Some companies simply slap their brand name on a cheap copy to make a quick buck. One company even went so far as to list SLIK's model number on their copy's hanging tag. They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, we think that speaks for itself.
SLIK has been quietly designing and manufacturing their own high-quality tripods for more than 50 years. SLIK has won 6 prestigious Japanese Ministry of Trade and Industry "Good Design" (G-Mark) awards. SLIK's original and innovative designs have been copied so many times that some of their ideas have become industry standards.
Don't settle for a cheap copy, check out the quality and heritage of SLIK tripods, monopods, and heads here on-line and at your local camera store.
| 1948 | A mechanical engineer and photography enthusiast, Mr. Takatoshi Shiraishi, began designing and creating his own tripods by himself in a suburb of Tokyo, Japan. |
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| 1952 | Mr. Shiraishi founded SLICK Elevator Tripod Co., Ltd. |
| 1963 | The company name was changed to SLICK Tripod Co., Ltd. |
| 1967 | The "Hidaka" factory was constructed in Saitama Prefecture, Japan for mass production. SLICK Master DX tripod and SLICK Goodman Ace received "Good Design Awards" (G-Mark) by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MITI) of Japan. |
| 1974 | SLICK Tripod Sales Co., Ltd. was created as a separate business entity from SLICK Tripod Co., Ltd. to focus exclusively on sales of the products. |
| 1977 | SLIK Started to sell the new model 88M tripod, which has various functions that are commonplace today, such as the simple movement from low position to high position, lever leg locks, quick release shoesystem, etc. It received "Good Design Award" (G-Mark) by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MITI) of Japan in this year. |
| 1988 | SLIK (Thailand) Co., Ltd. was established and a factory constructed in the suburb of Bangkok, Thailand to meet the increasing demands for good quality inexpensive tripods without using any outside manufacturing. The unique trigger style Ball Head model AF2100 received "Good Design Award" (G-Mark) by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MITI) of Japan. |
| 1989 | SLIK Tripod Sales Co., Ltd. merged back into SLIK Tripod Co., Ltd. and the single company was named SLIK Corporation. |
| 1994 | SLIK's Tripod model U8000 (made in the Thailand factory) received "Good Design Award" (G-Mark) by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MITI) of Japan. |
| 1997 | SLIK's Ball Head model Ball Head 800 (made in the Thailand factory) received "Good Design Award" (G-Mark) by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MITI) of Japan. Introduction of the new alloy of SLIK A.M.T. (Aluminum, Magnesium and Titanium), then, started sales of our tripod model PRO 700DX and monopod model PRO POD 600 using this new alloy in the legs. |
| 1999 | Began production and sales of new Carbon Fiber Tripod model PRO 803CF, PRO 804CF and monopod model PRO POD 380. |