Fujinon

Fujinon (フジノン) is a brand of optical lenses made by Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd, now known as Fujifilm. Fujifilm's Fujinon lenses have been used by professional photographers and broadcast stations as well as in cinematography. Originally established as a photographic material manufacturer, Fujifilm aimed to become a comprehensive photographic enterprise. In March 1940, the company began manufacturing optical glass at its factory in Odawara, Japan, which marked the start of the Fujinon brand. Although the initial goal was to produce lenses and cameras for consumer use, the outbreak of World War II forced the company to shift its focus entirely to military optical equipment. In April 1940, Fujifilm completed its first camera, an aerial camera for the Japanese Navy.

To meet the rapidly growing military demand, Fujifilm expanded its production capabilities by acquiring existing optical manufacturers. In March 1944, the company acquired Enomoto Kogaku Seiki Seisakusho (株式会社榎本光学精機製作所) (established in 1934), which primarily manufactured binoculars, and renamed it Fuji Photo Optical Co., Ltd. (富士写真光機株式会社). While post-war conditions led to the dissolution or sale of several other acquired companies and facilities, Fuji Photo Optical survived. They were proud of their use of expensive platinum crucibles to get the purest glass achievable at the time. In 2004, Fuji Photo Optical Co., Ltd. changed its name to Fujinon Corporation (フジノン株式会社), adopting its brand name, before being integrated into Fujifilm in 2010.

Fujifilm also pioneered Electron Beam Coating (EBC) which, according to Fujifilm, represented a new high in lens precision and performance. The EBC process was significantly different from other coating processes in the number of coatings, the thinness of the coating, and the materials used. Fujifilm claimed they were able to apply as many as 14 layers of coating and used materials such as zirconium oxide and cerium fluoride, which could not be used in conventional coating processes.[1] The first lens to offer Electron Beam Coating was the EBC Fujinon 55mm F3.5 Macro in 1972. Light transmission for the coating was said to be 99.8%. EBC later evolved into Super-EBC and HT-EBC (High Transmittance-Electron Beam Coating).