<Asahi Optical Company was the name of the company (The Optical company of <the Rising Sun) that invented Pentax.
He,he... "House of the Rising Sun" This one obvioulsy not located in New Orleans :-) Jens Bladt http://www.jensbladt.dk -----Oprindelig meddelelse----- Fra: Jens Bladt [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sendt: 16. januar 2006 17:18 Til: [email protected] Emne: RE: Pentax newbie lens questions.... No, not really. Asahi means "rising sun" in Japanees (AFAIR). Asahi Optical Company was the name of the company (The Optical company of the Rising Sun) that invented Pentax. After the huge success of the early Pentax'es (Spotmatic?), the company changed it's name to Pentax. Nikkor is a product name for a lens made by Nikon, not a name of a company. The company was called: Nippon Kogaky Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Nippon means Japan). This is the corresponding name to "Asahi Optical Company" or perhaps more correctly: Asahi Optical Co., Ltd. (previously known as Asahi Optical Trading Co.) is established by Mr. Saburo Matsumoto. I may be wrong, but that's how I understand things. The Nikon history: http://www.mitsubishisucks.com/nikon/history.html Pentax never had a special name for their lenses - like Zuiko, Hexanon, Rokkor, Makinon, Nikkor etc. - or did they? German companies like Carl Zeiss, Leitz, Schneider Kreuznach, Carl Zeiss Jena, Meyer Görlitz, etc. even had (some still have) names for each lens desing; Planar, Tessar, Sonnar or ( (Leitz) Summicron, Summilux, Elmarit, Telyt or (Schneider) Xenotar, Curtagon, Xenar, Symmar, Angulon or (Carl Zeiss Jena) Biometar, Sonnar, Flektogon or (Meyer Görlitz) Lydith, Primagon, Domiplan, Orestegor, Telemegor, Primotar etc. etc. etc. - just to mention a fraktion of famous lenses. Regards Jens Bladt http://www.jensbladt.dk -----Oprindelig meddelelse----- Fra: Russell Kerstetter [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sendt: 16. januar 2006 16:01 Til: [email protected] Emne: Pentax newbie lens questions.... 1) Is Asahi to Pentax as Nikkor is to Nikon? If so, then what is Takumar? 2) A salesman at a store told me that I can use 67 lens' on my istDL, is this true? If so, how well does it work? 3) What is the difference between the Pentax xl and xs teleconverters? 4) How much should I expect to pay for an A70-210/4 in good condition (not mint, not trashed)? Thanks for helping out the newb. Russell
