Camera brand Pentax will soon have a new owner: Tokyo-based Hoya group, which purchased the brand in 2007, is ready to sell [notice of sale as an English PDF] it to Ricoh in October this year. According to Japanese business daily The Nikkei, the office equipment maker plans to pay an estimated US$ 124 million for Pentax.
Through the acquisition, Ricoh plans to bolster its relatively small camera business (the company is estimated to have sold less than half a million cameras last year). Another goal is to use Pentax’ single-lens reflex cameras to enter developing countries.
Hoya itself sold 1.6 million cameras last year, but under the deal, all plants, employees and the Pentax name will become part of Ricoh in three months.
The camera you see above is the so-called Q that Hoya/Pentax introduced a few days ago.
Reuters is reporting a bit of board room activity in Japan this morning, which could, by the end of today, result in Ricoh purchasing the Pentax brand and camera business from current owner and proprietor Hoya Corporation. The global news agency points out that Hoya’s initial acquisition of Pentax, back in 2007, was primarily motivated by its eagerness to acquire Pentax’s medical technology, and although the company’s had a slew of strong products since then, it probably makes sense for Hoya to pass the digicam work on to someone who might feel more invested in it. For its part, Ricoh also has a well respected line of digital compacts, but lacks the DSLR lineage and experience that Pentax brings. Provided this deal goes through as rumored, and Reuters has three sources who say it’s imminent, the only question we’ve got to ponder is whether the Pentax naming will take over for Ricoh’s slightly less recognizable branding or vice versa.
Update: That was quick! Hoya has confirmed the sale. Thanks, Ben! It is as reported earlier: Hoya will hang on to the rights to manufacture and develop products for the medical field, while Ricoh is gobbling up the Pentax Imaging Systems products with a view to expanding its presence in the consumer digital camera market.
Ricoh set to acquire Pentax camera brand and business, get serious about digital imaging originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Jul 2011 02:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Well, isn’t this just cute? If you’ll recall, Ricoh’s CX4 was found to only be “slightly superior” the CX3 that came before it (and the same with the CX2 / CX3 before that). Fast forward a few months, and it’s the same song and dance all over again… but with different model numbers, of course. The fine folks over at Photography Blog recently put the similarly styled CX5 through its paces, and autofocus aside, it’s essentially the same camera as the CX4. The lone standout feature on the new guy is the Hybrid AF feature, which most certainly improves autofocus times, but critics were quick to point out that the focus time on the CX4 was never really an issue to begin with. In fact, the following line just about sums it up: “The CX5 is virtually indistinguishable from the slightly older CX4 in terms of its design, image quality and feature set, with only the faster AF system to get truly excited about.” Furthermore, the rest of the point-and-shoot world has evolved quite a bit during all of this time, making the CX5 an even less compelling option than the CX4 was during its own launch window. Feel free to hit the source link for the whole shebang, but don’t expect to leave feeling any warmer about that impulse buy you just made.
Ricoh CX5 reviewed: only marginally better than the CX4 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Feb 2011 19:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Ricoh’s sensor-swapping GXR camera is getting more interchangeable than ever before — this fall, the company plans to introduce a APS-C sized 12.3 megapixel CMOS module that lets you pop out lenses too. Rather than building a new set of macros and zooms, though, the new unit will serve as an adapter for the vast hoard of Leica M glass you’ve been stockpiling for a rainy day, and sport a new focal plane shutter too. No word on price, but considering Leica M adapters for Micro Four Thirds can be had for a reasonable $ 200 and an APS-C GXR package runs about $ 700 on the street, you can probably do the math.
Continue reading Ricoh GXR will swap out lenses with Leica M mount, makes Micro Four Thirds mildly jealous
Ricoh GXR will swap out lenses with Leica M mount, makes Micro Four Thirds mildly jealous originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Feb 2011 06:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Another six months, another iteration in the CX series from Ricoh. This time, though, Santa has been a little stingy, and the improvements are minimal. I’d say the most relevant feature on the CX5 is how it’s going to drive down the price of the nearly identical CX4.
