Hama GmbH & Co KG is a German distributor of accessories specialising in a number of areas including photo, video, audio, multimedia, computer and telecommunications. The company also acts as a distributor of various product ranges. Hama employs around 2,500 people worldwide, 1,500 employees work at the headquarters in Monheim, Bavaria, Germany. Hama is represented by 17 subsidiaries and numerous commercial agencies in Europe and beyond. Among the products Hama manufacture are: *

Filters Filter, filtering or filters may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Filter (higher-order function), in functional programming * Filter (software), a computer program to process a data stream * Filter (video), a software component tha ...

Tripods A tripod is a portable three-legged frame or stand, used as a platform for supporting the weight and maintaining the stability of some other object. The three-legged (triangular stance) design provides good stability against gravitational loads ...

Memory card A memory card is an electronic data storage device used for storing digital information, typically using flash memory. These are commonly used in digital portable electronic devices. They allow adding memory to such devices using a card in a so ...

s *Camera bags *Headphones *

Flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * Flash (DC Comics character), several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Barry Allen) ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Wally West, the first Kid ...

and

studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...

accessories *AV cables (

coaxial In geometry, coaxial means that several three-dimensional linear or planar forms share a common axis. The two-dimensional analog is ''concentric''. Common examples: A coaxial cable is a three-dimensional linear structure. It has a wire conduc ...

and

SCART SCART (also known as or , especially in France, 21-pin EuroSCART in marketing by Sharp in Asia, Euroconector in Spain, EuroAV or EXT, or EIA Multiport in the United States, as an EIA interface) is a French-originated standard and associated 21- ...

) along with various computer accessories including

peripherals A peripheral or peripheral device is an auxiliary device used to put information into and get information out of a computer. The term ''peripheral device'' refers to all hardware components that are attached to a computer and are controlled by the ...

and

USB Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard that establishes specifications for cables, connectors and protocols for connection, communication and power supply (interfacing) between computers, peripherals and other computers. A broad ...

FireWire IEEE 1394 is an interface standard for a serial bus for high-speed communications and isochronous real-time data transfer. It was developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s by Apple in cooperation with a number of companies, primarily Sony an ...

, and

Ethernet Ethernet () is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in 198 ...

cables and other miscellaneous items.

History

Formation

In 1923, the 18-year-old photographer Martin Hanke founded the Hamaphot KG (limited partnership) in Dresden, which specialized in photo accessories. When Dresden was bombarded in the Second World War, the company was destroyed. It was rebuilt in Monheim in 1945. In 1958, the first synchronized flash powder device was presented, in 1972 the world's first automatic film splicer. Three years later, the "Hamafix" slide mounting system came onto the market. In 1990, Hama established their UK branch Hama PVAC Ltd. (Hama Photo, Video, Audio, Communications) and are UK

distributor A distributor is an enclosed rotating switch used in spark-ignition internal combustion engines that have mechanically timed ignition. The distributor's main function is to route high voltage current from the ignition coil to the spark plugs ...

for

Celestron Celestron is an American company based in Torrance, California, United States, that manufactures telescopes and distributes telescopes, binoculars, spotting scopes, microscopes, and accessories manufactured by its parent company, the Synta Technol ...

Tasco Tasco (also known as Tasco Worldwide) sells consumer telescopes. Tasco mainly imports telescopes for amateur astronomers but has expanded into other optical products, such as spotting scopes, microscopes, binoculars, telescopic sights, and other ...

Sandisk SanDisk is a brand for flash memory products, including memory cards and readers, USB flash drives, solid-state drives, and digital audio players, manufactured and marketed by Western Digital. The original company, SanDisk Corporation was acquire ...

Vivitar Vivitar Corporation is a manufacturer, distributor, and marketer of photographic and optical equipment originally based in Santa Monica, California. Since 2008, the Vivitar name serves as Sakar International's house brand for digital imaging, o ...

and

Koss KOSS (1380 AM, "NewsTalk 1380") is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Lancaster, California and serves the Antelope Valley area. The station is owned by High Desert Broadcasting and broadcasts a news/talk format, featuring programm ...

products. In 1991, Hama launched the "Videocut 200" which - according to company representatives – was the most frequently sold video editing device in Europe at that time. In 1993, the company name changed from Hamaphot to Hama. Two years later, the "MobileSafe" mobile phone holder was put on the market. In 1998, the company celebrated its seventy-fifth anniversary. Today, the product range does not only comprise articles for photo and video applications, but also accessories from the areas of audiovisual, multimedia, game console, telecommunications and from a number of more areas.

Scandals

In early 2008, over 30,000

flash drive A flash drive is a portable computer drive that uses flash memory. Flash drives are the larger memory modules consisting of a number of flash chips. A flash chip is used to read the contents of a single cell, but it can write entire block of cell ...

s built by a fraudulent Chinese supplier were distributed by Hama. The flash drives were manipulated to overreport their capacity to the computer, possibly leading to data loss upon attempted writing to physically nonexistent sectors, which usually initially is unnoticed by users. Upon discovery, a

product recall A product recall is a request from a manufacturer to return a product after the discovery of safety issues or product defects that might endanger the consumer or put the maker/seller at risk of legal action. The recall is an effort to limit ruin ...

was launched.

Well-known Hama products

File:Filmklebepresse.jpg, Automated Film Splicer Cinepress (1972) File:HamaFix.jpg, Slide Mounting Device "HamaFix" (1975) File:Videocut 200.jpg, Video Cutting Device "Videocut 200" (1991) File:MobileSafe.jpg, Mobile Phone Holder/Fixing System "MobilSafe" (1995)

References

External links

Hama website
{{Authority control Photography equipment German brands Photography companies of Germany Companies based in Bavaria Companies based in Dresden Videotelephony Manufacturing companies established in 1923