIB of 1954 introduced an instant-return mirror that restored the finder image immediately after exposure. That mechanism was decisive for the later SLR experience, although absolute world-first language is disputed because earlier European cameras and patents used related return-mirror arrangements.

Mechanical Engineering Heritage No. 101: ASAHIFLEX I and IIB, MIRANDA T, ZUNOW, NIKON F · The origin of the made-in-Japan 35mm SLR camera · Systematic Survey on 35 mm High End Camera · PENTAX HISTORY — Course of History

The Asahi Pentax of May 1957 replaced the waist-level finder arrangement with a fixed eye-level pentaprism and adopted the M42 screw mount. The name Pentax was acquired from VEB Zeiss Ikon, according to the Science Museum Group corporate record. American distributor branding produced Heiland Pentax and later Honeywell Pentax cameras, but the manufacturer remained Asahi Optical in Japan. Models including the K, S2/H2, S3/H3, and SV/H3v refined the layout and automatic diaphragm coupling.

Pentax Corporation · PENTAX HISTORY — Archives · Honeywell Pentax Cameras, Lenses and Accessories · PENTAX HISTORY — Course of History

Asahi showed a Spot-Matic prototype with through-the-lens spot metering at Photokina in 1960. The production Spotmatic of 1964 used average, stop-down TTL metering rather than the prototype's spot pattern. The Topcon RE Super reached production earlier in 1963 and is recognized by Japan's National Museum of Nature and Science as the first mass-produced TTL-metering SLR; the Spotmatic followed as an exceptionally influential implementation. The 6x7 system appeared in 1969, and Asahi introduced its Super-Multi-Coated Takumar lens line in 1971.

PENTAX Lens Technology · PENTAX HISTORY — Archives · Systematic Survey on 35 mm High End Camera · The first single-lens reflex camera to have a built-in TTL open aperture exposure meter · Fujica SLR cameras and Electron Beam Coating · PENTAX HISTORY — Course of History

In 1975 the K2, KX, and KM replaced the M42 screw interface with the Pentax K bayonet and SMC Pentax lenses. The Mount Adapter K preserved use of many screw-mount lenses with limitations. The compact MX and electronically controlled ME arrived in 1976; the mechanically simple K1000 became a long-running instructional and consumer camera. The Auto 110 formed a separate miniature interchangeable-lens system. The professional LX appeared in 1980, and the ME-F of 1981 introduced autofocus through a dedicated powered lens and body contacts.

Features and Operation of the Original K-Mount · PENTAX HISTORY — Archives · Summary of the K-Mount Evolution, Names, and Features · The road to bringing K mount to birth was a long way · PENTAX HISTORY — Course of History

The 1983 KA mount added electrical aperture information and program-exposure support while keeping the physical K bayonet. The Pentax 645 medium-format system followed in 1984. Autofocus bodies and KAF-family mounts then added drive, data, and power contacts in stages. The external bayonet remained familiar, but each generation changed which functions were available, making physical mounting an incomplete test of compatibility.

PENTAX HISTORY — Archives · Summary of the K-Mount Evolution, Names, and Features · PENTAX HISTORY — Course of History · SLR Digital Camera PENTAX K-1 Mark II Operating Manual

The 645N brought autofocus to the medium-format line in 1997. The same period produced FA Limited lenses and additional compact autofocus bodies. Asahi Optical expanded digital-camera work and formally changed its company name to Pentax Corporation effective 1 October 2002, converting the best-known product name into the legal corporate identity.

Asahi Optical Industries to Change Trade Name to Pentax Corporation · PENTAX HISTORY — Archives · PENTAX HISTORY — Course of History

The *ist D of 2003 established a Pentax digital SLR system around the K mount. Pentax and Samsung Techwin announced a digital-SLR development agreement in 2005, and Samsung's GX cameras used Pentax-compatible lenses and technology. HOYA launched a tender offer for Pentax in 2007 and consolidated the company after a contested merger process.

The Path Samsung Cameras Have Taken · PENTAX HISTORY — Archives · Pentax and Samsung Agree to Jointly Develop Digital SLR Cameras · PENTAX HISTORY — Course of History

HOYA absorbed Pentax Corporation on 31 March 2008, leaving HOYA as the surviving corporation and ending Pentax Corporation's separate legal existence. In 2011 HOYA sold the Pentax Imaging Systems Business to Ricoh. HOYA retained other operations, including medical and component businesses associated with the former Pentax organization, so the camera brand's transfer did not move every business that had used the Pentax name.

HOYA Announces Closing of Sale of the PENTAX Imaging Systems Business · HOYA Annual Report 2008

Ricoh established PENTAX RICOH IMAGING COMPANY, LTD. on 1 October 2011 to operate the acquired imaging business. On 1 August 2013 the company became Ricoh Imaging Company, Ltd., while continuing to use both Pentax and Ricoh product brands. The legal manufacturer and the consumer-facing badge were therefore no longer the same name.

Ricoh Establishes PENTAX RICOH IMAGING COMPANY, LTD. · COMPANY NAME CHANGE

Ricoh Imaging continued Pentax K-mount DSLRs, the 645 digital line, and lens production, while introducing models such as the full-frame K-1. In 2024 it launched the Pentax 17 half-frame film camera, confirming active use of the brand beyond legacy support. A Canadian government trademark record currently lists Ricoh Imaging as owner of a Pentax word mark and HOYA as an old owner for that registration; it is territory- and class-specific and should not be generalized into a global ownership statement without additional registers or corporate records.

PENTAX — 2381971 — Canadian Trademarks Database · PENTAX 17 · PENTAX HISTORY — Archives