Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Nikon Corporation
- Nikon redirects here; there is also a leader of the Russian Orthodox Church named Patriarch Nikon.
Nikon Corporation (Nikon, Nikon Corp.) is a Japanese company specializing in optics and imaging. Its products include cameras, binoculars, microscopes, and measurement instruments. 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 in 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, and professional DSLRs including the D1 and D2 series (see below).
Nikon's main competitors include Canon, Minolta, Leica, Pentax, and the Olympus company.
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. 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.
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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
Cameras
35mm SLR cameras
- Nikon FM3A
- Nikon F80 (known in North America as the N80)
- Nikon F100
- Nikon F5
- Nikon F6
Discontinued 35 mm SLR cameras
- Nikon F70 (known in North America as the N70)
- Nikon F801 (known in North America as the N8008)
- Nikon F90 (known in North America as the N90)
- Nikon F90x (known in North America as the N90s)
- Nikon FA
- Nikon FE
- Nikon FE2
- Nikon FG
- Nikon FM
- Nikon FM2
- Nikon F4 series
- Nikon F3 series
- Nikon F2 series
- Nikon F series
- Nikkormat series (known in Japan as Nikomat)
- Nikkorex series
35 mm rangefinder cameras
- Nikon S series
Digital cameras
- Nikon Coolpix series
- Nikon D1
- Nikon D1H
- Nikon D1X
- Nikon D100
- Nikon D70
- Nikon D2H , which is useful for being undigital (achieving continuous analog reconstructive imaging) because its new LBCAST sensor achieves a more idealized response.
- Nikon D2X
- Nikon D2Hs
Nikon's camera raw 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 18-70mm 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 - Auto focus .
- AF-S - Auto focus-Silent. Uses SWM, Sonic Wave Motor, to focus quietly and faster; similar as 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 photomacrography - photographing small subjects at short distances.
Auto Focus Prime
- Nikon 16mm f/2.8
- Nikon 14mm f/2.8
- Nikon 20mm f/2.8
- Nikon 28mm f/1.4
- Nikon 35mm f/2
- Nikon 50mm f/1.4
- Nikon 50mm f/1.8
- Nikon 60mm f/2.8
- Nikon 85mm f/1.4
- Nikon 85mm f/1.8
- Nikon 105mm f/2.5
- Nikon 135mm f/2
- Nikon 180mm f/2.8
- Nikon 200mm f/2 (with VR)
- Nikon 300mm f/2.8
- Nikon 400mm f/2.8
- Nikon 500mm f/4
- Nikon 600mm f/4
Auto Focus Zoom
- Nikon 28-80mm f/3.3-5.6G AF Zoom-Nikkor
- Nikon 18-70mm zoom (The lens bundled with D70 Kit)
- Nikon 75-300mm f/4.5-5.6 AF Zoom-Nikkor
- Nikon 70-300mm zoom
- Nikon 24-120mm zoom
- Nikon 24-120mm VR zoom
'Professional' AF Zoom Lenses
- AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8 ED-IF
- AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 28-70mm f/2.8D ED-IF
- AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED-IF
- AF 35-70 f/2.8D (old model)
- AF 80-200 f/2.8D (old model) ED-IF
- AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF
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
External links
Official sites
- Nikon Corp. website
- Nikon Corp. USA website
- Nikon Precision Inc. - Semiconductor Photolithography USA website
Data
Fansites & Forums
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