Nikon

Nikon Corporation

Type	Corporation TYO: 7731
Founded	Tokyo, Japan (1917)
Location	Tokyo, Japan
Key people	KARIYA, Michio, President, CEO & COO
Industry	Imaging
Products	Precision equipments, Digital imaging equipments and cameras, Microscopes, Optical measuring and inspection instruments
Revenue	638 billion Yen (Business year ending March 31, 2005)
Operating income	{{{operating_income}}}
Net income	{{{net_income}}}
Employees	16,758 (Consolidated, as of March 31, 2005)
Website	Nikon Global Gateway
{{{footnotes}}}

Nikon redirects here; there is also a leader of the Russian Orthodox Church named Patriarch Nikon.

Nikon Corporation (Nikon, Nikon Corp.) TYO: 7731 is a Japanese company specializing in optics and imaging. Its products include cameras, binoculars, microscopes, measurement instruments, and the steppers used in the photolithography steps of semiconductor fabrication. It was founded in 1917 as Nihon (Nippon) Kōgaku Kōgyō (日本光學工業株式會社); the company was renamed Nikon Corporation (株式会社ニコン), after its cameras, in 1988. As of 2002, it has about 14,000 employees. Nikon is one of the Mitsubishi companies.

The name Nikon, which dates from 1946, is a merging of Nippon Kōgaku ("Japan Optical") and an imitation of Zeiss Ikon.

Among its famous products are Nikkor camera lenses (notably those designed for the company's own F-mount SLR cameras), Nikonos underwater cameras, the Nikon F-series of professional 135 film SLR cameras, and the Nikon D-series digital SLRs. Nikon has helped lead the transition to digital photography with both the Coolpix line of consumer and prosumer cameras as well as system cameras like the Nikon D100, the more recent Nikon D70, D70s and the D50, and professional DSLRs including the D1 and D2 series (see below).

Nikon's main competitors include Canon, Konica Minolta, Leica, Pentax, and Olympus.

Nikon Corporation was established in 1917 when two leading optical manufacturers merged to form a comprehensive, fully integrated optical company known as Nippon Kogaku K.K. Over the next 60 years this growing company became a leading manufacturer of optical lenses and precision equipment used in cameras, binoculars, microscopes and inspection equipment. During World War II the company grew to 19 factories and 23,000 employees, supplying items such as binoculars, lenses, bomb sights and periscopes to the Japanese military. After the war it reverted to its civilian product range with a single factory and 1400 employees. By 1980, the first stepper, the NSR-1010G, was produced in Japan. Since then, Nikon has introduced over 50 models of stepper/scanners for the production of semiconductors and liquid crystal displays.

In 1982, Nikon Precision Inc. was established in the United States to sell and service Nikon stepper equipment. Fueled by a rapidly growing customer base, the company quickly expanded. In 1990, NPI opened its current Belmont, California headquarters. The facility now includes corporate offices, a fully equipped training center, and extensive applications, technology, service, sales and marketing departments.

Shareholders

Nikon is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange under number 7731.

(as of September 2004)

• The Master Trust Bank of Japan, Ltd. (8.5%)
• Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company (5.6%)
• The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Ltd. (3.3%)
• Japan Trustee Services Bank, Ltd.(2.9%)
• Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd. (2.7%)
• State Street Bank and Trust Company (2.7 %)
• The Mitsubishi Trust and Banking Corporation (2.5%)
• Nippon Life Insurance Company (2.4%)
• The Joyo Bank, Ltd. (1.8%)
• JP Morgan Chase Oppenheimer Funds (1.7%)

Holdings

The companies held by Nikon form the Nikon Group.

