Camera Brands in Asia

Capturing the essence of Asia

It is said that a man is nothing without memories, and what better way to recollect than sift through photographs, new and old? Here is a list celebrating camera brands, all of which that have helped to capture great moments in our personal and collective histories.

JAPAN Nikon

Beginning life as “Japan Optical Industries” with the merging of three leading optical manufacturers, the company was renamed Nikon Corporation in 1988 after its cameras. The year before, it had begun working with NASA to create the first digital SLR, which was used on the Space Shuttle from 1991. The company has initiated many cultural activities and awards, such as holding exhibitions at the Nikon Salon in Japan and running the Nikkor Club for amateur photographers. Nikon has also provided sponsorships to various companies and events, including with Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort. KEY PEOPLE: MAKOTO KIMURA, KAZUO USHIDA

JAPAN Panasonic

Formerly named Matsushita Electric Industrial, the company acquired the name Panasonic Corporation in 2008, after having become one of Japan’s largest producers of electronics equipment. The first cameras in Panasonic’s Lumix series were introduced in 2001, with 2008’s Lumix G1 being the first digital mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera featuring a Micro Four Thirds sensor. The company’s higher-end mirrorless GH line has established a reputation for high-quality “hybrid” cameras with both advanced photo and video capabilities. FOUNDER: KONOSUKE MATSUSHITA

JAPAN Olympus

Originating as Takachiho Seisakusho, after the sacred peak of Mt. Takachiho where deities live according to Japanese mythology, the company soon acquired the more marketing-friendly moniker “Olympus”, after the home of the gods in Greek mythology. Initially specialising in microscopes and thermometers, the company introduced its first camera, the Semi-olympus I, in 1936. Twenty years later, the company unveiled the innovative and highly portable Pen half-frame format, and by 1996, it was a market leader in digital cameras. With Eastman Kodak, Olympus created the smaller-format Four Thirds standard, again paving the way for more compact and portable cameras. FOUNDER: TAKESHI YAMASHITA

JAPAN Pentax

Asahi Optical Corporation, the company that would later become Pentax, built what is regarded as the first Japanese SLR, the Asahiflex, in 1952. Through the years, Pentax has achieved many firsts, including the first multicoated lenses in 1971 and the first weather-resistant compact camera, the Zoom 90-WR, in 1991. Having acquired over 90 percent of Pentax in 2007, Japanese optical products company Hoya closed the Tokyo factory and moved manufacturing operations to Southeast Asia, with lenses made in Vietnam and cameras produced in the Philippines. Copier and printer maker Ricoh bought the camera business four years later, but the “Pentax” brand name remains on the products. FOUNDER: KUMAO KAJIWARA

JAPAN Fujifilm

Fujifilm was the first Japanese maker of photographic films and enjoyed a near monopoly on camera film in Japan for decades. In 1984, Fujifilm became one of the title sponsors for the Los Angeles Olympics, which opened up opportunities for the company to establish a film factory in the US and gain a considerable market share there. The company foresaw the switch from film to digital as early as the 1980s, introducing the first of its successful Finepix line of digital cameras in 1998. Its more recent X-series enthusiast cameras and digital medium format professional cameras are now competing with the best. KEY PEOPLE: SHIGETAKA KOMORI, SHIGEHIRO NAKAJIMA

JAPAN Canon

Canon’s founding dates back to 1937, when it specialised in the manufacture of imaging and optical products under name “Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory”. In 1947, the company changed its name to Canon, which comes from Guan Yin ( Kannon in Japanese), the Buddhist bodhisattva associated with compassion. Today, as a Fortune Global 500 company, Canon is guided by its kyosei philosophy, which focuses on living and working together for the common good. The company commits more than eight percent of its total revenue each year to research and development, and over the last 20 years, it is consistently among the top companies to earn the most number of patents. FOUNDERS: TAKESHI MITARAI, GORO YOSHIDA, SABURO UCHIDA, AND TAKEO MAEDA

JAPAN Sony

Set up after the end of World War II, Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation changed its name to “Sony” in 1958, after more than a decade in business. Looking for a romanised brand name to market the company internationally, the founders settled on a word blending the Latin word sonus, the root of “sonic” and “sound”, with a common slang term used in 1950s America to refer to a young boy, “sonny” – the Japanese loan word “Sonny boy” implied the smart and presentable young men that the founders considered themselves to be. Sony acquired the camera business of Konica Minolta in 2006 and entered the market for DSLR cameras. Despite this relatively late entry into the digital camera market, Sony has become the world’s third-biggest player, after Canon and Nikon. FOUNDERS: MASARU IBUKA AND AKIO MORITA