I'm getting this info from a book that includes histories of camera
companies....
Asahi Optical co. started in 1919, the same year as Olympus Optical Co.
They had a fine reputation as a lens maker, even making lenses for Molta
(which would become Minolta). In 1952 Asahi made Japan's first SLR at a time
when everyone else made twin lens reflexes, rangefinders, and folding cameras.
In 1957 they added a pentaprism to their 35mm SLR and called it a "Pentax".
Up until 1977, their SLRs had "Asahi" in small letters over "PENTAX" in
larger letters. The "Asahi" word was deleted after 1977, leaving just
"Pentax". In 1959, Honeywell was signed as the U.S. distributor, and their
cameras had "Honeywell" in small letters in place of the "Asahi" over
"PENTAX". Some cameras were sold in Sears stores as "Tower 26" or "Tower 29".
In 1976 the company took over its own U.S. distributing, calling the new U.S.
company "Pentax Corp."
paraphrased from "The Register of 35MM Single Lens Reflex Cameras" by
Rudolph Lea
George S.
Jim.Timpe@xxxxxxxxx writes:
I believe you're correct. I'd ask my dad (I truly believe he has every
item ever made with 'Pentax' on it), but he's somewhere between here
(Washington state) and Maine on a road trip (he's only 82yo).
-----Original Message-----
From: Winsor Crosby
I think that was true only for the years that Honeywell distributed
them. I thought they reverted to Asahi Pentax in the US after
Honeywell became disassociated with them.
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