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was a Japanese 
They manufactured several cameras, such as the CG-5, which was one of the first cameras ever to use an Auto Focus lens, which had to be bought separately. The lenses are now rare. They were cumbersome and had two infrared "eyes" on the top. They would connect by a bayonet fitting similar to the Pentax K fitting, except they also had electrical contacts which would power the motor at the press of the shutter release button.
Another popular camera was the CM-1, a basic, fully manual 35 mm SLR camera favored by student amateur photographers because it was cheaper than the rival 
Chinon also was a manufacturer of
Information on Chinon Model 357, 502, 506 & 506-L, 5.25 and 3.5 Floppy Drive Models
Defunct companies of Japan Photography companies of Japan Kodak Companies disestablished in 2004 {{photo-stub
camera
A camera is an Optics, optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), ...
manufacturer. Kodak
The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...
took a majority stake in the company in 1997, and made it a fully owned subsidiary of Kodak Japan, , in 2004 . As a subsidiary, it continues to develop digital camera
A digital camera is a camera that captures photographs in digital memory. Most cameras produced today are digital, largely replacing those that capture images on photographic film. Digital cameras are now widely incorporated into mobile device ...
models.
They manufactured several cameras, such as the CG-5, which was one of the first cameras ever to use an Auto Focus lens, which had to be bought separately. The lenses are now rare. They were cumbersome and had two infrared "eyes" on the top. They would connect by a bayonet fitting similar to the Pentax K fitting, except they also had electrical contacts which would power the motor at the press of the shutter release button.
Another popular camera was the CM-1, a basic, fully manual 35 mm SLR camera favored by student amateur photographers because it was cheaper than the rival Pentax K-1000
The Pentax K1000 (originally marked the Asahi Pentax K1000) is an interchangeable lens, 35 mm film, single-lens reflex (SLR) camera, manufactured by Asahi Optical Co., Ltd. from 1976 to 1997, originally in Japan.
The K1000's extraordinary l ...
, but could use the same lenses and accessories. The CM-1 featured a battery-powered through-the-lens light metering system that utilized a red-above, green-middle, and red-below to indicate whether the shutter speed/aperture setting was over/ok/under exposing the picture. It also used a split-image prism for determining when an image was properly focused. The CM-1 was sold through discount retailers such as K-Mart
Kmart Corporation ( , doing business as Kmart and stylized as kmart) is an American retail company that owns a chain of big box department stores. The company is headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States.
The company was inco ...
during the 1980s and proved to be very durable and reliable. Chinon branded products were sold in the UK through the Dixons high-street chain in the same period.
Most of Chinon's SLR cameras used the Pentax K-mount
The Pentax K-mount, sometimes referred to as the "PK-mount", is a bayonet lens mount standard for mounting interchangeable photographic lenses to 35 mm single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras. It was created by Pentax in 1975, and has since be ...
, which was promoted by Pentax as a universal mount and therefore Pentax allowed and even encouraged other manufacturers to utilize their mount. This helped to expand the range of lens offerings for both Chinon and Pentax cameras.
Several Chinon SLRs used the Pentax 42mm screw mount for the lens. Examples being the Chinon CS and the Memotron which were sold through Dixons. The CS had TTL metering and the Memotron had auto exposure with a handy system which allowed the user to take and retain a meter reading and save the exposure for a shot taken where the subject matter had been reframed.
Chinon also was a manufacturer of CD-ROM drive
A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both comput ...
s, scanners, electronic pocket calculators, and floppy disk drives. They even entered the VR market with Cybershades for the PC, launched in the US market in 1995 for $199.
References
External links
Information on Chinon Model 357, 502, 506 & 506-L, 5.25 and 3.5 Floppy Drive Models
Defunct companies of Japan Photography companies of Japan Kodak Companies disestablished in 2004 {{photo-stub