The Chinese Tripod Chronicle — THE COMPLETE SERIES
There was a time when “Made in China” on a tripod meant one thing: cheap and disposable. That era is over. Benro, Sirui, Leofoto — few photographers today would associate these names with the old stigma of “Chinese knockoffs.”
But the road here was long.
From the mid-19th century, when cameras first arrived in China alongside Western merchants and missionaries, through the era of state-owned factories manufacturing optical equipment under central planning, to the flood of foreign capital after economic reform, and the explosive rise of private brands in the 2000s — the story of China’s tripod industry is inseparable from the story of modern China itself.
This five-part series traces the complete history of China’s camera tripod industry, organized by era.
Series Table of Contents
- Part 1: The Arrival of Photography — When Cameras and Tripods Came to China (–1949)
- Part 2: The State Factory Era — Optical Equipment Under a Planned Economy (1949–1978)
- Part 3: Reform, Opening Up, and OEM — How Tripod Factories Gathered in Guangdong (1978–1999)
- Part 4: The Rise of Private Brands — Benro, Sirui, and Fotopro Enter the Stage (2000–2009)
- Part 5: Conquering the World Market — Redefining “Chinese Tripods” (2010–Present)
This series is published as a long-form project on pixlog.jp. The English edition is available on yuta.xyz.
