# 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:** 3
**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 15, 2018, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/41 "2018-03-15T01:09:27Z")
> [@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. They definitely missed a big opportunity. The company is fucked up beyond belief. They once made great cameras and lenses. The 127mm lens on my Speed Graphic is a Kodak Ektar Supermatic and it is a spectacularly excellent lens. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2018, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/42 "2018-03-15T01:35:02Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > ARM processor cores. (iPhone, Android) ARM does not actually **make** CPUs/SOCs, they just design the CPU architecture and license manufacturer out to others like Qualcomm, Samsung, AMD, Apple, _et al_. At present, having bought up a processor company and made good use of its engineering talent, Apple has turned out ARM-based SOCs that are on the verge of outperforming the best Intel has to offer. ARM also partners with some of its licensees in the design process, leveraging their real-world experience to optimize the next generation. The British film manufacturer Ilford, as I recall, made some damn high quality b/w negative stock back in the day. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2018, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/43 "2018-03-15T01:54:23Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Did any other country in Europe develop an optics & camera industry besides Germany? I know France has some world-leading specialty optics companies, but I can’t name any European consumer optics & imaging companies other than German ones. From France: [Angenieux](https://www.angenieux.com) lenses. [Aaton](https://www.aaton.com) cameras. [Eclair](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclair_(company)) cameras (sold to Aaton in 1986). [Pathé](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Path%C3%A9) made cameras and film. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2018, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/44 "2018-03-15T02:22:31Z")
Optics, but not cameras as far as I know: Swarovski is Austrian. Granted, not that far from German. ---
**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 15, 2018, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/45 "2018-03-15T03:07:03Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > The British film manufacturer Ilford, as I recall, made some damn high quality b/w negative stock back in the day. Yeah they still do, [here](https://s14.postimg.org/y3tzbibgv/car004.jpg) is a picture I shot with Ilford 400 recently, and [here](https://s14.postimg.org/40fgj7d8v/car012.jpg) one with Ilford 100. It’s very good black and white film, although I typically shoot color. ---
**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 15, 2018, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/46 "2018-03-15T22:32:55Z")
> [@Jacquernagy](#): > > Yeah they still do, [here](https://s14.postimg.org/y3tzbibgv/car004.jpg) is a picture I shot with Ilford 400 recently, and [here](https://s14.postimg.org/40fgj7d8v/car012.jpg) one with Ilford 100. It’s very good black and white film, although I typically shoot color. Kodak Alaris, the Kodak spinoff which currently makes Kodak film, paper, and chemicals, is also a UK company. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/47 "2018-03-16T11:49:27Z")
Look, perusing the list of current camera manufactures, I got as A B and C, and found two… so not just one freak. Andor Technology is new to the field, based at UK’s Northern Ireland. (I thought Id make it clear its part of the UK of GB !) > **[Andor Technology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andor_Technology)** > > Andor Technology Ltd is a developer and manufacturer of high performance light measuring solutions (scientific digital cameras). It became a subsidiary of Oxford Instruments after it was purchased for £176 million in December 2013. The company is based in Belfast, Northern Ireland and now employs over 400 staff across the group at its offices in Belfast, Japan, China, Switzerland and the US. > Andor Technology designs, manufactures and sells scientific imaging equipment including charge-coupled ... So they ARE new and into top notch SCIENCE. And now for something old… Famous American portrait photographers used Cooke cameras, 100% British cameras back in the 1930’s. They are known for being good at some things ! > **[Cooke Optics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooke_Optics)** > > Cooke Optics Ltd. is a camera lens manufacturing company based in Leicester. > Administratively speaking, Cooke Optics is a spin-off of the company Taylor-Hobson. However, Taylor-Hobson used to be a lens manufacturer and Cooke lenses used to be its sole activity before Taylor-Hobson moved to the market of metrology instruments. Hence the foundation of Cooke Optics can be regarded as the foundation of Taylor, Taylor and Hobson (TTH) in 1886, and Cooke Optics can be regarded as the successor of the ... There’s sure to be more in the list after C. and they were only ones still operating, I didnt get to defunct camera companies ! ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/48 "2018-03-16T13:00:46Z")
