# Why aren't there any well-known British cameras? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 13, 2018, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509 "2018-03-13T19:47:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/21 "2018-03-14T02:37:51Z")
Well sure, the UK may not be a major player in the fields of optics, aeronautics, biotechnology, computer engineering, artificial intelligence, medicine, robotics…and a host of other silly industrial endeavors. But, they sure as hell are on the bleeding edge of technology in the cut-throat field of [teapot cozies!](https://www.englishteastore.com/teacozies.html) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/22 "2018-03-14T02:46:34Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > if the Brits built a camera, it would probably leak oil. Oil leaks out, water leaks in. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/23 "2018-03-14T07:23:31Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > ARM processor cores. (iPhone, Android) The UK made pretty significant contributions to computing generally, I would say (if we’re talking 21st _and_ 20th centuries). That’s pretty much only history now, but technology manufacture and development has all gone East; they’re having their Industrial Revolution now - we already had ours. Our Industrial Revolution was coal, steam, steel, cotton and ships; their industrial revolution is silicon, glass, magnets, robots, data and networks. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/24 "2018-03-14T07:45:53Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > ARM processor cores. (iPhone, Android) And (until recently) Imagination Technologies who made the GPU in the Iphone and Ipad (and Sega Genesis back in the day). Did not go so well Apple decided to make their own GPUs however. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/25 "2018-03-14T07:53:55Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Currently I’d say aircraft wings (Airbus - ex-BAE Systems facility), jet engines (Rolls-Royce), ejector seats (Martin-Baker), very cutting-edge automobile technology (the bulk of the development centres for F1 teams are UK-based). > > Egg cups 😉 F1 is not “cutting edge automobile technology.” it has almost zero relevance to road cars and hasn’t for a long time. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/26 "2018-03-14T09:01:10Z")
> [@Hermitian](#): > > I am trying to think of an American camera company that has done anything in the last 20 years. > > I’m coming up empty. Lytro > **[Lytro](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lytro)** > > Lytro, Inc. was an American company founded in 2006 by Ren Ng which developed some of the first commercially available light-field cameras. Lytro began shipping its first generation pocket-sized camera, capable of refocusing images after being taken, in 8 GB and 16 GB versions on February 29, 2012. In April 2014, the company announced Lytro Illum, its second generation camera for commercial and experimental photographers. The Lytro Illum was released at $1,600. The Lytro ceased operations in lat... Light > **[Light (company)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_(company))** > > Light Labs Inc. was an American digital photography company that developed a multi-lens and multi-sensor camera designed for embedding in smartphones and mobile devices. The company's first product, the L16, is a standalone version with 16 camera modules. It planned to eventually provide mobile devices with higher-quality photo capabilities and true optical zoom. In 2020, the company pivoted from cameras for smartphones to imaging technology for automotive. > In May 2022, the tractor maker John De... ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/27 "2018-03-14T09:20:13Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > Does UK engineering in the 20th or 21st century have a good reputation in any field? Bridge-building. E.g. the Milau bridge. Tunnelling: the Channel Tunnel and Crossrail. Aerospace: the Typhoon, Rolls Royce engines, Airbus. Etc. Etc. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/28 "2018-03-14T09:37:00Z")
How is Airbus UK? It has some links to the country, but otherwise the great majority of them point to the hated French. ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/29 "2018-03-14T09:55:34Z")
Not cameras, but optical equipment: [https://www.york.ac.uk/borthwick/holdings/what-we-hold/businesses/vickers-instruments/](https://www.york.ac.uk/borthwick/holdings/what-we-hold/businesses/vickers-instruments/) The stuff on display is only a tiny part of the collection. They used to let us play with some of the stuff in storage, very odd prisms used for tank periscopes are what I remember. And microscopes that were more brass than glass, very steampunk. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/30 "2018-03-14T10:37:08Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > How is Airbus UK? It has some links to the country, but otherwise the great majority of them point to the hated French. Well, aside from a bloody great big design and manufacturing plant in Bristol, nothing really :dubious: The facility, for those interested, is directly opposite the HQ of Rolls Royce, another tiny contribution to aeronautical engineering. