RICOH IMAGING Americas Corporation, originally founded in 1919 under the name Asahi Optical Joint Stock Co., launched its first SLR camera in the 1950s under the PENTAX name. Today, RICOH IMAGING Americas Corporation continues to produce the heritage-rich, award-winning line of PENTAX DSLR cameras, lenses and sport optics equipment as well as RICOH's offering of stylish and compact digital cameras, known for their wide-ranging, rich set of features.