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If you’ve ever read Modern Photography or Popular Photography, you’ll know the name Herbert Keppler. Keppler, former publisher of Modern and Popular Photography magazines and one of the most respected and influential figures in the history of the camera industry, died Friday night due to heart failure after a brief illness. He was 82.

He was an early and tireless champion of the single-lens reflex camera (SLR), writing an extremely popular series of SLR columns explaining their numerous advantages over the then-dominant 35mm rangefinder cameras, including their upside potential for future development. By the early 1960s, it was clear that Keppler had been right, and the 35mm SLR became the camera type of choice among serious enthusiasts and professionals until the dawn of the digital era.

Keppler was also one of the first to recognize the potential in Japanese manufacturers. Starting in the 1950s, Japanese camera quality improved to the point where SLRs made in Japan eclipsed those made in Germany in both features and sales. Much of this success can be traced to Herbert Keppler. A frequent visitor to Japan, Keppler was sought after by all camera and lens manufacturers for his advice, and many popular cameras produced in the second half of the 20th century incorporated designs and features originally suggested by him. Many of these improvements helped change the perception of Japanese products from shoddy to high quality.

Over the years he was widely hailed as “Mr. Photography” and “The Conscience of the Industry.” He was among only a handful of Americans to receive one of the highest awards to be bestowed upon a foreigner by the Emperor of Japan for his notable contribution to the Japanese photographic industry and its phenomenal success in the U.S. He was also presented with “The Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold Rays with Rosette” at a splendid conferment ceremony held at the Japanese Consulate in New York on December 9, 2002, by Ambassador Yoshihiro Nishida, Consul General of Japan.

Herbert Keppler is survived by his wife, Louise, and his children, Tom and Kathy.