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/31 "2018-03-14T10:55:26Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > F1 is not “cutting edge automobile technology.” it has almost zero relevance to road cars and hasn’t for a long time. By definition the top grades of motorsport are at the cutting edge, how can it be otherwise? Are they deliberately seeking to underperform? As for the relevance for road cars? well the head of the Mercedes F1 team (UK-based of course)[would beg to differ](https://www.forbes.com/sites/csylt/2015/06/18/how-mercedes-uses-formula-one-to-rev-up-its-road-cars/#6c25517e7b65) Also, the post-war period saw the UK at the cutting edge of aerospace design. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/32 "2018-03-14T11:06:33Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > How is Airbus UK? It has some links to the country, but otherwise the great majority of them point to the hated French. [Airbus UK](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_UK) employs 13,000 people. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/33 "2018-03-14T11:23:30Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > By definition the top grades of motorsport are at the cutting edge, how can it be otherwise? Are they deliberately seeking to underperform? > > As for the relevance for road cars? well the head of the Mercedes F1 team (UK-based of course)[would beg to differ](https://www.forbes.com/sites/csylt/2015/06/18/how-mercedes-uses-formula-one-to-rev-up-its-road-cars/#6c25517e7b65) rather vague and probably just a soft bit of marketing speak to justify to their stakeholders why they continue to spend money on Formula 1. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/34 "2018-03-14T11:34:59Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > rather vague and probably just a soft bit of marketing speak to justify to their stakeholders why they continue to spend money on Formula 1. Oh, well that settles it then. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/35 "2018-03-14T12:43:20Z")
Road cars have nothing to do with F1, it doesn’t nullify the fact that British F1 engineering has been superlative. The British are capable of being excellent engineers, mechanical designers, and scientists, when they put their minds at it. The British have also created excellent military aircraft designs. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/36 "2018-03-14T12:57:51Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Polaroid and Kodak are the big ones. Also GoPro if you count them. Up to you if you consider them competitors or not. I think of GoPro as a waterproof phone camera without the phone. It has captured a niche for how-to-use but I don’t think it introduces any new imaging technology and it’s definitely not about optics. > [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > It makes me feel old to even think of it, but 2001 is still not quite yet 20 years ago. Even though those companies existed within the last 20 years they had been on a downhill slide for years before that due to the inability to innovate or even keep pace with technology and market trends. Polaroid was basically a one-camera company and never recovered from the industry shift to digital. Kodak put all its eggs in the APS basket which wasn’t a bad technology but suffered from spectacularly bad timing, and they also failed to play a leadership role in the digital revolution. I think they both tried to branch out into other areas of imaging (e.g., photocopiers) though I’m not sure why they did not have more success there. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/37 "2018-03-14T16:28:22Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Polaroid went bankrupt in 2001, and Kodak in 2012. The brand names are still used by companies that bought rights to them, but I don’t think they exist as American camera companies anymore. Kodak emerged from bankruptcy in 2013 and is still a functioning business, but since they stopped making any form of consumer camera (digital still or video - they had stopped making film cameras in 2004) and spun off their consumer film business they are no longer a camera company. In my lifetime I do not recall Kodak cameras as anything but junk - I have never considered them to be a serious camera company. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/38 "2018-03-14T16:36:14Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > That’s because it’s had so much exposure. And viewing it through the lens of history. F-stop it. You’re out of your depth of field. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/39 "2018-03-14T17:11:04Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > But damn, I bet they would look great! > > [https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1953-jaguar-xk120-fixed-head-coupe-2/](https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1953-jaguar-xk120-fixed-head-coupe-2/) > [@](#): > > an under-hood grease gun… A few minor oil leaks are noted by the seller, who states that they are typical of Jaguars from this era. But, yeah, if I had the bux I’d definitely put in a bid on this one. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/40 "2018-03-14T17:17:38Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > In my lifetime I do not recall Kodak cameras as anything but junk - I have never considered them to be a serious camera company. Kodak had an early lead in the DSLR market. They collaborated with Nikon (and others) and made the [DCS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kodak_DCS) series of DSLRs, which sold for as much as $30K, and were considered groundbreaking. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509.md?page=3)