Partial list of Nikon products

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Nikon cameras

Cameras

Film 35 mm SLR cameras without autofocus

• Nikon FM3A
• Nikon FM10
• Nikon FE10
• Nikon FA
• Nikon FE
• Nikon FE2
• Nikon FG
• Nikon FM
• Nikon FM2
• Nikon F series
• Nikon F2 series
• Nikon F3 series
• Nikkormat series (known in Japan as Nikomat)
• Nikkorex series
• Nikon EL2
• Nikon EM
• Nikon F301 (known in North America as the N2000)

Film 35 mm SLR cameras with autofocus

• Nikon F50 (known in North America as the N50)
• Nikon F60 (known in the U.S. as the N60)
• Nikon F70 (known in North America as the N70)
• Nikon F401 (known in North America as the N4004)
• Nikon F401S (known in North America as the N4004s)
• Nikon F401X (known in North America as the N5005)
• Nikon F501 (known in North America as the N2020)
• Nikon F601 (known in North America as the N6006)
• Nikon F801 (known in North America as the N8008)
• Nikon F801S (known in North America as the N8008s)
• Nikon F90 (known in North America as the N90)
• Nikon F90x (known in North America as the N90s)
• Nikon F55 (known in the U.S. as the N55)
• Nikon F65 (known in the U.S. as the N65)
• Nikon F75 (known in the U.S. as the N75)
• Nikon F80 (known in the U.S. as the N80)
• Nikon F100
• Nikon F4
• Nikon F5
• Nikon F6

Film APS SLR cameras

• Nikon Pronea S (1988) [1]
• Nikon Pronea 600i also known as the Pronea 6i (1996) [2]

Rangefinder cameras

• Nikon I (1948)
• Nikon M (1949)
• Nikon S (1951)
• Nikon S2 (1954)
• Nikon SP (1957)
• Nikon S3 (1958)
• Nikon S4 (1959)
• Nikon S3M (1960)
• Nikonos line of underwater cameras

Digital compact cameras

• Nikon Coolpix series

Digital SLR cameras

Nikon D70

• Nikon D1
• Nikon D1H
• Nikon D1X
• Nikon D100
• Nikon D200
• Nikon D50
• Nikon D70
• Nikon D70s
• Nikon D2H
• Nikon D2X
• Nikon D2Hs

Nikon's raw image format format is named NEF. The "DSCN" prefix for image files stands for "Digital Still Camera - Nikon."

Lenses

Lens Acronyms

Nikon Lenses have designated acronyms used in their names (for example, the lens AF-S 18-70 mm f/3.5-4.5G DX ED IF). These help consumers know what features the lens has. Some common designations are listed below with the descriptions of each.

• AF - Autofocus.
• AF-S - Autofocus-Silent. Uses SWM, Silent Wave Motor, to focus quietly and faster; similar to Canon's USM, Ultrasonic Motor technology.
• ED - Extra-low Dispersion glass. Reduces chromatic aberration.
• IF - Internal Focus. Focussing moves only internal lenses, meaning that the lens does not change in length during focussing.
• DX - Lens designed for Nikon's DX format sensors; the image circle is reduced in size by 1.5× to fit the smaller sensor in Nikon's digital SLRs. A circular image is produced if used with a 35mm camera.
• VR - Vibration Reduction. Uses special VR lens unit to reduce camera shake evident in photographs. Some VR lenses also support panning shot mode, detecting the horizontal movement of the lens and minimizing the vertical vibration. Equivalent to Canon's IS (Image Stabilizer) and Minolta's AS (Anti-shake, although this is embedded into the body of the camera).
• D - Distance/Dimension. Indicated after the f-stop number. It means that the lens is capable using of Nikon's RGB Matrix Metering. The lens carries the information of the distance between the camera and the subject.
• G - Indicated after the f-number, and tells that the lens does not have an aperture ring, but instead that aperture value is controlled by the body. Since the body needs to control the lens aperture, these type lenses only work with automatic bodies. It has the same characteristics with the D lens.
• Micro - Indicates that the lens is capable of macro photography - subjects which appear as large or larger than they are at the film plane, not necessarily at close distances, such as with the 200mm Micro-Nikkor.
• IX - Lenses optimised for use with the Pronea Advanced Photo System SLR. These lenses are all auto focus zoom lenses and are not compatible with other bodies. [3]
• DC - Indicates that the lens has controls for adjusting the shape and effect of the out-of-focus elements, also known as bokeh.

