Pentax Ricoh ZD 8x43 WP

Pentax Z-Series WP photo by me.

Coatings

The Z-Series WP of Ricoh Pentax Binoculars are the updated Pentax DCF SP. The upgrade seems to be the new lens coatings, which the Japanese Pentax Website says:

"New lens coating is a high grade, multi-layer coating that reduces reflectance in the visible light spectrum, allowing the user to view crisp, high-contrast images free of flare and ghosting, even under demanding lighting conditions."

Apart from lens coatings, the Prism of these Z-Series now have Dielectric Coatings. I can't confirm 100% about the Dielectric Coatings if included in the WP versions as not all websites say it has. But then, in the Japanese Ricoh Imaging Website, it doesn't say anything about Dielectric coating even on the Z-Series ED versions.

August 8, 2019 Update: From an e-mail inquiry, Ricoh responded with the following:

 About dielectric coating, we used it.
ZD series binoculars have a multilayer coating on all lenses and prisms.
We call it “full multi-coating”.

It is also marketed by Ricoh to have an "Oil & Water Proof Coating" on the exposed sides of the lenses. This will allow for water, oil, or mud (probably to a certain extent) to just slide off the lenses, preventing it to dry on top of it, making for an easy wiping. Much similar to the hydrophobic car windshield treatment that you can buy in those Auto Accessories shops. Fortunately, what this Binocular have are much better and longer lasting. When I asked about the longevity of the Oil & Water Proof Coating, this is what Ricoh customer service (Japan) responded:

"There is no endurance year for the coating.
   However,  take  care  when  cleaning.  Do  not  use  solvents as much as
   possible it may affect the coating.
   Next is waterproof performance.
   If possible, We recommended to send out maintenance once a year.
   This   is   to   check  whether  the  waterproof  performance  is  being
   demonstrated.
  Changes  in  internal  parts  vary depending on the usage environment and
storage conditions.
Regular maintenance is recommended."

From their response, it seems that their coatings are eternal as long as you take care of it. If the hydrophobic coating works well, they I presume we won't even be worrying about the manually cleaning it so much.

Serial Number

The serial number plate

This is completely irrelevant to this lens/prism coating post but since I was writing them an e-mail, I thought to ask when my Pentax was made. I sent out the serial number and this is what Ricoh responded with.

"Your binoculars Sno. 125439,
   Shipped at the end of January 2015."

I appreciate their prompt response but this doesn't really answer my question at all. It could be made in 2013 or 2014 and then they swapped out the old "DCF 8x43 SP" labels and put the Z-Series name on the ones that are not sold, considering they look exactly alike. Or maybe Ricoh will not disclose that information and just gave me the release date. Whenever this Pentax was made doesn't really matter. It was meant to last a lifetime.

Made In Japan

Being slightly geek-ish on these new optical toys, I can't help but wonder where might it be made. Given that the ZD WP line of binoculars retain the same physical attributes as the DCF SP it replaced, and the DCF SP was produced before Pentax was acquired by Hoya, it may be possible that the current Z-Series are still/was made with the same machinery of Pentax in, say, Mashiko.

Is is with great regret for me to report that it is not. But it is, ambiguously, made in Japan. To quote Ricoh's Customer Service e-mail:

"It is not production at the Mashiko factory. However, it made in Japan."

What I was trying to achieve here is just to know if it really was designed/manufactured by Ricoh, or Hoya, or Tokina, or Pentax. I won't bother them any more with questions about the origins as it seems that they will not indulge me any further. I will let them keep their secrets.


I would like to thank the Ricoh Customer Serive people for answering my queries.