Nikon

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Nikon is a Japanese company specializing in optics and imaging. Its full name is Nikon Corporation (㈱ニコン, Kabushiki Kaisha Nikon) since 1988. It was founded in 1917 as Nippon Kōgaku Kōgyō K.K. (日本光学工業㈱) with the merger of two Japanese optical firms with military connections. Over the next 60 years Nikon became renowed for the quality of its Nikkor optics and photographic equipment. During World War II the company expanded significantly, supplying optical equipment to the Japanese military. It was based in Tokyo, Omori at the time.[1] After the war, the company began producing replacement lenses for the popular German rangefinder cameras of the day, and the quality of Nikkor lenses attracted the attention of many professional photographers and photojournalists desiring better results from the small 35mm format. Nikon eventually developed its own, very successful 35mm rangefinder camera.

In 1959, Nikon introduced the Nikon F, an advanced mechanical single lens reflex (SLR) camera that proved to be extraordinarily durable and reliable. With the F, Nikon introduced its philosophy of high-quality, low-friction, close-tolerance mechanisms requiring less lubricant than other cameras. This workmanship had a practical side, as Nikons have accompanied more photographers to extreme environments — from the summit of Mount Everest to the depths of the Saharan Desert — than any other SLR camera. The F became an overnight sucesss with many professional and serious amateur photographers, and spawned a succession of popular Nikon 35mm film cameras, culminating with the Nikon F6.

In the late 1990s, Nikon introduced digital photography with both the Coolpix line of consumer and prosumer cameras as well as DSLR cameras such as the Nikon D-series.

Digital

SLR

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See also Kodak for the various DCS models based on Nikon bodies.

Fixed Lens

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* Nikon Coolpix 100

35mm film

Auto Focus SLR

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  • Nikon F100
  • Nikon F3AF
  • Nikon F4
  • Nikon F5
  • Nikon F6
  • Nikon N2020 (F501)
  • Nikon N4004 (F401)
  • Nikon N4004S (F401S)
  • Nikon N50 (F50)
  • Nikon N5005 (F401X)
  • Nikon N55 (F55)
  • Nikon N6006 (F601)
  • Nikon N60 (F60)
  • Nikon N65 (F65)
  • Nikon N70 (F70)
  • Nikon N75 (F75)
  • Nikon N80 (F80)
  • Nikon N8008 (F801)
  • Nikon N8008S (F801S)
  • Nikon N90 (F90)
  • Nikon N90S (F90X)

Manual Focus SLR

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Leaf shutter SLR

Rangefinder

Fixed Lens

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Underwater

APS film

SLR

Compact

Notes

  1. Its address in 1943 was Tōkyō-to Ōmori-ku Iriarai-chō 5–345 (東京都大森区入新井町5–345). Source: "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras"), listing the Japanese camera production as of April 1943. (The source erroneously says 八新井町 for 入新井町.)

Bibliography

Links

In English:

In French:

In Images: