Ricoh To Bring Tokina’s Kenko Photo Accessories to U.S. Market
News | By Stephan Jukic | October 3, 2023
Kenko-brand photography accessories are coming to the United States market through Ricoh Imaging Americas as their official distributor.
The Kenko brand is also associated with Tokina and this has been the case since their merger all the way back in 2011.
However, while Tokina lenses are widely sold in the U.S. and available on sites like B&H and Adorama, Kenko-brand filters and accessories aren’t as easy to find. Also, certain products from each are sold as if they have nothing to do with the other.
Notable examples of this are Tokina lenses, which have no Kenko branding associated with them and can be easily bought through U.S. retailers.
Kenko filters on the other hand, which have been branded as stand-alone products, can be very hard to find on the U.S. market.
Because of the above, Kenko has often unveiled pretty cool products such as new filters for eliminating photo distortion in glass camera lenses. However, if a U.S.-based photographer wanted to buy many of these, their only options were specialized importers.
Now Ricoh is hoping to bring easy access to Kenko products on the U.S. market, just as is the case with Tokina lenses.
For starters, as of this month, Ricoh will start distributing a whole list of products that includes several widely appreciated types of lens filters such as its ZVII model flat filters for delivering “eliminating” inherent lens distortion.
Ricoh itself isn’t a part of the Kenko Tokina corporate merger, it’s just acting as a distributor here. It’s not clear why Kenko Tokina itself isn’t initiating the release of Kenko accessories instead of having Ricoh do it.
Either way, the new range of Kenko products that will be much more easily available U.S.-wide should be useful to many photographers. Here’s a breakdown of what to expect for now in the next month or so:
- ZXII PROTECTOR
- ZXII UVL41
- BLACK MIST No.05
- BLACK MIST No.1
- PRO1D SMART MC UV
- PRO1D SMART C-PL
- PRO1D SMART Variable NDX 3-450
- PRO1D+ INSTANT ACTION PROTECTOR
- PRO1D+ INSTANT ACTION PROTECTOR SET
- PRO1D+ INSTANT ACTION UVL41
- PRO1D+ INSTANT ACTION UVL41 SET
- PRO1D+ INSTANT ACTION C-PL
- PRO1D+ INSTANT ACTION C-PL SET
- PRO1D+ INSTANT ACTION ADAPTER
- PRO1D+ INSTANT ACTION VARIABLE NDX3-450+ C-PL
- PRO1D+ INSTANT ACTION VARIABLE NDX3-450+ C-PL SET
- PRO1D+ INSTANT ACTION CONVERSION RING
- PRO1D+ INSTANT ACTION C-UP LENS No.1
- PRO1D+ INSTANT ACTION C-UP LENS No.2
- PRO1D+ INSTANT ACTION C-UP LENS No.3
- PRO1D+ INSTANT ACTION C-UP LENS No.4
- INSTANT ACT C-UP No. 1&3 SET
- PROND100000
According to Ken Curry, president of Ricoh Imaging Americas Corporation in a statement to the website PetaPixel,
“Kenko makes high-quality optical filters, and we see this as an opportunity for Ricoh Imaging to provide new offerings to our customers, while making Kenko filters available in the U.S.,”
He also added,
“As we’ve seen this year, there’s a renewed interest in digital camera photography among Gen Z and younger generations, and we’re excited to offer high-quality accessories to help a new generation learn the art and science of photography and develop their styles.”
Keep your eyes open for new arrivals from the Kenko brand if you’re U.S.-based, and now might be a good time to familiarize yourself with what they offer to see if there’s something that works for your needs.
Check out these 8 essential tools to help you succeed as a professional photographer.
Includes limited-time discounts.
Stephan Jukic is a technology and photography journalist and experimental photographer who spends his time living in both Canada and Mexico. He loves cross-cultural street photo exploration and creating fine art photo compositions.