If we’re counting scientific “cameras” (i.e. readout electronics for sensors), [Rutherfoard Appleton Laboratory](https://www.stfc.ac.uk/about-us/where-we-work/rutherford-appleton-laboratory/) is a world leader in CCD cameras for space science applications. Their cameras are used on many satellites, like NASA’s [Solar Dynamics Observatory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_Dynamics_Observatory). ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/49 "2018-03-16T13:16:15Z")
…and also, it’s not just readout electronics. [e2v](https://www.e2v.com/) (British company recently acquired by Teledyne) makes some of the best CCD imaging sensors for space science. They are used in many of the most prominent science satellites, including Hubble, Kepler and Curiosity (Mars rover). Which means many of the best images taken by NASA space telescopes & probes were taken with British imaging sensors. ---
**Author:** ![BobArrgh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobarrgh/32/2881_2.png) [@BobArrgh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobArrgh)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/50 "2018-03-16T14:14:50Z")
I remember seeing a Jaguar back in the early 1980s that had a bumper sticker on it that read, “The parts falling off this vehicle are of the finest British craftsmanship.” ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/51 "2018-03-16T17:08:29Z")
> [@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. I would guide you towards the RED ONE Digital Cinema Camera. 100% American. Conceived by the fellow who made his billions with Oakley Sunglasses. RED is based in Orange County CA. They clearly set a new benchmark. They created the first large size single CMOS cinema camera in history. I was the first person to mount one of the prototype RED ONE cameras onto a Steadicam. It was at the NAB show in Vegas many years ago. In return for doing that, I asked them to get me into the screening of the short film directed by Peter Jackson ( Lord of the Rings trilogy ). It was both exciting and disappointing. It looked SO MUCH better than, say, Superman Returns which was shot on the Panavision Genesis system. But it also looked like the world’s most expensive video game. Lacking the texture of organic film imaging, the thing looked gorgeous but flat as hell. That said, RED ONE was an innovation. As far as consumer photographic gear, yeah. I’ve got nothing. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/52 "2018-03-16T17:14:39Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > F-stop it. You’re out of your depth of field. Agreed. He’s not framing his argument very well, thus resulting in that synching feeling. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk ---
**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 16, 2018, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/53 "2018-03-16T17:47:37Z")
That pun made me shutter. ---
**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 16, 2018, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/54 "2018-03-16T17:56:58Z")
> [@BobArrgh](#): > > I remember seeing a Jaguar back in the early 1980s that had a bumper sticker on it that read, “The parts falling off this vehicle are of the finest British craftsmanship.” “No sir, your Rolls-Royce did not ‘break down.’ It is simply failing to proceed.” ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/55 "2018-03-16T18:07:56Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > That pun made me shutter. You just gotta roll with it. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/56 "2018-03-16T18:39:32Z")
> [@Jacquernagy](#): > > As an avid photographer and camera collector, I’m well acquainted with the major camera brands and their histories. The United States and Germany produced most of the best cameras of the first half of the 20th Century, with Japan entering the market a bit later and establishing itself as the third member of the “big three” of camera-producing companies. The quality of American cameras and lenses in the World War II era was outstanding; German cameras were (and are) likewise outstanding; and Japanese cameras of the past 30 years are outstanding. They are all equally good, as far as I am concerned. The German-made cameras and lenses command a higher price, but their Japanese counterparts are essentially equal in quality. > > There are also a few Russian cameras that have quite the cult following: Kiev probably being the best-known. > > So why did the British never really develop a camera industry? Their engineers couldn’t figure out how to make them leak oil… ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/57 "2018-03-16T20:19:33Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Their engineers couldn’t figure out how to make them leak oil… I already made that joke in post #20. ---
**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 16, 2018, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/58 "2018-03-16T20:55:39Z")
Yeah, but now it’s leaking onto the second page. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/59 "2018-03-16T21:07:25Z")
Just put the page into the fixer and the problems will not develop further. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2018, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509/60 "2018-03-18T21:02:58Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Just put the page into the fixer and the problems will not develop further. Just stop! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-well-known-british-cameras/810509.md?page=4)