History of Tamron

Origin of Company Name : The present corporate name dates from 1959. It is derived from the surname of Uhyoue Tamura, a prominent optical designer who laid the technological foundations of the company.

Founder
The late Takeyuki Arai

Company History

1950 Taisei Optical Equipment Manufacturing established in Urawa City.
1952 Taisei Optical Equipment Manufacturing Inc. established with capital of 2.5 million yen.
1958 The "Tamron" brand registered as a trademark.
1959 Head office and main plant established in Hasunuma, Omiya City.
1969 Hirosaki plant established in Aomori Prefecture.
1970 Company name changed to Tamron Co., Ltd.
1976 Head office transferred to Takinogawa, Kita-ku, Tokyo.
1979 U.S. subsidiary Tamron Industries, Inc. (now Tamron USA, Inc.) established in New York.
1982 Tamron Vertriebsges, GmbH. established in Germany.
Tamron (Hong Kong) Limited established.
1984 Optech Tamron Co., Ltd. established in Namioka-machi, Aomori Prefecture.
Tamron registered with the Tokyo stock Exchange for over-the-counter trading.
1985 Tamron Fine-Giken Co., Ltd. established to produce molds and dies for precision moldings.
1986 A molding plant established in Owani-machi, Aomori Prefecture.
1991 Optech Tamron Co., Ltd. taken over by Tamron Co., Ltd..
1997 Tamron Industries (Hong Kong) Limited established in Hong Kong.
Tamron Optical (Foshan) Co. Ltd. established in Foshan, Guangdong, Peoples Republic of China.
2000 Tamron Co., Ltd. takes over Tamron Fine-Giken Co., Ltd..
Tamron France EURL. established.
2005 Head office transferred to Hasunuma, Minuma-ku, Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture.
New molding plant completed (head office).
TAMRON OPTICAL (SHANGHAI) CO., LTD. established in Shanghai.
2006 Tamron Co., Ltd. listed on the 1st Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
2009 India liaison office opened in Haryama, India.
Representative office opened in Moscow, Russia.

ISO Certifications

1995 Hirosaki plant earns ISO 9001 certification.
2000 Head office earns ISO 9001 certification.
Hirosaki plant earns ISO 14001 certification.
2001 Foshan plant achieves ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certification.
Head office earns ISO 14001 certification.
2003 Namioka plant and Owani plant earn ISO 14001 certification.
2004 Namioka plant and Owani plant earn ISO 9001 certification.
2009 ISO/TS 16949 certification for a quality management system for the automotive industry earned.

Photo and CCTV & IP Lens History

1957 [Photo] 135mm F/4.5 interchangeable lens for single lens reflex cameras developed.
[Photo] "T" mount, the world's first interchangeable mount system for 35mm single lens reflex cameras developed.
1961 [Photo] Mass production starts for the 95-205mm F/6.3 (Model 910P), the first SLR telephoto zoom lens for general consumer use. This initiates broader use of zoom lenses.
1966 [Photo] Development of the Tamron Adapt-A-Matic range of interchangeable mount lenses successful, providing automatic diaphragm control for single lens reflex cameras.
1976 [Photo] Tamron Adaptall Lens range introduced, featuring built-in lightweight macro-mechanism and exclusive quick-focus system.
1979 [Photo] Super-Performance (SP) series developed.
[Photo] The original 90mm F/2.5 Macro (Model 52B) released as the first of Tamron's trademark 90mm macro lenses.
1986 [CCTV] A revolutionary survellience lens, the 2/3 format 8-16mm F/1.6 Vari-Focal Lens, was released.
1992 [Photo] AF28-200mm F/3.8-5.6 (Model 71D) released as the smallest and lightest SLR zoom lens in the world.
2000 [Photo] RF645 released as a 645 rangefinder camera.
[Photo] SP AF24-135mm F/3.5-5.6 (Model 290D) wide-angle all-in-one zoom released to commemorate Tamron's 50th anniversary.
2010 [Photo] SP 70-300mm F/3.5-5.6 Di VC USD (Model A005) premium telephoto zoom released to commemorate Tamron's 60th anniversary.

History of Product Awards

1992 SP AF35-105mm F/2.8 (Model 65D) SLR zoom lens wins "European Lens of the Year 1992-1993".
1993 AF28-200mm F/3.8-5.6 (Model 71D) all-in-one zoom lens wins "European Lens of the Year 1992-1993". That is followed by the lens being awarded the 1993 "Best of What's New Award" (photographic product category) by prestigious American magazine Popular Science.
1997 SP AF90mm F/2.8 (Model 72E) macro lens wins "European Lens of the Year 1997-1998".
1999 AF28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 (Model 185D) all-in-one zoom lens wins the Camera Grand Prix 1999 "Camera Press Club Special Prize". That is followed by the lens also wining "European Lens of the Year 1999-2000", the "TIPA Lens Grand Prize", and Popular Science's "1999 Best of What's New Award" (photographic product category), completing a grand slam of the world's four largest awards.
2000 AF28-200mm F/3.8-5.6 (Model 371D) all-in-one zoom lens wins "European Lens of the Year 2000-2001".
2001 AF28-200mm F/3.8-5.6 (Model A03) wins "TIPA Best Lens in Europe 2001-2002".
RF645 is awarded the Camera Grand Prix 2001 "Camera Press Club Special Prize", "EISA Best Professional Photo Product in Europe 2001-2002", and "EISA European Professional Camera of the Year 2001-2002".
2002 AF28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 (Model A06) wins "European Lens of the Year 2001-2002". That is followed by the lens also winning the 2002 "Good Design Award" and the "CAPA Lens Grand Prix 2002-2003".
2003 SP AF28-75mm F/2.8 (Model A09) wins "European Lens of the Year 2003-2004" and the "CAPA Lens Grand Prix 2003-2004". That is followed by the lens winning the "2003 Good Design Prize".
2005 AF28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 (Model A061) wins the Nikkei Superior Products and Services Awards "Business Daily Awards for Superiority".
The AF18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 (Model A14) high power zoom lens is awarded the "TIPA Best Consumer Lens of the Year 2005" in Europe.
2006 SP AF17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di II (Model A16) wins the "European Consumer Lens of the Year 2006-2007". That is followed by the lens also winning the "2006 Good Design Prize".
2007 AF28-250mm F/3.5-6.3 (Model A18) wins "European Consumer Lens of the Year 2007-2008". That is followed by the lens also winning the "2007 Good Design Prize".
2008 AF28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 XR Di VC (Model A20) wins "European Consumer Lens of the Year 2008-2009".
2009 AF28-270mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC (Model B003) wins "European Travel Lens of the Year 2009-2010". It also wins the "American Photo Editor's Choice Awards 2009 Lens of the Year", the "Gold Award in the Interchangeable Lens" category in the Visual 2009 Digital Camera Grand Prix, and the "Gold Prize in the Lens Category" in the 2008 kakaku.com Product Awards.
SP 17-50mm F2.8 XR Di II (Model B005) wins the "Gold Award in the Interchangeable Lens Category" in the 2010 Digital Camera Grand Prix.
SP 60mm F/2 Di II MACRO (Model G005) wins the "Silver Award in the Interchangeable Lens Category" in the 2010 Digital Camera Grand Prix.
2010 SP 70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di VC USD (Model A005) wins the "EISA European Zoom Lens 2010-2011".

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