This page describes the quality standards to be achieved in an article about a company, and gives some suggestions.
Continuity[]
In general, the title of the article will be the current or latest name of the company. For example, Asahi (maker of lenses, the Asahiflex and Pentax, etc.) later became Pentax; we have a single article about Pentax.
Where companies split or merged, or where there is some other compelling reason to have different articles for different periods, multiple articles are possible.
Historical notes[]
A page about a company should contain a brief summary of the company history. It is not necessarily restricted to developments in photographic hardware. Places and people are worth mentioning too.
Company names[]
The successive company names should be given in complete form in the original language, and, where helpful, also in an English translation. Distinguish between (a) an English name (whether or not this is a translation) used by the company itself, and (b) your own translation; use the former where possible, but in any case avoid any risk of misleading the reader.
Be careful of false generalizations. For example, Konishiroku in the US changed its name to Konica well before Konishiroku in Japan did, and it is very likely that material put out later by Konica (or Konica Minolta, or Sony) in the US will mention the change in the US without making it clear that the change was limited to the US.
List of products[]
Camera makers[]
A page about a camera maker should contain a list of its cameras, as exhaustive as possible. This list should be organized in sections and subsections, a typical arrangement being to have one section per image support and one subsection per camera architecture, for example:
- Digital
- DSLR
- Point and shoot
- 35mm film
- Autofocus SLR
- Manual focus SLR
- Point and shoot
- Rangefinder
- 120 film
- 4.5×6 folder
- 6×6 folder
- 6×6 TLR
Of course you can dispense with the list if the company only produced one or two camera models.
Lens makers[]
It is not always possible to give a list of lens types, but a list of common brand names used by the company is useful. A list of cameras equipped with these lenses is also useful, when possible.
Distributors[]
Some companies are only distributors, selling cameras made by other companies. When the distributor sells cameras under its own brand, a list of cameras is useful, and can be presented the same way as for a camera maker.