Heritage

More than 85 years ago, Herman Liss opened a store in downtown Minneapolis with one used camera and a promise to treat customers with respect and dignity. As the current president and third generation owner of National Camera Exchange & Video, Jon Liss remains true to the same service commitment his grandfather and father applied to every phase of business... while continuing to expand the products, services, and store locations his company offers.

See how National Camera Exchange & Video has been a part of photographic history:

 
1826 - Joseph Nicephore Niepce produces the first photographic image using a sheet of pewter covered with bitumen of Judea, an asphalt that is hardened when exposed to light. The exposure time was eight full hours which was long enough for the sun to move across the sky and light both sides of his courtyard.

1839 - True beginnings of commercial photography take shape as Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre creates the daguerreotype method of picture-taking using iodine-treated silver plates to make them light sensitive. The exposed plate was then developed using mercury vapors.

1888 - The original Kodak camera was introduced by George Eastman. The camera and leather carrying case originally sold for $25...two weeks wages for the average worker of that time.

1912 - Oskar Barnack develops the Ur-Leica camera in Germany, the first camera to use 35mm perforated motion picture film.

1914 - Herman Liss opens the first National Camera Exchange store in downtown Minneapolis and dedicates his business to customer service.

1940 - Morton Liss assumes management of National Camera Exchange and brings a new dimension to the exceptional service provided by his father. Morton pledges to have a complete inventory in stock at all times.

1948 - Swede Victor Hasselblad introduces the 1600F model which was one of the first modular single lens reflex cameras to produce medium format size (2 1/4 X 2 1/4 inches).

1955 - Nikon introduces the Nikon F single lens reflex camera which makes Nikon a manufacturer of choice for many professional and advanced amateur photographers, a reputation that still exists today.

1958 - Minolta offers the AutoWide, the first 35mm lens shutter with a built-in coupled CdS exposure meter.

1978 - Jon Liss becomes president and the third generation in his family to operate National Camera Exchange & Video according to an unwavering commitment to the customer.

1981 - The present National Camera Exchange & Video downtown location opens.

1985 - The Minolta Maxxum 7000 SLR changes photography by integrating Auto Focus on a 35mm SLR. This same year, National Camera Exchange & Video establishes new headquarters in Golden Valley that serves as home to administrative offices, retail space, a photofinishing lab, warehouse space, repair center and training departments.

1993-1999 - National Camera Exchange & Video stores are added in Burnsville, Roseville, and Edina to better serve the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area.

2000 - National Camera Exchange & Video receives the Better Business Bureau Integrity Award for business practices that exemplify the highest standards of business ethics and conduct.

2005 – National Camera opened a beautiful new store in Maple Grove.