AF Prime lenses

• 14 mm f/2.8D ED AF
• 16 mm f/2.8D AF Fisheye
• 18 mm f/2.8D AF
• 20mm f/2.8D AF
• 24 mm f/2.8D AF
• 28 mm f/1.4D AF
• 28 mm f/2.8D AF
• 35 mm f/2D AF
• 50 mm f/1.4D AF
• 50 mm f/1.8D AF
• 85 mm f/1.4D AF
• 85 mm f/1.8D AF
• 105 mm f/2D AF DC
• 135 mm f/2D AF DC
• 180 mm f/2.8D ED-IF AF
• 200 mm f/2G ED-IF AF-S VR
• 300 mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR
• 300 mm f/2.8D ED-IF AF-S II
• 300 mm f/4D ED-IF AF-S
• 400 mm f/2.8D ED-IF AF-S II
• 500 mm f/4D ED-IF AF-S II
• 600 mm f/4D ED-IF AF-S II

Consumer AF Zoom Lenses

• 18-35 mm f/3.5-4.5D ED-IF AF
• 18-200 mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF-S VR DX
• 24-85 mm f/2.8-4D IF AF
• 24-85 mm f/3.5-4.5G ED-IF AF-S
• 24-120 mm f/3.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR
• 28-80 mm f/3.3-5.6G AF
• 28-100 mm f/3.5-5.6G AF
• 28-105 mm f/3.5-4.5D AF
• 28-200 mm f/3.5-5.6G ED-IF AF
• 70-300 mm f/4.5-5.6D ED AF
• 70-300 mm f/4.5-5.6G AF

Professional AF Zoom Lenses

• 17-35 mm f/2.8 ED-IF AF-S
• 28-70 mm f/2.8D ED-IF AF-S
• 35-70 mm f/2.8D AF
• 70-200 mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR
• 80-200 mm f/2.8D ED AF
• 80-400 mm f/4.5-5.6D ED AF VR
• 200-400 mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR

Digital-Only AF Lenses

• 10.5 mm f/2.8G ED AF DX
• 12-24 mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S DX
• 17-55 mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S DX
• 18-70 mm f3.5-4.5G ED-IF AF-S DX
• 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6G ED AF-S DX
• 55-200 mm f/4-5.6G ED AF-S DX
• 18-200 mm f/3.5-5.6G ED AF-S VR DX

Micro AF Lenses (also known as Macro)

• 60 mm f/2.8D AF Micro
• 105 mm f/2.8D AF Micro
• 200 mm f/4D ED-IF AF Micro
• 70-180 mm f/4.5-5.6 ED AF-D Micro

Lenses for rangefinder cameras

• Lenses for Nikon S-series cameras
• Screwmount lenses for Leica cameras

Lenses for medium-format cameras

• Lenses for Bronica cameras
• Lens for Plaubel Makina camera

Flash Guns

Nikon use the term Speedlight for their flash guns.

• SQ-800 (slave triger)
• SB-800
• SB-600
• SB-R1
• SB-R1C1
• SB-R200
• SB-80DX
• SB-50DX
• SB-30
• SB-29s
• SB-24
• SB-22s
• SB-23
• SB-27
• SB-16B
• SB-16A

External links

Official sites

• Nikon Corp. website
• Nikon Corp. USA website
• Nikon Precision Inc. - Semiconductor Photolithography USA website
• NIKON NEWS - print and online magazine on Nikon products and photography published by Nikon Switzerland in German and French

Data

• Nikon Digital Camera Resources - Custom tone curves
• Yahoo! - Nikon Corporation Company Profile
• Nikon Historical Society
• Nikon Field Guide and Nikon Flash Guide support at bythom.com
• Photography in Malaysia - Nikon Pictorial History

Fansites and forums

• Nikonians - see also Nikonian
• Photosapien Photography Forum
• Nikon mailing list