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Carl August Koch opened his own photographic studio in Schaffhausen/Switzerland. Besides his work at the studio, mainly as a portraits photographer, he was a passionate photographer of landscapes and mountain sceneries.
At that time, the photographic plates were casted in a photo tent on the spot and the heavy equipment had to be carried everywhere.
Hans-Carl Koch took over the business. His favorite photographic work was the portrait photography. However, his field of activity soon expanded also to architectural and occasionally to industry photography. Always with a glance into the future, beside his work at the studio, he started with the photo commerce.
The business was carried on by his son Carl Hans Koch, the inventor of the Sinar view camera. As a photographer with a degree in photography and as a photo retailer, Carl Koch was unsatisfied with the then available large format cameras.
With his experience of many years and his inventive genius, Carl H. Koch developed a view camera for universal use. The camera had to adapt quickly and precisely to the changing needs of the photographer. In 1947 Carl Koch applied for a patent for the Sinar camera, and 1948 Sinar was founded.
The outstanding feature of this camera was achieved by means of standardized components carefully designed to form a highly versatile building block system.
Only one shutter for all lenses - with an integrated aperture control. Revolutionairy, at that time.
In 1968 his son Hans-Carl Koch joins the Sinar company. Sinar became a family shareholder company.
At the same time, production started in the new plant at Feuerthalen, on the other side of the river Rhine.
Sinar was the first camera manufacturer using microprocessors in the revolutionary Digital Shutter and the Exposure Module. The selective exposure metering on the film plane provided the photographer with outstanding convenience in operating the camera and with the ideal automatic.
In 1984 Sinar caused quite a stur when presenting the Sinar p2 large format view camera. This superb professional camera combines elegance, perfect versatility and high precision of the adjustment technique with great stability and ruggedness.
Thanks to modern, consistently applied CNC manufacturing technology, a substantial quality leap was made possible.
Sinar presents the world's first professional color digital camera with a resolution of - for that time - fabulous 4 megapixels and a surface of 30 x 30 mm.
The electronic, computer-assisted Sinar e view camera (CapCam) with Leaf DCB-I digital back produced razor-sharp still-life color images. A real "high-performance production machine".
Sinar AG celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Sinar's first own digital camera back was launched: the Sinarback 22 – satisfying highest demands.
Sinar launches the digital large format. It is now possible to capture a digital image with a CCD area sensor with a resolution of 19 million pixels and a capturing area of 72 x 48 mm. The Sinar Macroscan is compatible with all Sinarbacks.
The Sinarback System with Sinar Macroscan was chosen as the best photographic product of the year 2000/2001.
True to the tradition of the Sinar p line of view cameras, the Sinar p3, too, is equipped with highly precise mechanisms. In keeping with the requirements of digital photography, the dimensions of the new camera have been significantly reduced without sacrificing any of this traditional precision. Of course, also the Sinar p3 camera is fully compatible with the Sinar System.
As the successor model of the Sinarback 54 H in the multi-shot segment, the Sinarback eVolution 75 H with 33 million pixels is the ultimate high-end solution for all tasks in the studio.
With the eVolution 75 H, the concept of the displayless Sinarbacks is consistently pursued in order to achieve even more image quality through a higher data transfer rate to the computer. Thanks to its efficient cooling system, day-to-day performance and the return on investment are maximized in terms of service life.
The Sinar arTec camera system is a milestone in digital architectural and landscape photography. The Sinar arTec follows the 60-year-long Sinar tradition of developing and providing innovative tools, designed by photographers and engineered for photographers.
At the Photokina 2008, the Sinar arTec wins the Photokina Star as a highlight of Photokina 2008.
All Sinar business activities are regrouped and Sinar Photography AG is founded. In 2010 the new formed company moves into its new premises in Zurich.
"We will strengthen the brand SINAR, which is well-respected for unmatched photographic equipment and state-of-the-art system solutions."
The merger with Leica opens up promising prospects for Sinar. The competence of the two companies enables pioneering new developments, which characterize the market and the brand.
Based in Zurich and with a local production, Sinar is and remains a Swiss product. Customers benefit from the worldwide established service and support.
At the photokina 2016, Sinar presents the mobile digital device Sinarback S 30|45.
