Nikon

Nikon Corporation 株式会社ニコン
Type	Corporation TYO: 7731
Founded	Tokyo, Japan (1917)
Headquarters	Tokyo, Japan
Key people	Michio Kariya, President, CEO & COO
Industry	Imaging
Products	Precision equipment for the semiconductor industry, Digital imaging equipment and cameras, Microscopes, Optical measuring and inspection instruments, Lenses for glasses
Revenue	¥730.9 billion (Business year ending March 31, 2006)
Employees	16,758 (Consolidated, as of March 31, 2005)
Slogan	If the picture matters, the camera matters At the Heart of the Image
Website	Nikon Global Gateway

Nikon Corporation (株式会社ニコン; Kabushiki-gaisha Nikon) (TYO: 7731), also known as Nikon or Nikon Corp., is a Japanese company specializing in optics and imaging. Its products include cameras, binoculars, microscopes, and measurement instruments. Nikon is the world's largest manufacturer of the steppers used in the photolithography steps of semiconductor fabrication, and holds 44% share of the market.

Nikon was founded in 1917 as Nippon Kōgaku Kōgyō (日本光学工業株式会社 "Japan Optical Industries"). When the Japanese Navy lost its laboratory facilities in the earthquake of 1923, the Japanese government turned to Nippon Kogaku, which was then known mainly for its binoculars, for all its research and development. The first Nikon camera was released in 1948. Nikon lenses and cameras were popularized by photojournalists during the Korean War. The company was renamed Nikon Corporation, after its cameras, in 1988. Nikon is one of the major companies of the Mitsubishi Group.

Name

The name Nikon, which dates from 1946, is a blending of Nippon Kōgaku (日本光学; "Japan Optical") with an emulation of the German Zeiss Ikon. Nikon is pronounced differently around the world. The Japanese pronunciation of the name is /nikoɴ/, but in the United States people also use /ˈnaɪkɒn/ and /ˈnɪkɒn/.

Logo

Nikon’s logo, the company name in black on a yellow background, with a series of white rays rising above it, symbolizes Nikon's determination "to fulfill its corporate mission and meet customers' expectations." The yellow color represents "depth" and "passion;" black represents "high quality" and "trustworthiness." The motif of sequential rays conveys "infinite possibilities within the domain of optics."

Products

Among its famous products are Nikkor camera lenses (notably those designed for the company's own F-mount Single-lens reflex (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 Digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) system cameras like the Nikon D300, D80, D60, and D40, and professional DSLRs including the D2 series and D3 cameras. Nikon's main competitors include Canon, Kodak, Sony, Pentax, Fujifilm and Olympus. In total sales, the Nikon camera brand has recently slipped behind rival Canon, who was quicker to market such innovations as image stabilization and piezo-electric (ultrasonic motor) focusing. Nikon is making active efforts in new fields, such as photomask substrates for liquid crystal displays (LCDs).

Nikon is the world's largest manufacturer of steppers (see below) and holds 44% share of the market.

History

Nikon Corporation was established in 1917, when three leading optical manufacturers merged to form a comprehensive, fully integrated optical company known as “Nippon Kogaku Kokyo K.K.” When the Japanese Navy, which was in charge of all optical research in Japan, lost its laboratory facilities in the earthquake of 1923, the Japanese government turned to Nippon Kogaku, which was then known mainly for its binoculars, for all its research and development.

Nippon Kogaku 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. In 1945, development began on the first camera with the Nikon name, the Nikon I. The camera was released in 1948; the first shipment went to Hong Kong. The name of the high-quality 35mm Nikon camera became a well-known brand, and eventually the company’s new name. Film was very expensive in Japan after World War II, so the frame size of the Nikon 1 was originally 24 x 32 millimeters instead of the standard 24 x 36 millimeters, and 40 exposures could be produced on a single role. Nikon’s best customers at the time, the American soldiers in occupied Japan, complained that American photo labs had difficulty handling the smaller frame, and General Douglas MacArthur pressured Nikon to change the frame size.

Nikon lenses were popularized by the American photojournalist Douglas David Duncan during the Korean War. Duncan fitted Nikon optics to his Leica rangefinder cameras, to produce high contrast negatives with very sharp resolution at the center field. In 1950, the Nikon S camera was released. Hank Walker, of “Life” magazine, took a Nikon S to the Korean War, and published a positive review of the camera in the New York Times.

In 1953, Joseph Ehrenreich’s Photo Optical Industries became the sole distributor of Nikon products in the United States.

In 1957 the company released the Nikon SP, now regarded as a masterpiece of the same level as the Leica M3. In 1963, an underwater camera, NIKONOS, developed in collaboration with the French company La Spirotechnique, was launched.

