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10/07/2008 07:42:04 PM · #1 |
| How did it happen that the two biggest camera makers are Japanese companies? I just found out they're both Japanese and I thought it strange... |
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10/07/2008 08:34:00 PM · #2 |
Originally posted by Jim_Raynor:
How did it happen that the two biggest camera makers are Japanese companies? I just found out they're both Japanese and I thought it strange... |
PSSSSSSSSST!
I'll let you in on a secret....they've both BEEN Japanese companies the WHOLE time.
Nikon was founded 1917 as Nippon Kôgaku Kôgyô.
The predecessor company to Canon was established in 1930 by Goro Yoshida and his brother-in-law Saburo Uchida and named Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory.In February 1936, the Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory released the "Hansa Canon (Standard Model with the Nikkor 50 mm f/3.5 lens)", which became Kwanon's first commercially available camera.The following year the company name was changed to Canon to reflect a more modern image, and on 10 August 1937, the current corporation was founded.
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10/07/2008 08:41:01 PM · #3 |
But those "in the know" go Nikon.....
[duck and cover, dons kevlar, requests witness protection program]
(actually, I have both a Nikon D80 and a Canon G9, and lust after a D90 and a G10.....)
Message edited by author 2008-10-07 20:46:37. |
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10/07/2008 08:45:14 PM · #4 |
| You'd be hard pressed to find an upper-tier North American camera company beyond Kodak (which is more famous for film) |
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10/07/2008 09:03:50 PM · #5 |
Japan <--> Cameras - who'da thunk it??!
And I just found out yesterday that Godzilla ia also Japanese. All this time I was sure he originated in North Korea.
Now I'm off to post my recent discovery in a Godzilla forum, for which I will register for just that purpose.
interesting sidenote: Goro Yoshida was killed by Godzilla in 1935 during the destruction of the original Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory. |
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10/07/2008 09:26:39 PM · #6 |
Originally posted by Jim_Raynor:
How did it happen that the two biggest camera makers are Japanese companies? I just found out they're both Japanese and I thought it strange... |
It makes sense because it does not take a lot of raw material to build a camera. The camera was, and is likely to still be, one of the most "cost added" products you can manufacture and sell in quantity.
ETA, With the possible exception of the Canon Mk series, where the solid chunk of unobtanium to make the frame eats up a lot of the profit.
Message edited by author 2008-10-07 21:28:41.
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10/07/2008 09:45:35 PM · #7 |
| I think it's strange that somebody didn't know they are Japanese companies. Also, Pentax, Olympus, Panasonic, Sony, Ricoh, Sharp, Toshiba, Fujifilm and 'Zillaworks (manufactureres of fine Godzilla opticals). ;-) |
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10/07/2008 11:05:50 PM · #8 |
There have not been too many American serious camera companies. Kodak made some decent stuff in the 50's. But Germany, and then Japan, have pretty much held the market for 35 mm stuff. The Germans had a reputation for precision work, then Japan decided to go high quality, and with the cheaper labor the rest is history.
Now days, even the Japanese cameras are often made in China. |
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10/07/2008 11:35:40 PM · #9 |
Originally posted by ambaker:
Now days, even the Japanese cameras are often made in China. |
If I got in my car now, I could get to the Canon factory in Utsunomiya in about fifteen minutes. I know they make lenses there. (If your Canon lens has a U in its serial number, it was made here.) |
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10/08/2008 05:51:35 AM · #10 |
Both My Nikon D70s and my Nikkor 18-200 VR were made in Thailand.
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10/08/2008 06:14:49 AM · #11 |
| I have a related question. I found out that the Canon and Nikon being distributed here in Egypt made in China, does anyone know were I can find out where they are made in other Middle East countries like a website or something??? |
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