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camera names

CMoore

Member
Joined
Aug 23, 2015
Messages
6,347
Location
USA CA
Format
35mm
Specifically .....
Canon F-1
Olympus M-1

Of all the letters and numbers in all the world, why did they pick the Same/Similar as two of the most popular 35mm cameras of all time.?
 
I don’t know about the Canon but wasn’t the M-1 named that way because Maitani Yoshihisa was fan of Leica?
 
With respect to Canon, the F-1 and the Ftb were in the same family.
And as for Olympus, could it be a reference to Maitani?
 
There's a story, possibly apocryphal, that circulates periodically about the Canon F-1. In brief, Nikon had the F and F2, but never bothered to trademark F-1. Canon saw the opportunity and took it.
 
The same reason the real thing is called Dr Pepper, and the knockoff is called Mr Pibb...
 
Its like Burger King and Burger Chef.. some things never change
 
Ariston said:
The same reason the real thing is called Dr Pepper, and the knockoff is called Mr Pibb...
Click to expand...

jnantz said:
Its like Burger King and Burger Chef.. some things never change
Click to expand...
Touche` .......
Ford F250
Chevy 2500

I guess i was blinded.....thinking my own hobby would be above that.
Ii would seem i was wrong.
If i owned Canon i would not have called it the F-1. Anything would have been better.
Canon C-1 perhaps.?
 
F = Focal plane shutter. M = Merkwürdigliebe. Which means Strangelove, whoops wrong movie. Leica M means MESSSUCHER. Eyes wide open?
 
I still think Graflex Super D RB Deserves top prize, every SLR, especially RB 67 is derived from it and everything else miniature is a Leica derivative.
 
CMoore said:
Specifically .....
Canon F-1
Olympus M-1

Of all the letters and numbers in all the world, why did they pick the Same/Similar as two of the most popular 35mm cameras of all time.?
Click to expand...

From M-1 to OM-1

OM-1 was initially launched as M-1. Many people believe that "M" is used because it is pronounced in the same way in different countries. However, it is the initial of Maitani.

When M-1 was introduced at the Photokina in September 1972, people from Leitz came to the Olympus booth and protested the use of the letter M. Since 1954, Leitz has been using the letter M for its rangefinder camera series.

Although a one-letter name cannot be registered as a trademark. To avoid possible trademark infringement, it was decided to add the letter O, which stands for Olympus. The decision was made within an hour.

Unassembled M-1 tops were trashed, but about 5 000 camera bodies with M-1 covers had been produced and went into the market.

http://www.maitani-fan.com/maitani_fan/om_1.html

The simplest explanation for the Canon product name is that it's the "flagship" / professional model in the Canon F-series, which began with the FX model in 1964.
 
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Yes, I seem to recall the early Nikon advertising described the F as the auto reflex camera from Nikon.
 
CMoore said:
Specifically .....
Canon F-1
Olympus M-1

Of all the letters and numbers in all the world, why did they pick the Same/Similar as two of the most popular 35mm cameras of all time.?
Click to expand...
there aren't that many choices when you're trying to express that this is the company's first serious camera.
 
What became the Porsche 911 was originally 901 - Peugeot complained because they'd trademarked 3-digit model names with a central zero.

Anyway, in the digital world there is Nikon Dxx and Canon xxD. I always thought that since Nikon came out with the "retro controls" styled Df, it would be appropriate for Canon to match them with an fD ... alas, they did not.
 
A peak in Nikon nomenclature was the F2 series - F2, F2 Photomocic, F2S Photomic, F2SB, F2A, F2AS, …
--
I really miss those imaginative names like Agfa Klack; Agfa Silette, Voigtländer Bessy, Voigtländer Vitoret, Dacora Royal, Braun Gloria,
Konica Hexar, Konica Big Mini, Kodak Retina, Kodak Hawkeye, Balda Super Baldax, Balda Super Pontura, …
 
 
Canon never want to remind anyone that they once made the FD line of lenses.
 
mshchem said:
I still think Graflex Super D RB Deserves top prize, every SLR, especially RB 67 is derived from it and everything else miniature is a Leica derivative.
Click to expand...

Topcon Super D...
 
As for nomenclature, I think Canon made a mistake with the wonderful Canon EF. They had the F series and the A series and the EF just got lost; many people don't know it exists. I didn't know it existed until a few years ago (thanks, Ben!). It doesn't help that their EOS system lenses are called EF lenses.

A handy timeline reference for Minolta, Canon, Nikon Pentax:

http://minolta.eazypix.de/slrtable/

So now Nikon has Z cameras, Z lenses and Canon has EOS R cameras and RF lenses. We'll see what becomes of that, but I suspect it's the End.
 
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