12 researched events, 1940 to present. Each is dated as its sources date it and carries the references it rests on.
Read the Mamiya company history →
Seiichi Mamiya and Tsunejiro Sugawara established Mamiya Koki Seisakusho in Tokyo in 1940 and began producing the Mamiya Six. The folding 120-film rangefinder used Mamiya's back-focusing mechanism, moving the film plane for focus while the lens remained fixed. The Japanese Camera Museum reports that the camera remained in production during wartime restrictions.
Corporate history · Mamiya Camera Exhibition: The History of Invention and Ingenuity · About Mamiya
Mamiya rebuilt postwar production and in March 1946 established a Setagaya factory to make shutters and lenses in-house. Early postwar Mamiya Six cameras nevertheless appear with several lens and shutter combinations because supplies were unstable. The factory became Setagaya Koki Co., Ltd. in July 1950, and Mamiya Koki Seisakusho was reorganized as Mamiya Koki Co., Ltd. that December.
Corporate history · Mamiya Camera Exhibition: The History of Invention and Ingenuity · Mamiya 6 Model V (1953)
The company expanded into twin-lens reflex, 16mm subminiature, and 35mm cameras while continuing the Mamiya Six line. Its 1957 Mamiyaflex C Professional made the entire paired-lens and shutter board interchangeable and used bellows focusing for close work. The Mamiya Magazine 35, also dated 1957 by the Japanese Camera Museum, carried a Sekor 50mm f/2.8 and used an interchangeable film chamber.
Mamiya Camera Exhibition: The History of Invention and Ingenuity · Mamiya TLR System Summary · Mamiya Sekor Guide
Mamiya introduced the Press camera in 1960 and developed a broad system of roll-film backs, sheet and instant-film accessories, and lenses. The C-series TLR evolved through C2, C3, C22, C33, C220, and C330 branches. Mamiya also sold 35mm SLRs using the Praktica/Pentax M42 screw mount and later proprietary mounts. A new Urawa factory opened in 1963; Setagaya Koki was absorbed that June, and its Tokyo factory operation was integrated into Urawa in 1964.
Corporate history · Mamiya Camera Exhibition: The History of Invention and Ingenuity · Mamiya TLR System Summary · Mamiya Sekor Guide
Mamiya established a production subsidiary at Saku in 1970 and released the RB67 Professional that year. Its rotating film magazine changed between horizontal and vertical 6×7 framing without turning the camera, while body bellows handled focusing and lenses supplied leaf shutters. In 1975 the M645 opened a smaller 6×4.5 SLR system using a focal-plane shutter; the M645 1000S followed in 1976 with a 1/1000-second top speed.
Corporate history · Mamiya Camera Exhibition: The History of Invention and Ingenuity · Mamiya RB67 Pro-S instruction manual
Mamiya continued professional medium-format development while changing its 35mm strategy through NC, ZE, and Z-series proprietary mounts. The RZ67 Professional arrived in 1982 as an electronically integrated development of the RB concept. Contemporary patent records assigned to Mamiya document active optical calculation, including zoom-lens work, rather than a catalog built entirely from external designs.
Mamiya Camera Exhibition: The History of Invention and Ingenuity · Mamiya RZ67 Pro II instruction manual · JPS58100115A — Zoom lens · Mamiya Sekor Guide
Osawa & Co., Mamiya's important international distributor and shareholder, sought court-supervised rehabilitation in February 1984; Mamiya Koki filed on 5 March. Government records treated both as major failures with effects on suppliers and employment. Mamiya's 35mm camera line ended during the reorganization, while its professional medium-format systems continued.
Cabinet response concerning the failures of Osawa & Co. and Mamiya Koki · Mamiya Z-Series 35mm Cameras
The New Mamiya 6 appeared in 1989 as an electronically controlled 6×6 interchangeable-lens rangefinder with a collapsible lens mount. The RB67 Pro SD followed in 1990. In 1992 Olympic Co., Ltd. absorbed Mamiya Koki; the combined company became Mamiya-OP in 1993. Camera and lens manufacturing subsidiaries Mamiya and Shibata Mamiya were combined at Saku in 1994.
Corporate history · Mamiya Camera Exhibition: The History of Invention and Ingenuity
Mamiya extended the rangefinder concept to the 6×7 Mamiya 7 in 1995 and developed the 645AF platform for film and digital backs. The Mamiya ZD, shown in 2004 and released in 2005, used a large 36×48mm CCD and Mamiya 645AF lenses. Patent records from the period continue to show optical-design work assigned to Mamiya-OP.
Mamiya Camera Exhibition: The History of Invention and Ingenuity · JP2004102100A — Retrofocus type super wide-angle lens
Mamiya-OP transferred its optical-equipment business, including staff, facilities, inventory, trademarks, and patents, to the newly formed Cosmo Digital Imaging business in September 2006. The camera operation soon used the Mamiya Digital Imaging name. Mamiya-OP's own corporate chronology states that it withdrew from optical business, so the continuing camera brand and the continuing Mamiya-OP corporation must not be treated as the same enterprise after this transfer.
Phase One made a major investment in Mamiya Digital Imaging in 2009 and took strategic leadership in research, development, marketing, and distribution. Mamiya, Phase One, and Schneider Kreuznach then announced shared design, development, manufacturing, and delivery of leaf-shutter lenses for the 645DF platform. In 2012 Mamiya Digital Imaging and Leaf Imaging consolidated product development, marketing, and support under the Mamiya Leaf brand while retaining Mamiya labels on cameras and lenses.
Phase One Invests in Mamiya Digital Imaging · Mamiya and Leaf brands and lineups consolidate · Schneider Kreuznach, Phase One, Mamiya Digital Imaging Cooperate to Drive Innovations in Medium Format Digital Lenses
Phase One acquired Mamiya Digital Imaging's assets in December 2015 and established Phase One Japan, taking control of medium-format camera, central-shutter, and lens design and development. The Phase One XF had already launched that June as a new Phase One-designed platform. Current Phase One material lists Saku as a regional office and maintains support or compatibility information for selected Mamiya equipment, but the current product system is Phase One-branded and centers on Schneider Kreuznach lenses. Axcel has held a majority investment in Phase One since 2019.
Phase One Unveils the Future of High-End Photography · Phase One Japan established and succeeds Mamiya optical business · About Phase One · Which products can I get help with from Phase One and Mamiya-Leaf Technical Support · Phase One · Leaf Shutter Lenses
