TOP 5 DIGITAL CAMERAS

Canon, Inc was founded in 1937, with its headquarters in Ōta, Tokyo. It is a Japanese multinational, multimedia corporation that specializes in the manufacture of imaging and optical products, such as the cameras for which it is world-renowned, as well as photocopiers, steppers (used for integrated-circuit production), and computer printers.

The company entered the business of manufacturing and distributing digital cameras in 1984 with its RC-701 model. The RC digital camera series was followed by the PowerShot and Digital IXUS series. Canon also developed the EOS series of digital single-lens reflex cameras, largely a range of high-end professional models.

Nikon Corp was founded on 25 July 1917 as Nippon Kōgaku Kōgyō Kabushikigaisha (“Japan Optical Industries Corporation”), and is based in Tokyo. It is a multinational corporation, specializing in optics and imaging; in fact, in 1988 the company was renamed Nikon Corporation for its cameras. Among its products are Nikkor imaging lenses, the Nikon F-series of 135 film SLR cameras, the Nikon D-series of digital SLR cameras, the Coolpix series of compact digital cameras, and the Nikonos series of underwater film cameras.

Aside from cameras Nikon also manufactures other optical equipment, such as bino­culars and microscopes, as well as measuring instruments, and steppers (for integrated-circuit production), of which it is the world’s second largest manufacturer.

The companies held by Nikon form the Nikon Group, and Nikon is a company in the Mitsubishi Group.

Panasonic Corp, formerly known as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd, was founded in 1918 and has its headquarters in Kadoma, Osaka. A multinational consumer electronics corporation, its main business is manufacturing electronic products; which it does under a variety of names, including Panasonic and Technics. The company is the largest Japanese electronics producer in the world. Aside from electronic products, Panasonic also supplies non-electronic goods, and services such as home renovation.

Panasonic’s founder, Konosuke Matsushita, started by selling duplex lamp sockets. In 1927 the company produced a bicycle lamp, the first product to be marketed under the National brand name. Panasonic operated factories in Japan and in other Asian locations through the end of World War II, where electrical parts and appliances such as light fixtures, motors, and electric irons were manufactured.

Panasonic regrouped after the Second World War, to supply the Japanese post-war boom with radios and other appliances as well as bicycles. Matsushita’s brother-in-law, Toshio Iue, founded Sanyo as a subcontractor for components after the war; his company grew to compete with Panasonic.

Sony Corp is a Japanese multinational conglomerate, with its headquarters in Minato, Tokyo. It is the world’s fifth largest media conglomerate. Sony is a leading supplier to the consumer and professional markets, manufacturing electronics, video, communications, and information technology products, and video game consoles.

Sony Corp is the electronics business unit as well as the parent company of the Sony Group, which is engaged in business through its eight operating segments: consumer products & devices; networked products & services; B2B & disc manufacturing; pictures; music; financial services; Sony Ericsson; and its “all other” segment. These activities place Sony among the world’s most wide-ranging entertainment companies. The company’s main business operations comprise Sony Corp (Sony Electronics in the USA), Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Ericsson, and Sony Financial. For its semiconductors, Sony is one of the top 20 sales leaders worldwide.

Company founders Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka derived the name from sonus, the Latin word for sound, and from the English slang word “sonny,” since they considered themselves to be “sonny boys:” a loan word used in Japan in the early 1950s to describe young men who were smart and well turned-out.

Pentax was founded as Asahi Kogaku Goshi Kaisha by Kumao Kajiwara, in a shop in the Toshima suburb of Tokyo, in November 1919, to manufacture lenses for eyeglasses. In 1938 the company’s name was changed to Asahi Optical Co Ltd; by this time, it was also manufacturing items like camera/cinematographic lenses. Before the onset of World War II, Asahi Optical was kept busy meeting military contracts for optical instruments. In the war’s aftermath the Allied occupiers dissolved the company; allowing it to re-form in 1948, when Asahi resumed its pre-war activities, manufacturing binoculars and consumer camera optics for Konishiroku and Chiyoda Kōgaku Seikō (later Konica and Minolta respectively).

The company is most famous for its Pentax brand cameras, starting with the pivotal Asahi Pentax single-lens reflex camera of 1957, following on Asahi’s first series of cameras, the 1952 Asahiflex. The Pentax series became so highly admired that the business eventually renamed itself Pentax, after the product. Although Pentax Corp ultimately merged into Hoya Corp on 31 March 2008, Hoya continues to develop and market cameras under the Pentax brand.