Est. 1946 · Minato, Tokyo, Japan · 6 lenses
Sony was founded on May 7, 1946 in Tokyo as Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo K.K. by Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita, and renamed Sony Corporation in 1958. Although best known for consumer electronics, Sony has a long history in imaging: the Mavica prototype (1981) was an early electronic still camera, and Sony's CMOS image-sensor business has grown to become the largest in the world, supplying sensors used by Nikon, Fujifilm, Pentax, OM Digital Solutions, and many others.
Sony's modern interchangeable-lens camera business began in 2006 with the acquisition of Konica Minolta's DSLR division. The first product, the Sony α100 (2006), was an evolution of Konica Minolta's Maxxum / Dynax line and used the existing A-mount lens system. Sony continued to develop A-mount DSLR and SLT (Single-Lens Translucent) bodies — culminating in the α99 II (2016) — while extending the lens roadmap with G-series Sony-branded primes and zooms and Carl Zeiss ZA-branded lenses produced in collaboration with Zeiss Oberkochen.
The more consequential pivot came in 2010 with the launch of the NEX-3 and NEX-5 — the first cameras using Sony's new short-flange E-mount, paired with APS-C sensors. In October 2013, Sony released the α7 and α7R — the world's first full-frame mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras, also on the E-mount. The α7-series rapidly defined a new market: by 2017 the α9, the first stacked-sensor mirrorless camera, offered blackout-free 20 fps continuous shooting and effectively ended Canon and Nikon's lock on professional sports photography. Subsequent generations — the α7R IV (61 MP), the α1 (2021, 50 MP at 30 fps), the α7 IV, and the α9 III (the first full-frame global-shutter mirrorless body, 2024) — extended Sony's mirrorless lead.
The E-mount lens roadmap is now one of the broadest in the industry, with first-party G Master (premium), G (mid-tier), Sony native, and ongoing ZEISS-branded lenses, plus extensive third-party support from Sigma, Tamron, Tokina, Samyang, Voigtländer (Cosina), and others. Sony also produces premium fixed-lens compacts under the RX series — the RX1 / RX1R II (full-frame compacts with a 35 mm Zeiss Sonnar), the RX10 IV (1-inch superzoom), and the pocket-sized RX100 series — extending the company's optical design footprint beyond the interchangeable-lens system.
Notable designs: FE 35mm f/1.4 GM, FE 24mm f/1.4 GM, FE 50mm f/1.2 GM, FE 85mm f/1.4 GM, FE 135mm f/1.8 GM, FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II, FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II