In 1971, Nikon manufactured the first experimental autofocus camera. After the first commercial autofocus 35mm SLR camera was released by Pentax ME-F in 1981, using focus sensors in the camera body coupled with a motorized lens, Nikon released its first autofocus camera, the Nikon F3AF, based on a similar concept, in 1983.

In January, 2006, Nikon announced it would stop making most of its film camera models and all of its large format lenses, and focus on digital models.

In September 2007, Nikon established a wholly owned subsidiary in India, in an attempt to curb a thriving "grey market" there for illegally-imported Nikon cameras and lenses. The new subsidiary serves India as well as the Middle East markets (comprising Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran, Bahrain, Israel, Oman, Qatar and the UAE).

Today, Nikon Group Companies total nearly 17,000 employees worldwide. Nikon is actively committed to implementing specific measures in corporate ethics, environmental protection, risk management and social contributions.

Steppers

Besides cameras, Nikon Corporation (Nikon) is recognized as a world leader in development and manufacturing of advanced optical and precision photolithography equipment. An essential part of the complex process of photolithography is a stepper, a device similar in operation to a slide projector or a photographic enlarger, used in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs), which creates millions of microscopic circuit elements on the surface of tiny chips of silicon. These chips form the heart of integrated circuits (ICs) such as computer processors, memory chips, and many other devices.

In 1980, the first stepper, the NSR-1010G, was produced in Japan. Since then, Nikon has introduced over 50 models of steppers and scanners for the production of semiconductors and liquid crystal displays. Nikon currently designs and manufactures precision equipment for use in semiconductor and liquid crystal display (LCD) fabrication, inspection, and measurement. Nikon also designs and manufactures visual imaging products including cameras; instruments such as microscopes; and other products such as chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) systems, binoculars, surveying instruments, eyewear, sport optics, and optical measuring and inspection equipment.

In 1982, Nikon Precision Inc. (NPI), the North American sales and service arm for Nikon Corporation's semiconductor photolithography equipment, was established in the United States. Fueled by a rapidly growing customer base, the company quickly expanded. In 1990, NPI opened its current headquarters in Belmont, California; the facility now includes corporate offices, a fully equipped worldwide training center (WWTC), service operations, applications engineering, technology engineering, quality and reliability engineering, training, technical support, sales, and marketing for Nikon equipment, serving the wafer, photomask, flat panel display, and thin-film magnetic head industries. Today, NPI is an industry leader in supplying and supporting advanced photolithography equipment used in the critical stages of semiconductor manufacturing.

Nikon Research Corporation of America (NRCA) also has research and development operations in the U.S. which directly support the Precision Equipment Division in Kumagaya, Japan. Leveraging its strong and long-standing customer relationships, global brand recognition, and technological expertise, Nikon has maintained market leadership through an emphasis on research and development, and its ability to adapt products to meet customers' rapidly changing needs.

In late 2007, Nikon introduced its newest product, the NSR-S610C, an immersion lithography system using a proprietary technology that eliminates the bubbles, watermarks, and particles usually generated by immersion processing.

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%)

The companies held by Nikon form the Nikon Group

Cameras

In January 2006 Nikon announced [6] it will stop production of all but two models of its film cameras, focusing its efforts on the digital camera market. It will continue to produce the low-end FM10 and high-end F6, and announced a commitment to service all of the film cameras for a period of ten years after production ceases. [7]

Film 35 mm Single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras with manual focus

Nikon F (1959-1972)

Nikon AC-2E Data Link System (1993)

• Nikon F series (labeled in Germany as Nikkor)
• Nikkorex series
• Nikkormat FT series (known in Japan as Nikomat)
• Nikon F2 series
• Nikkormat EL series (known in Japan as Nikomat)
• Nikon F3 series
• Nikon FE2
• Nikon FE10
• Nikon FM10
• Nikon EL2
• Nikon FA
• Nikon FE
• Nikon FG
• Nikon FG20
• Nikon FM
• Nikon FM2 series
• Nikon FM3A
• Nikon EM
• Nikon F301 (known in North America as the N2000)
• Nikon F601m (known in North America as the N6000)

Film APS SLR cameras

• Nikon Pronea 600i also known as the Pronea 6i (1996) [8]
• Nikon Pronea S (1997) [9]

• 

  The Nikon Pronea 600i

• 

  The Nikon Pronea S

Film 35 mm SLR cameras with autofocus

• Nikon F100

• Nikon F3AF (modified F3 body with DX-1 finder)

• Nikon F4
• Nikon F401 (known in the U.S. as the N4004)
• Nikon F401S (known in theU.S. as the N4004s)
• Nikon F401X (known in the U.S. as the N5005)

• Nikon F5
• Nikon F50 (known in the U.S. as the N50)
• Nikon F501 (known in North America as the N2020)
• Nikon F55 (known in the U.S. as the N55)

