Promaster
1978 P•R•O advertising |
Promaster is a brand name used by Photographic Research Organization,[1] earlier styled P•R•O or P.R.O. This is a American photographic accessory distributor known for lenses, filters, tripods, bags, memory cards, and lighting equipment. P•R•O products are sold through independent local stores, giving them access to a wide breadth of products and joint buying power.
The organization was founded in 1958 with six US east coast retailers joining forces.[2] Products branded P.R.O. in the 1960s[3] were most visibly advertised by Ritz Camera (in its days as a regional chain of just dozens of stores). However Promaster remained active after Ritz developed its own exclusive private-label brands, and later when the Ritz national chain entered bankruptcy. Promaster still exists as of 2023.
Cameras
Compact
- Promaster AF-1
- Fuji Promaster DL-160
SLR
- Promaster 2000PK Super (name variant of Cosina C1s)
- Promaster 2500PK Super (see Hikari 2002, etc.)
- Promatic Compact-R (Petri MF-1)
- Promatic SLF/1.7
- Chinon LED Promaster
Notes
- ↑ "Promatic" and "Promaster" trademark search result, 1965, at United States Patent and Trademark Office.
- ↑ These are named in a 50-year retrospective press release from 2008, at the S.I.R. Marketing P.R. agency website.
- ↑ See a 1966 review of a P-R-O electronic flash (Popular Photography, Vol. 59, No. 6; pages 58, 60).
Links
- Promaster corporate website
- "Spectrum 7" lens introduction, advertised in the November, 1981, Modern Photography magazine (Vol. 45, No. 11; page 174)
Promaster-branded flash units image by Wil C. Fry (Image rights) |