Norita (ノリタ光学, Norita kōgaku) was a Japanese optical manufacturer. Founded in 1951 by Toshio Norita (車田利夫), it originally made lenses for binoculars but moved on to prisms and thence pentaprisms for SLR cameras.
Musashino Kōki (武蔵野光幾) had been making a 6×6 SLR called the Rittreck 6×6 from 1968; for which Norita had been making the pentaprism finder and the three lenses (wide, standard, and tele). When Musashino decided to terminate production of this camera, Norita decided to expand from being merely an optical designer/manufacturer to manufacturing cameras, and took over machine tools, assembly, and some staff from Musashino.
For its new "Norita 66", Norita expanded the range of lenses: the 55/80/160mm selection for the Rittreck became 40/55/80/160/240/400. Additionally it produced a 75mm f/3.5 lens with built-in shutter (bypassing the focal-plane shutter for high-speed synchronization with electronic flash); but most remarkably the speed of the 80mm standard lens was increased to f/2, fast for a medium-format lens.
Norita tied up with Singer, owner of Graflex, and exported cameras to the US, where they were sold as, and inscribed, "Graflex Norita". Norita also exported cameras to France, West Germany, the Netherlands, and Czechoslovakia.
Norita no longer exists.