Ricoh buying Pentax
 

Well... that's a surprise. What do you think of the announcement about Ricoh buying the Pentax Imaging Systems division from HOYA Corporation?

Ricoh seems pleased:

“We are extremely pleased with today’s announcement and see this as the natural next step in the evolution and continued development of the Pentax brand in the UK and abroad. With Ricoh’s involvement we can continue to grow the Pentax business in the UK and ensure we maintain our commitment to provide our customers with innovative, cutting edge, high quality products to suit all camera users.”

See the [URL="http://bit.ly/izVi1o"]Ricoh buys Pentax[/URL] news story for more info…

I'm hoping it's good news - Ricoh have always been innovative and their cameras have usually been 'ahead of the game' in their own market (mainly Compacts). You never know how these things work out - there could be 'Ricoh-Pentax' cameras, or they may just own the business and leave things as they are, or even re-brand all the Pentax output. Then again, they could sell off the assets and remove Pentax from their competition.

I suppose I'd have a bit of 'brand snobbery' - preferring to have a camera that says PENTAX on it than Ricoh - but if the products are good enough I'll live with it.

Their phrase, "....continued development of the Pentax brand in the UK and abroad" makes it sound more like a local thing to do with distribution - but apparently it's the whole worldwide corporate.

I think the Pentax brand it certainly worth keeping, lots of history.