The word ‘camera’ comes from the original Latin word for “small room.”

The people of ancient Greece noticed that light coming through a small hole in a wall would display an image of the outside scenery upside down. This discovery, a principle behind the pinhole camera, marked the first step in the history of cameras. In the 16th century, by putting a lens in a box instead of a hole and adding a mirror, a device called “camera obscura” – means a “small dark room” was created. Artists prized the device, as they could paint scenes faithful in proportion to the subjects they were rendering by tracing the contours of the images reflected into the box. In 1826, photosensitive materials enabled people to “record” these scenes for the first time. During the history, it seems, humankind continued striving to save what they saw before them in realistic ways.
Our age is a heyday of posting photos on social networks. Anyone with a smartphone can easily take pictures that put a single-lens reflex camera to shame. It was the miniaturization and thinning of lenses that has supported this revolution. While smartphone cases continue to get slimmer, each device now encompasses five or more lenses. The micro lens unit, the part that holds the lenses, must be molded with extremely high precision to ensure that the lenses are integrated together without the slightest deviation. By using NS TOOL end mills to create the molds for the micro lens units, device makers are pushing the lens capabilities as close as possible to the design specs and ensuring the rendering of beautiful photos with no shifting or bending of light.

Putting the focus on the future of cameras.

Not only used in smartphones, but also NS TOOL has a longstanding involvement with cameras. Our end mills have long been used in the production of molds for the barrel-tubes that hold the lenses of single-lens reflex cameras. With smooth rotation and sliding, aperture control and zoom operation is as easy as can be. Dust is prevented in various locations and weather conditions, enabling longlife functionality for 10 years, 20 years, or longer. Responding to the strict requirements of professional cameramen and serious photographers, NS TOOL has contributed to the evolution of lens capabilities and improvements in photo quality.
The smile of a loved one, the cute actions of a pet, or spectacular scenery you may never see again. Our colorful days are made up of sequential moments we want to remember and keep. Though powerless to stop the hands of time, we can record “now” and remember the mood or conversations of a moment in living color. How will photos and the ways we enjoy them evolve 10 or 20 years into the future? One day, we may even have dream cameras capable of playing back memories directly into the brain. NS TOOL will continue to ceaselessly innovate our end mill technologies to help realize a future that will amaze us all.