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Pentax and Rollei

12 and 10 researched events on one shared scale. Pentax 1919–present, Rollei 1920–present.

The axis stretches where either maker has research and collapses where neither does, so a year sits opposite the same year on both. Event counts differ because research depth differs, not because one company did less.

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1910s

1919-1945

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

1920s

1920-1927

Paul Franke and Reinhold Heidecke founded Franke & Heidecke in Braunschweig on 1 February 1920. The firm first concentrated on stereo cameras, beginning with the plate-based Heidoscop. The roll-film Rolleidoscop of 1926 provided the first documented use of the Rollei name, conventionally explained from roll film and Heidecke, and supplied the mechanical and optical starting point for a compact twin-lens camera.

Über 100 Jahre Rollei / Unsere Geschichte · Company Time Line - History of Rolleiflex, Franke und Heidecke, DHW-Fototechnik · New Reels: The Rolleiflex Adventure, Press Dossier

1928-1936

A small prototype series was presented in December 1928 and the commercial Rolleiflex reached the market in 1929. The original camera made six 6×6cm exposures on 117/B1 film. The 1932 Standard adopted 120 film and added crank advance and an exposure counter after first-frame alignment. A 4×4 Rolleiflex on 127 film appeared in 1931, and the simpler Rolleicord line followed in 1933. Franke & Heidecke moved into a new Braunschweig factory in 1930.

Rolleiflex camera · The Rolleiflex Old Standard - the First Rollei to Shoot 120 Film · The Rolleiflex Guide · Company Time Line - History of Rolleiflex, Franke und Heidecke, DHW-Fototechnik · New Reels: The Rolleiflex Adventure, Press Dossier

1930s

1937-1945

The 1937 Rolleiflex Automat sensed the start of the film, eliminated the red-window loading step, coupled crank advance with shutter cocking, and reduced accidental blank or double exposures. During the Second World War civilian camera output contracted as the factory produced military optics. A bombing raid on 15 October 1944 destroyed much of the Braunschweig plant, and occupation restrictions constrained the immediate restart.

The Rolleiflex Guide · Company Time Line - History of Rolleiflex, Franke und Heidecke, DHW-Fototechnik · New Reels: The Rolleiflex Adventure, Press Dossier

1940s

1946-1951

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

1946-1955

Postwar production rebuilt the Automat and Rolleicord lines. The 1945-generation Automat could carry a Zeiss Tessar or Schneider Xenar, and the 1950 models added coated optics and flash synchronization. The first f/2.8 Rolleiflex appeared in 1950; the 2.8C of 1953 offered Schneider Xenotar or Zeiss Planar taking lenses. The Rolleimarin underwater housing entered series production in 1954.

Über 100 Jahre Rollei / Unsere Geschichte · Press Release: Rollei turns 100 · The Rolleiflex Guide · Company Time Line - History of Rolleiflex, Franke und Heidecke, DHW-Fototechnik · New Reels: The Rolleiflex Adventure, Press Dossier

1950s

1952-1956

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

1956-1965

The E and F generations integrated photoelectric meters and, on the F models, coupled them to shutter-speed and aperture controls. The Tele-Rolleiflex of 1959 used a 135mm f/4 Sonnar and the Wide-Angle Rolleiflex of 1961 used a 55mm f/4 Distagon. The company became Rollei-Werke Franke & Heidecke in 1962. Zeiss Planar and Schneider Xenotar options remained important parallel optical supply paths rather than separate body families.

History of camera and cine lenses: How it all began · The Rolleiflex Guide · Rollei (Franke & Heidecke) · Company Time Line - History of Rolleiflex, Franke und Heidecke, DHW-Fototechnik · New Reels: The Rolleiflex Adventure, Press Dossier

1957-1963

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

1960s

1960-1974

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

1966-1975

Rollei moved beyond fixed-lens TLRs with the modular Rolleiflex SL66 medium-format SLR in 1966 and the compact Rollei 35. The SL35 opened a 35mm SLR branch in 1970 using the Rollei bayonet commonly called QBM. Period literature identifies lenses designed by Zeiss and Schneider, while the SL66 catalog states that lenses could be made by Carl Zeiss or by the Rollei group under Zeiss license. The company expanded into Singapore in the early 1970s and presented the electronically controlled SLX in 1974.

Rolleiflex SL35 Camera System · The Rolleiflex SL66 Camera System · Press Release: Rollei turns 100 · Rollei (Franke & Heidecke) · Company Time Line - History of Rolleiflex, Franke und Heidecke, DHW-Fototechnik

1970s

1975-1982

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

1976-1986

Continuous series production of the traditional TLR line ended in 1976, though special editions and later revivals followed. The SLX entered production as Rollei's electronic 6×6 platform, and the 6006 and SL2000F developed related electronic and modular ideas. Financial collapse in 1981 broke the old company structure; operations continued from 1982 as Rollei Fototechnic under new ownership. A 1973 factory notice also shows that 2.8F and 3.5F production could change from Planar to Xenotar without changing the camera stock number, a warning against identifying body generation from lens maker alone.

Serial numbers dating your camera · Rollei (Franke & Heidecke) · Company Time Line - History of Rolleiflex, Franke und Heidecke, DHW-Fototechnik · Rolleiflex 2.8F and 3.5F Lens Change Product Notice

1980s

1983-1996

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

1987-2003

The 2.8GX of 1987 revived the twin-lens form with modern metering and electronics rather than restoring uninterrupted mass production. The 6008 followed in 1988, and later 6000-system models added autofocus, digital backs, and new controls. Rolleiflex 4.0FW and later FX versions again placed TLR construction beside modern professional systems. These products used different serial conventions from the classic pre-1976 TLR ranges.

Über 100 Jahre Rollei / Unsere Geschichte · Rolleiflex 6008 Professional, prova sul campo · Rolleiflex TLR Documents · Company Time Line - History of Rolleiflex, Franke und Heidecke, DHW-Fototechnik

1990s

1997-2002

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

2000s

2003-2007

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

2004-2009

Rollei Produktion was separated in 2004, and Franke & Heidecke GmbH continued professional-camera manufacture from 2005. Consumer and professional activities were divided among separate businesses. The Hy6 medium-format platform was introduced in 2007, but Franke & Heidecke entered insolvency in 2009. DHW Fototechnik emerged as a production and service successor using the Braunschweig site and inherited technical capability.

Rollei (Franke & Heidecke) · Company Time Line - History of Rolleiflex, Franke und Heidecke, DHW-Fototechnik

2008-2011

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

2010s

2010–present

DHW later failed, and DW Photo continued a narrower Braunschweig-based manufacturing, repair, and upgrade business. Its current service list includes Hy6, 6000-series, SL66, SL35, and all Rolleiflex TLR versions. Separately, the current Rollei consumer business states that the old camera manufacturer no longer exists in that form and that worldwide Rollei brand rights have belonged to a newer company since 2010; the current retail site is operated by RCP Handels GmbH & Co. KG. These are distinct forms of continuity and should not be merged into one legal manufacturer.

Press Release: Rollei turns 100 · Service · Rollei (Franke & Heidecke) · DW Photo - Products of the former Franke & Heidecke company · Impressum

2011-2013

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

2014–present

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

Read either maker on its own: Pentax · Rollei