© Mark LaMonica. All Rights Reserved.
Text by Mark LaMonica
Nikon as most of us know them is a camera company. If you go back in history, you’ll find out that Nikon began as an Optical company.
Here are a few basics about your Nikon camera and this is not a history of Nikon, you can visit their web site via the link at the end of this article for a complete history and interactive tour.
In 1917 three of Japan's leading optical manufacturers merge to form a comprehensive, fully integrated optical company known as Nippon Kogaku K.K.
In 1932 Nikkor was adopted as the brand name for camera lenses.
In 1950 The New York Times introduced superior features of Nikon cameras and Nikkor lenses.
In 1959 The Nikon F, Nikon's first SLR camera, is marketed. This is the beginning of the familiar Nikon to most people from the days of film.
January 1971 Nikon entered into a contract with NASA to supply cameras. Today Nikon is still supplying NASA with cameras. The D2x has proved to be an asset to provide instant feedback and images
of high quality.
In 1980 the legendary Nikon F3 SLR camera was marketed and was the beginning of a huge Nikon following. The F3 held its market place for a long time even during the auto focus and digital surge. It
was discontinued after 20+ years of production.
In 1988 the Nikon F4 was introduced and began the transition to auto focus for a lot of photographers.
In 1995 the Nikon E2/E2S digital still cameras marketed (jointly developed with Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.). This was a milestone for the beginning of the Nikon digital wave, even though it wasn’t the wave
that took many photographers from film capture.
In 1996 the Nikon F5 top-of-the-line SLR camera was marketed and was a huge success in terms of modern technology and film camera performance.
In 1999 the digital wave began with the introduction of the Nikon D1. This was the first digital SLR that had some kind of reliability and quality that was good enough for news media and some publication
work.
In 2004 the Nikon F6 SLR camera was introduced and was seen as a welcomed update in technology to the F5. It is definitely a fine piece of gear, but by now Nikon already had 5 DSLR cameras on the
market and many photographers had already switched to digital.
In 2005 Nikon introduced the D2X and D2HS cameras that totally took the industry by storm provided amazing image quality and putting more film cameras on shelves.
In 2006 the Nikon D2XS was introduced provided even more features and functions.
In 2008 the Nikon D3 was introduced and is just an amazing camera. It provides the image quality of the D2XS and speed of the D2HS.
At the end of 2008 the Nikon D3X was introduced and brought Nikon into the medium format digital image quality arena. Sporting a 24mp CMOS sensor that produces exceptionally clean image files
shows just how fast digital imaging is progressing in the photography world. The technology is out there, it’s just a matter of time before it finds the path into the consumer market.
Nikon made a commitment to advance into the digital age of photography that left a lot of photographers feeling abandoned. For film users, the digital wave was hard to swallow, but for corporate
survival it was either sink or swim and Nikon made the right choice to ride the wave and progress with new camera systems.
It’s with this in 2009 that I really must say goodbye to Nikon. For many of us Nikon was our choice of gear to produce images that earned us a living. We raved about our legendary Nikkor lenses and
indestructible film bodies.
What is the next step for photographers like myself who relied on our F5 for so many years to provide us with fast auto focus, precise metering, superior image quality and reliability that became well
known in the photography industry. There’s only one way to go and that direction is forward, we must hold onto our memories of our film days and seek out the next ultimate camera system.
The new camera system must be able to deliver projects to demanding clients, some so demanding they require the project to be delivered the same day. We are now faced with precise electronic
devices called digital cameras that for no reason can fail due to electromagnetic fields, static charge high humidity and moisture. We need a reilable camera, a camera as durable as the film bodies we
once used.
Welcome to Nikon Digital, the same legendary reliability that we loved in the past. Nikon digital cameras are not introduced to keep up with the Megapixel wars, they are introduced as a well calculated
advancement in digital technology to bring us improved performance and image quality. The legendary Nikkor lenses we loved are also being developed with new technology to enhance the ability of the
lens and digital sensor to capture and maintain the most detail and color of each image.
Goodbye Nikon the days of film and Hello Nikon the future of digital.
This article is not a history of Nikon, it focuses on a few landmark era's that has brought us to 2009. All Nikon history information courtesy of the Nikon Global web site.
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