The actual improvements are the following:
- Improved autofocus speed
- HDMI port
- \”Super resolution technology\” – an image processing method that claims (falsely) to make digital zoom worth using
- New image processing and filters
So, not much. But apart from that it’s still the solid camera from six months ago (and six months before that) with the back-illuminated 10.7 megapixel sensor, a great 3″ 640×480 screen, and a nice 5PS burst rate. But I really see very little reason to go with the CX5 over the CX4, so wait a bit and watch the price of the latter go down by $ 50 or $ 100.
I’d put the press release here but it’s really, really long so you’re just going to have to trust me.
Ricoh was showing off their G700SE at Photokina, and the updated version of the G700 is capable of using add-on modules like the GP-1 GPS dongle and BR-1 bar code scanning module. Pretty cool idea. It should give the camera a longer life as well as make it more versatile.
The camera has a dust- and water-resistant shell as well as Wi-Fi b/g and Bluetooth 2.1. It was designed for governments and enterprises, so it will cost you about EUR799 ($ 1,070) when it arrives in the first half of 2011.
[ephotozine]
It was just a few weeks ago that Ricoh released the G700, a rugged and rather disposable-looking point-and-shoot camera. Today, they’ve put out an upgraded version, the G700SE, which adds a few extra functions.
The SE has wifi and Bluetooth built-in, to begin with, which is something I suspect we’ll be seeing a lot more of soon. Next it’s got a GPS unit that plugs right into the side, there. Doesn’t that affect its water and dust resistance, having a gaping hole in the side? The GPS unit does the usual stuff, but also supports recording camera direction and movement, which could be really handy for some. Not me, but some.
Maybe GPS isn’t your thing, and instead, you’d like to have something like a laser barcode reader in your rugged camera. Lucky for you, Ricoh has that as an option as well. I really have no idea why such a thing would be made available, but I assume there’s a good reason.
Aside from that, it appears to be pretty much the same camera as the G700. No price on either of these guys yet, or for the add-on modules. Expect that info in mid-October.
Well, it looks like Ricoh is still sticking to the if-it’s-not-broke-don’t-fix-it model with its CX series of cameras. Just as it found in its review of the CX3, Photography Blog says that the new CX4 model delivers some modest improvements over its predecessor, but likely not enough to warrant an upgrade — or stand out from the competition, for that matter. The improvements this time around include some improved image stabilization, as well as a handful of new features like a multi-shot night landscape mode and subject-tracking AF, which both apparently work reasonably well. One of the other new changes also proved to be one of the camera’s biggest drawbacks, however, as the reduced handgrip makes the CX4 harder to hold comfortably than earlier models. Hit up the source link below for the full review.
Ricoh CX4 gets reviewed: slight improvement over the CX3 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 07:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Well, it looks like Ricoh is still sticking to the if-it’s-not-broke-don’t-fix-it model with its CX series of cameras. Just as it found in its review of the CX3, Photography Blog says that the new CX4 model delivers some modest improvements over its predecessor, but likely not enough to warrant an upgrade — or stand out from the competition, for that matter. The improvements this time around include some improved image stabilization, as well as a handful of new features like a multi-shot night landscape mode and subject-tracking AF, which both apparently work reasonably well. One of the other new changes also proved to be one of the camera’s biggest drawbacks, however, as the reduced handgrip makes the CX4 harder to hold comfortably than earlier models. Hit up the source link below for the full review.
Ricoh CX4 gets reviewed: slight improvement over the CX3 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 07:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Ricoh’s released a new point and shoot, the G700. This little camera’s water and dust resistant, it will supposedly withstand a drop of up to 2 meters, and its resistant to chemicals such as ethanol and hypochlorous acid, so shooting pics of the chemically-driven, zombie-infested apocalypse shouldn’t be much of a challenge. Other than that, you’ve got a 12.1 megapixel sensor, a 5x optical wide-angle zoom lens, a 3-inch color LCD, and password protection. You know, so the zombies can check out your shots! This baby will be released on September 10th in Japan, but as of yet, there’s no word on pricing or a US release.
Ricoh outs rather rugged, water-resistant G700 point and shoot originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Aug 2010 21:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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