Slogan: Master of the medium
Japanese manufacturer of professional digital studio cameras, as well as various photo and optical equipment. The company achieved fame thanks to its medium format cameras. Some of them have become true legends, such as the Mamiya RZ67. At one time, this camera was preferred by many professionals working in portrait studios.
The company, at first known as Mamiya Koki Seisakusho (Mamiya Optical Works), was named after its founder, engineer Seichi Mamiya. He founded it in Tokyo on May 10, 1940, together with businessman Tsunejiro Sugawara, who took on the financing of the new business.
The first symbol of the company was a stylized design of a lens with rays of light. It was developed in the same 1940 by a student from the Japan Fine Arts School. On the edges are two letters "S" and "M" - the initials of the founders (and not an abbreviation of Mamiya/Sekor, as other sources indicate). Later, the logo was changed to a simple inscription "MAMIYA".
The company's first commercial product was the medium-format Mamiya-6, a dream of collectors who collect photo equipment. This model was then produced unchanged for eight years. It was a good start.
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| Mamiya 7 II (image from the official website) |
World War II was a serious blow to the young company. The country lay in ruins and everything had to start from scratch. By a strange decision of the Allied Forces, the Japanese company could not sell its cameras to the Japanese public until the company reached certain export volumes. This surprised but did not frighten the management Mamiya. Attempts to set up branches in New York and London begin. And then luck struck: a large order from the U.S. Armed Forces. Thus, the first postwar models of the Japanese manufacturer could be found anywhere, but not in Japan.
At first, there were interruptions in the supply of shutters and lenses. As a result, the company begins to produce its own at the factory SetagayaLater renamed the Setagaya Koki. This is how lenses and lenses are born Sekor. For a while. Mamiya acquires lenses and at Olympus Optical.
In 1948, the company created Japan's first dual-lens reflex camera (TLR) with a built-in flash. The model went down in history as Mamiyaflex. A year later, in memory of the success of the medium-format Mamiya-6, the company introduces the Mamiya 35-I.
The company grew rapidly, quickly reaching the bar set by the Allied Forces. In 1950 Mamiya Koki Seisakusho is renamed to Mamiya Camera Company, Ltd.. In 1951 it is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. And in 1956 it presented its cameras at the prestigious international exhibition Photokina international show. What follows is a series of exceptionally successful models, some of which become legendary (in certain circles). The company becomes universally recognized.
In 1988, after a successful financial reorganization of the company, Tsunehiro Sugawara passed away. A year later, Seiichi Mamiya also passed away. These events mark the end of an entire era in the history of Mamiya Camera Company, Ltd..
Well, since April 21, 2006, a new era in the history of the company begins. Mamiya announces the transfer of all its assets to a Japanese company Cosmo Digital Imaging. This is how a new company appears - Mamiya Digital Imaging Co..
In the U.S., the brand Mamiya does not belong to the original company, but is part of a separate entity Mamiya America Corporation, (M.A.C.). Thus, all products bearing the name "Mamiya" belong to M.A.C.This affects their retail price, which is higher than that of their counterparts sold in other countries.
