Sinar

Sinar AG is a Swiss company producing medium format and large format cameras (4"x5"/5"x7"/8"x10" formats), which allowed both the lens and the film back or sensor back to move in rotation or linearly in any direction (up/down, left/right, front back linearly, and pitch yaw tilt rotations), thus allowing precise image alignment corrections. The use of large film gave greater resolution than 35 mm or 6x6 (2 1/4" x 2 1/4") or 6x9 cm etc. medium formats. The cameras are thus often used in advertising, product and architectural photography, where correctly vertical image lines and extra details are wanted.

The name SINAR is explained by the company itself as "Still, Industrial, Nature, Architectural and Reproduction photography" in the English version of the April 2011 press release.) Other versions of the names were also used, with the S for studio, sach, or science.

Founding

Swiss photographer Carl Hans Koch invented the Sinar camera in 1947 due to his dissatisfaction with the limited or imprecise nature of wooden view cameras (e.g. the large Kodak 3 and similar, and the popular Graphlex Graphic Graphlok series) and the limitations of technical (e.g., Linhof Technika) and field cameras of the day. His main aims were to produce a large format camera of high precision and simple operation, with a system of parts that were readily interchangeable. The Sinar system's versatility is based on the interchangeability of parts as well as a large number of accessories that have been produced over the years. Major components (rails, bellows, lensboards, and standards) made in the 1940s are still usable with currently manufactured Sinar equipment.