• Nikon F6
• Nikon F60 (known in the U.S. as the N60)
• Nikon F601 (known in the U.S. as the N6006)
• Nikon F65 (known in the U.S. as the N65)

• Nikon F70 (known in the U.S. as the N70)
• Nikon F75 (known in the U.S. as the N75)

• Nikon F80 (known in the U.S. as the N80)
• Nikon F801 (known in the U.S. as the N8008)
• Nikon F801S (known in the U.S. as the N8008s)

• Nikon F90 (known in the U.S. as the N90)
• Nikon F90x (known in the U.S. as the N90s)

Rangefinder cameras

Nikon SP (top) & S3 (bottom) rangefinder cameras

• Nikon I (1948) [10]
• Nikon M (1949) [11]
• Nikon S (1951 [12]
• Nikon S2 (1954) [13]
• Nikon SP (1957) [14]
• Nikon S3 (1958) [15]
• Nikon S4 (1959) [16]
• Nikon S3M (1960) [17]
• Nikon S3 2000 (2000) [18]
• Nikonos line of underwater cameras

Digital compact cameras

• Nikon Coolpix series

Digital single lens reflex cameras

Nikon D200 with Nikon lens and Nikon flash

High-end - FX/Full Frame sensor

• Nikon D3, August 23, 2007

High-end - DX sensor, high resolution

• Nikon D1, June 15, 1999
• Nikon D1X, February 5, 2001
• Nikon D2X, September 16, 2004
• Nikon D2Xs, June 1, 2006

High-end - DX sensor, high speed

• Nikon D1H, February 5, 2001
• Nikon D2H, 22 July 2003
• Nikon D2Hs, February 16, 2005

High-end - DX sensor

• Nikon D100, February 21, 2002
• Nikon D200, November 1, 2005
• Nikon D300, August 23, 2007

Nikon D80 with Sigma 18-200 Lens

Midrange - DX sensor

• Nikon D70, January 28, 2004
• Nikon D70s, April 20, 2005
• Nikon D80, August 9, 2006

Entry-level - DX sensor

• Nikon D50, April 20, 2005
• Nikon D40, November 16, 2006
• Nikon D40x, March 6, 2007
• Nikon D60, January 29, 2008

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

Nikon designs its own sensors for its professional D Series (except for the D3 and D300, which used a Sony-manufactured CMOS sensor); a majority of their DSLRs have Sony-manufactured CCD sensors. Beginning with the D3 and D300, Nikon is commencing the use of CMOS sensors in their professional-grade cameras, because they use less power than CCD sensors.

Optics

The world's first PC lens in the 35 mm format: the 1961 35 mm f/3.5 PC-Nikkor.

Lenses for 35 mm and digital single-lens reflex cameras

• See Nikon F-mount

Sport optics

Binoculars

• Sprint IV
• Sportstar IV
• Travelite v
• Mikron
• Action VII
• Action VII Zoom
• Sporter I
• Venturer 8/10x32
• Venturer 8x42
• Roof Prism
• Monarch
• Action EX
• StabilEyes
• Superior E
• Marine

Spotting scopes

• Spotter XL II WP
• Spotting Scopr R/A II
• Spotting Scope 80
• Field Scope III
• Field Scope ED 82

Other lenses

• See Nikkor

Electronic Flash Units

Nikon uses the term Speedlight for their electronic flash guns.

• SB-R200
• SB-400
• SB-600
• SB-800
• R1C1

Film scanners

Right: Nikon's Coolscan V ED

• Coolscan 2000 (35mm),
• Coolscan IV ED (35mm),
• Coolscan 4000 ED (35mm),
• Coolscan 8000 (35mm and medium format),
• Coolscan V ED (35mm),
• Super Coolscan 5000 ED (35mm),
• Super Coolscan 9000 ED (35mm and medium format)

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Loder, Michael Wescott. 2008. The Nikon camera in America, 1946-1953. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co. ISBN 9780786432219 0786432217
• Long, Brian. 2006. Nikon, a celebration. Ramsbury: Crowood. ISBN 1861268319 9781861268310
• Peterson, B. 2000. Nikon system handbook. Rochester, NY: Silver Pixel Press. ISBN 1883403642 9781883403645
• Pont, Patrice-Hervé. 1997. Nikon saga. Neuilly, France: Fotosaga. ISBN 2906840130 9782906840133
• Rotoloni, Robert. 1981. The Nikon: an illustrated history of the Nikon rangefinder series. Chicago: Obol International.

External links

All external links retrieved June 16, 2008

• Nikon Corp. website
• Yahoo! - Nikon Corporation Company Profile
• Nikon Lens specifications table

Template:Nikon Digital Camera List

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