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.

History

The company 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. The company's first camera lenses were designed in the 1920s by Heinrich Acht, who was invited with a team of German engineers (see Nippon Kōgaku lenses before 1945). After the departure of Acht, the lens design department was taken over by Sunayama Kakuya (砂山角野). The first lens mounted on a camera for civil use was the Anytar 12cm f/4.5 made in the early 1930s, renamed Nikkor in 1932. From 1934, the company supplied lenses to Seiki Kōgaku for the early Canon cameras.

During World War II the company expanded significantly, supplying optical equipment to the Japanese military, including various aerial cameras.[1]

After the war, Nippon Kōgaku decided to produce cameras for civil use, and two projects were started: a 6×6cm TLR and a 35mm rangefinder camera. The TLR, called Nikoflex, was shelved because of problems to find an adequate leaf shutter. The rangefinder camera was inspired by the German Contax and Leica. It is said that various names were considered, including Pentax, Nicca or Nikorette.[2] It was finally released as the Nikon in 1948.

The Nikon I proved very successful, and was followed by a long line of rangefinder cameras. In parallel, the company produced a range of Nikkor lenses both in Leica mount and for its own rangefinder cameras. The quality of these lenses attracted the attention of many professional photographers and photojournalists desiring better results from the small 35mm format.

In 1959, Nippon Kōgaku 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.source needed 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.

See also Fujifilm for DCS models with nikon lenses compatibilities and cameras based on nikon bodies (S2 pro and S3 Pro)

Fixed Lens

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All Nikon's compact digital cameras with fixed lenses are branded with the Coolpix trademark and are listed together.

35mm film

Auto Focus SLR

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  • Nikon F100 - 1999
  • Nikon F3AF - 1983
  • Nikon F4 - 1988
  • Nikon F4e - 1991
  • Nikon F4P
  • Nikon F4s - 1988
  • Nikon F5 - 1996
  • Nikon F6 - 2004
  • Nikon N2000 (F301) - 1985
  • Nikon N2020 (F501) - 1986
  • Nikon N4004 (F401) - 1987
  • Nikon N4004S (F401S) - 1989
  • Nikon N50 (F50) - 1994
  • Nikon N5005 (F401X) - 1991
  • Nikon N55 (F55) - 2002
  • Nikon N6006 (F601) - 1990
  • Nikon N60 (F60) - 1999
  • Nikon N65 (F65) - 2000
  • Nikon N70 (F70) - 1994
  • Nikon N75 (F75) - 2003
  • Nikon N80 (F80) - 2000
  • Nikon N8008 (F801) - 1988
  • Nikon N8008S (F801S) - 1991
  • Nikon N90 (F90) - 1990
  • Nikon N90s (F90X) - 1992

Manual Focus SLR

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Leaf shutter SLR

Rangefinder

Fixed Lens / Compact

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As with other Japanese manufacturers, Nikon's models were given different names in different territories and formed a confusing array of series, some of which lasted several years and crossed over with others. Below is a list of all the ranges along with some models that defy categorization.

Underwater

APS film

SLR

Compact

Other cameras

  • Nikoflex (TLR project or prototype, c.1946)
  • Nikon 16 (subminiature prototype, c.1959)

Lenses

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"). (The source erroneously says 八新井町 for 入新井町.)
  2. Rotoloni, Nikon Rangefinder Camera, p.7; "Nikon Rangefinder Cameras" in the Nikon official website.

Bibliography

  • "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" (国産写真機ノ現状調査, Inquiry into Japanese cameras), listing Japanese camera production as of April 1943. Reproduced in Supuringu kamera de ikou: Zen 69 kishu no shōkai to tsukaikata (スプリングカメラでいこう: 全69機種の紹介と使い方, Let's try spring cameras: Presentation and use of 69 machines). Tokyo: Shashinkogyo Syuppan-sha, 2004. ISBN 4-87956-072-3. Pp.180–7.
  • Rotoloni, Robert. Nikon Rangefinder Camera. Hove, East Sussex: Hove Foto Books, 1983 (second edition). ISBN 1-874707-07-3.
  • Hillebrand, Rudolf and Hauschild, Hans-Joachim. Nikon Compendium. Handbook of the Nikon System. Hove (UK): Hove Books, 1993. 198 pages. ISBN 1897802021.
  • Stafford, Simon, Hillebrand, Rudolf and Hauschild, Hans-Joachim. Nikon Compendium: Nikon Systems from 1917. Hove (UK): Hove Books, 2004. 388 pages. ISBN 1897802161.
  • Stafford, Simon, Hillebrand, Rudolf and Hauschild, Hans-Joachim. The New Nikon Compendium: Cameras, Lenses & Accessories since 1917. Lark Books, 2004. 416 pages. ISBN 1579905927.
  • Trademark publications for the names "Nikkor" and "Aero-Nikkor". The trademarks were applied for (出現) on 24 July 1931 and granted (公告) on 7 April 1932 (no.S07-1808 and S07-1809). Available in the IPDL trademark database.
  • Trademark publication for the names "Nikon", "Nikoflex", "Sphex" and "Parax". The trademarks were applied for (出現) on 5 August 1946 and granted (公告) on 24 February 1947 (no.S22-153 to S22-156). Available in the IPDL trademark database.

Links

In English:

In French:

In Spanish:

  • Manual Camera Utilizando las Nikon de enfoque manual y otras cámaras clásicas

In Images: