A rangefinder camera is a camera fitted with a rangefinder, typically a split-image rangefinder: a range-finding focusing mechanism allowing the photographer to measure the subject distance and take photographs that are in sharp focus.
Leica Camera AG is a German company that manufactures cameras, optical lenses, photographic lenses, binoculars, and rifle scopes. The company was founded by Ernst Leitz in 1869, in Wetzlar, Germany. The name Leica is derived from the first three letters of the founder's surname (Leitz) and the first two of the word camera: lei-ca.
Minox is a manufacturer of cameras, known especially for its subminiature camera.
Canon Inc. is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, specializing in optical, imaging, and industrial products, such as lenses, cameras, medical equipment, scanners, printers, and semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
Konica Minolta, Inc. is a Japanese multinational technology company headquartered in Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo, with offices in 49 countries worldwide. The company manufactures business and industrial imaging products, including copiers, laser printers, multi-functional peripherals (MFPs) and digital print systems for the production printing market. Konica Minolta's Managed Print Service (MPS) is called Optimised Print Services. The company also makes optical devices, including lenses and LCD film; medical and graphic imaging products, such as X-ray image processing systems, colour proofing systems, and X-ray film; photometers, 3-D digitizers, and other sensing products; and textile printers. It once had camera and photo operations inherited from Konica and Minolta but they were sold in 2006 to Sony, with Sony's Alpha series being the successor SLR division brand.
Mamiya Digital Imaging Co., Ltd. is a Japanese company that manufactures high-end cameras and other related photographic and optical equipment. With headquarters in Tokyo, it has two manufacturing plants and a workforce of over 200 people. The company was founded in May 1940 by camera designer Seiichi Mamiya and financial backer Tsunejiro Sugawara.
Nikon Corporation is a Japanese optics and photographic equipment manufacturer. Nikon's products include cameras, camera lenses, binoculars, microscopes, ophthalmic lenses, measurement instruments, rifle scopes, spotting scopes, and equipment related to semiconductor fabrication, such as 'steppers' used in the photolithography steps of such manufacturing. Nikon is the world's second largest manufacturer of such equipment.
Praktica was a brand of camera manufactured by Pentacon in Dresden in eastern Germany, within the GDR between 1949 and the German reunification in 1990. The firm Pentacon was divided in mainly two parts and sold after German reunification. Schneider Kreuznach and Noble bought parts of it. Pentacon is a Dresden-based company in the optical and precision engineering industry, which was at times a major manufacturer of photo cameras. The name Pentacon is derived on the one hand from the Contax brand of the Dresden Zeiss Ikon Kamerawerke and Pentagon, because a pentaprism for SLR cameras developed for the first time in Dresden has this shape in cross section. Today's PENTACON GmbH Foto- und Feinwerktechnik is still based in Dresden. It is part of the Schneider Group, Bad Kreuznach. Pentacon is the modern-day successor to Dresden camera firms such as Zeiss Ikon; for many years Dresden was the world's largest producer of cameras. Previous brands of the predecessor firms included Praktica, Exa, Pentacon, Zeiss Ikon, Contax, Ica, Ernemann, Exakta, Praktiflex, and many more.
Rollei was a German manufacturer of optical instruments founded in 1920 by Paul Franke and Reinhold Heidecke in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, and maker of the Rolleiflex and Rolleicord series of cameras. Later products included specialty and nostalgic type films for the photo hobbyist market.
Panavision is an American motion picture equipment company founded in 1954 specializing in cameras and lenses, based in Woodland Hills, California. Formed by Robert Gottschalk as a small partnership to create anamorphic projection lenses during the widescreen boom in the 1950s, Panavision expanded its product lines to meet the demands of modern filmmakers. The company introduced its first products in 1954. Originally a provider of CinemaScope accessories, the company's line of anamorphic widescreen lenses soon became the industry leader. In 1972, Panavision helped revolutionize filmmaking with the lightweight Panaflex 35 mm movie camera. The company has introduced other cameras such as the Millennium XL (1999) and the digital video Genesis (2004).
The Argus C3 was a low-priced rangefinder camera mass-produced from 1939 to 1966 by Argus in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. The camera sold over 2.2 million units, making it one of the most popular American cameras in history. Due to its shape, size, and weight, it is commonly referred to as "The Brick" by photographers. The most famous 20th-century photographer who used it was Tony Vaccaro, who employed this model during World War II.
Sherman Mills Fairchild was an American businessman and investor who founded over 70 companies, including Fairchild Aviation, Fairchild Industries, and Fairchild Camera and Instrument. Fairchild made significant contributions to the aviation industry and was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1979. His Semiconductor Division of Fairchild Camera played a defining role in Silicon Valley. He held over 30 patents for products ranging from the silicon semiconductor to the 8-mm home sound motion-picture camera. Fairchild was responsible for inventing the first synchronized camera shutter and flash as well as developing technologies for aerial cameras that were later used on the Apollo Missions.
Argus was an American maker of cameras and photographic products, founded in 1936 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Argus originated as a subsidiary of the International Radio Corporation (IRC), founded by Charles Verschoor.
Yashica Co., Ltd. was a Japanese manufacturer of cameras, lenses, and film editing equipment active from 1949 until 2005 when its then-owner, Kyocera, ceased production. It acquired the lens manufacturer Tomioka.
The Keuffel and Esser Co., also known as K&E, was an American drafting instrument and supplies company founded in 1867 by German immigrants Wilhelm J. D. Keuffel and Hermann Esser. It was the first U.S. company to specialize in these products.
The Ann Arbor News is a newspaper serving Washtenaw and Livingston counties in Michigan. Published daily online through MLive.com, the paper also publishes print editions on Thursdays and Sundays.
The International Radio Corporation (IRC) was an American radio receiver manufacturing company based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It was established in 1931 by Charles Albert Verschoor with financial backing from Ann Arbor mayor William E. Brown, Jr., and a group of local business leaders. IRC manufactured numerous different radios, many bearing the Kadette name, including the first mass-produced AC/DC radio, the first pocket radio, and the first clock radio. Due to the seasonal nature of radio sales, the company attempted to diversify its offerings with a product that would sell well during the summer, eventually settling on a camera that would become the Argus. In 1939, IRC sold its radio-manufacturing business to its former General Sales Manager, W. Keene Jackson, although his new Kadette Radio Corporation only survived for a year before it went defunct. After World War II, International Industries and its International Research division became wholly owned subsidiaries of Argus, Inc., after which point the International name ceased to exist.
William Lawrence Clements (1861–1934) was an American businessman and collector of historical works; founder, and donor to the William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan. In addition, Clements donated more than twenty-million-dollars throughout his life to the university, oversaw a successful business career in the manufacturing and banking industry, and served as a regent of the University of Michigan for twenty-four years.
Nikon Museum is a museum of Nikon products, located at Nikon headquarters in Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan.
The International Museum of Dinnerware Design (IMoDD) is a design museum located in Kingston, New York. It was established in 2012 by Margaret Carney. IMoDD is a 501(c)(3) organization that "collects, preserves, and celebrates masterpieces of the tabletop genre created by leading artists and designers worldwide. Through its collections, exhibitions, and educational programming," IMoDD's mission statement says, "it provides a window on the varied cultural and societal attitudes toward food and dining and commemorates the objects that exalt and venerate the dining experience." IMoDD has over 9,000 objects in its permanent collection, consisting of work by contemporary artists as well as the leading designers for industry, with an additional focus on fine art referencing dining.
