Introduction of Nikon, Canon, Minolta, Pentax and Leica

Nikon (Japanese: ニコン, English: Nikon Corporation, also translated as Yikang (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd.), namely Japan Optics, a well-known camera brand in Japan, and one of the affiliated enterprises of Mitsubishi Group. Nikon is committed to the research and development of optical and imaging products, including cameras, telescopes, microscopes and measuring instruments. Nikon was founded in 19 17, formerly known as Japan Optical Industry Co., Ltd.. 1988 Company changed its name to Nikon Co., Ltd. based on its camera brand. The name "Nikon" used since 1946 is the Roman abbreviation of Japanese pronunciation of "Japanese optics", which is a combination of kon in ZeissIkon, a German camera. Among Nikon's many famous camera products, the most important ones are Nickelodeon camera lens, Nikon F series 135 film SLR camera, Nikon D series digital SLR camera and consumer digital camera Coolpix series. [Edit this paragraph] Canon-Canon's name comes from beauty. The founder of Canon is a doctor of medicine, whose name was inspired by looking up at the sky. Canon, formerly known as SEIKI KOGAKU KENKYUJO, is a precision optical instrument research institute. Canon originally had a very English name KWANON, which means the name of a kind Buddhist goddess. In this name, the company ordered its first 35mm ranging camera. So far, there is only one KWANON camera in the world. About 1936, the company officially launched the camera of Lufthansa Canon brand. Since then, Canon has become a world-famous camera brand and a symbol of the company. Undoubtedly, there are more and more resounding names. EOS (Electron Optical System) used now not only stands for the abbreviation of the English initials of electron optical system, but also stands for a Greek goddess named Dawn. Minolta1928165438+10 month Tadao Kazuo founded the "Japan-Germany photo machine shop"; Establishment of a factory on the Mukogawa River; Tadao Kazuo 1929 March Minolta's first camera "Niffka Lede" went on sale; 1September, 937, the company was renamed as "Chiyoda Optical Seiko Co., Ltd."; 1937165438+1October, Japan's first dual-mirror reflex camera "Minolta Flekus" went on sale; 1August, 955, the camera was exported to America; 1957 165438+ October camera exported to Europe; 65438+September 0958 Minolta's first SLR camera "SR-2" was launched; Sr-2 1962 As aerial photography equipment, Minolta Hi-Matic camera was used on Friendship 7, the first manned spacecraft in the United States. In July of the same series, HI-MATIC E 1962 was officially renamed as "Minolta Camera Co., Ltd."; 1In April, 1966, the SLR camera "SR-T 10 1" with TTL aperture metering mode went on sale. 1968 65438+ Minolta aerial exposure meter in February, applied to apollo 8 spacecraft; 1973 may set up a camera production base in Malaysia; 1976 in September, Minolta camera sales company was established in Japan; 1981February officially introduced Minolta CI system; 1981February successfully developed the world's first 35mm autofocus camera "cle" with TTL ranging function; 198 1 the SLR camera "X-700" with built-in minolta exposure program (MPS) went on sale in June. X-7001Feb. 985 Minolta abandoned the old MD bayonet and the SLR camera "α-7000" with mature autofocus function went on the market. α-70001985165438+10, the founder of Minolta, passed away; 1988 February, the world's first waterproof and dustproof portable camera "DUAL35" went on sale; 1In May, 988, the world's first AF SLR camera with built-in smart card "α-7700i" went on sale; 1990 10 The world's first dual-mirror reflex camera with mature autofocus function "8×22, 10×25" went on sale; 1In July 1992, the world's first AF SLR camera "α-9xi" with a shutter of112000 seconds went on sale. 1July 1994, the company was officially renamed Minolta Co., Ltd.; 1In September 1994, two joint ventures were established in China-"Shanghai Minolta Optical Instrument Co., Ltd." and "Wuhan Minolta Office Machinery Co., Ltd." to produce and sell cameras and photocopiers respectively; 1February, 1995, the newly designed zoom portable camera "Capios 25" went on the market; June 1995 Minolta's first high-speed, high-resolution and low-cost 35mm film scanner "QuickScan 35" was launched; 1995 10 is a single-mirror reflective digital camera "rd-175" with a pixel of1750,000. 1February, 1996, based on the advanced photographic system (APS) specification, a series of "VECTIS" products, such as single-mirror reflective cameras and portable cameras, were successfully developed. 1Feb. 996 "Minolta Home Page" was launched online; 1In March, 1996, the classic portable camera "TC- 1" equipped with 28mm G lens went on sale. TC- 1, discontinued in 20051May 1997, digital camera "DiMAGE V" with detachable and rotatable lens went on the market; 1998 12 the 35mm AF SLR camera "α-9" with world-class professional performance and functions went on the market; June 1999 Portable APS zoom camera "VECTIS 2000" went on sale; 1999102.7 million pixels, professional digital camera "DiMAGE RD3000" with interchangeable lenses went on the market; In September, 2000, the 35mm AFAF SLR camera "α-7" equipped with a large LCD navigation screen went on sale. The American version of DYNAX 7, α7, 20065438+0 June, the quasi-professional digital camera "DiMAGE 7" with 5 million effective pixels and 7 times optical zoom lens went on the market; DiMAGE 7 In August 2003, Minolta introduced the successor model of Dimage 7 series: DiMAGE A 1, which became the world's first digital camera with built-in CCD image stabilizer technology, and this technology was also applied to many digital cameras of Minolta in the future; In August 2003, Minolta announced the merger with Konica, with the goal of "becoming an integrated digital image service provider like Kodak and Fuji"-however, this sentence finally ended miserably today; In September 2004, Konica Minolta launched the first digital SLR α7D after the merger. This machine still adopts Minolta α/Maxxum/Dynax bayonet and Minolta's CCD image stabilizer technology, which is the first mature digital SLR in Minolta's history. α 7d In July 2005, Konica Minolta launched the second α series digital SLR α5D, mainly for entry-level users; α 5d In July 2005, Konica Minolta announced that it would cooperate with Sony to develop a digital SLR camera based on α/Maxxum/Dynax bayonet. 065438-2006 10, Konica Minolta announced its withdrawal from the camera and picture market, and the camera-related assets will be transferred to Sony. In the near future, the two companies will continue to cooperate to develop digital SLR, but the Konica Minolta trademark will not be used in future models. Twenty years after Tadao Kazuo's death, Minolta camera came to an end, ending the glorious and bumpy course of less than 80 years. The manufacturer of Pentax camera is Xu Guangxue Industrial Company, whose predecessor was Xu Guangxue Joint Venture Company, which was established in 19 19, mainly producing glasses and projection lenses. 1923 began to produce camera lenses for Liu Xiaoxi Photographic Industry Company (later Konica Company). 1938, Xu Guangxue Industrial Co., Ltd. was officially restructured to produce optical instruments and telescopes. 195 1 year, the company made the first camera-Asahi Flex, which was put into production in 1952 and was also the first 35mm SLR camera produced in Japan. Since then, the company has been specializing in the production of SLR cameras. Although Asahi Optical Industry Company's camera production is later than several other Japanese companies. But it made several cameras, ranking first in the world and first in Japan. Leica is one of the most famous camera brands in the world. From the birth of the first camera to the present, there may be many famous brands in the history of camera development, even in our lives. However, in the history of camera development, for users, choosing a certain brand of camera is not choosing that camera, but choosing a lifestyle. Such brands are rare. The famous German Leica is such a brand.

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