Nikon has a history that is decades longer than Canon. It is 91 years old this year, and NIKKOR lenses have also spent 75 glorious years

1917, Tokyo The optical measuring instrument department of Keiki Manufacturing Co., Ltd. and the reflector department of Iwaki Glass Manufacturing Co., Ltd. merged to form a more complete optical company and named Nippon Kogaku K.K. (Nippon Kogaku K.K.). Then it merged with Fujii Lens Manufacturing Co., Ltd. This laid the foundation for Nikon's future development, and the name Nippon Kogaku K.K. was still used until 1988, but its popularity was far less than its brand - Nikon. Therefore, Nippon Kogaku K.K. had long been renamed Nikon Corporation (this kind of name is only known as Nikon Corporation). There are many situations where people don’t know their country. For example, everyone knows Panasonic, but few people know that Panasonic is actually called Matsushita). In 1917, after Nikon hired eight optical experts from Germany plus its own 200 employees to open its business, its early products were mainly telescopes, microscopes and optical measuring instruments. In 1918, Nippon Kogaku K.K. officially had a large-scale production center factory and began to study the production of optical glass. By 1921, they launched three reflecting telescopes with apertures of 5cm, 7.5cm and 10cm, as well as mikron The two prism-inverted Kepler binoculars, 4X and 6X, were the beginning of Nikon’s 90 years of dominance in the field of optical equipment. In 1920, Nikon invited optical engineer Heinrich Acht (pictured above, right) from Germany to be responsible for the design. Lens, after Heinrich Acht returned to China, Japanese engineer Kakuya Sunayama took over. He completed Nikon's first 120mm f/4.5 lens in 1929 based on Acht's information, but it was not put into mass production. It was used to prove its strength. By 1932, Nippon Kogaku K.K. produced photography lenses and used the Nikkor trademark (Nikkor was actually a brand inherited from microscopes). In 1937, Nikon had completed 50mm/f4.5, 3.5 and 2.0 Nikkor lens optical design work, but at that time Nikon did not have its own body.

In 1933, Mr. Takeshi Mitarai, a photography enthusiast and gynecologist, founded the Seiki Optical Research Institute, the predecessor of Canon. 1933 was also an eventful year. In this year, the Great Depression in the United States reached its worst point (the economic crisis of 1929-1933). An arson attack on the Reichstag occurred in Germany. Subsequently, the "Enabling Act" was passed to grant Hitler full power, even as the father of communism. Marx has been dead for 50 years. Compared with these, the Precision Optical Research Institute quietly established in Azabu Roppongi, Tokyo, is as insignificant as dust. Who could have expected that it would grow into such a huge enterprise in the future? Woolen cloth? Canon's technicians worked hard after listing the company, and in 1934, they finally produced a small thing. This was the Kwanon (Guanyin). This was Canon's and even Japan's first rangefinder focal plane shutter 35mm camera that imitated Leica. At that time, The newspaper reported quite excitedly. However, Guanyin only has a body without a lens. It seems that we just talked about a company that only has a lens but no body, right? The two families hooked up as soon as they came into contact. Nippon Kogaku K.K. provided Nikkor lenses and Seiki Koken's imitation Leica rangefinder camera bodies for sale, and they became a romantic couple.

1935 was an unforgettable year for both CN companies. During this year, Seiki Koken launched the 35mm focal plane shutter camera "Hansa Canon" (the previous Kannon was only a trial production , it has not been put into mass production on a large scale, and it completely copied Leica, which will lead to lawsuits), and also registered the Canon trademark, and Nippon Kogaku K.K. launched Nikon's 50mm f/3.5 Nikkor blade lens with it The combination of sturdy and easy-to-use bodies and excellent Nikkor lenses made these two new companies attract the attention of the world (mainly Japanese, and some Western reporters in Japan). The honeymoon period for Canon and Nikon began.

With the expansion of the Japanese army, the Japanese government’s orders for Nikon’s military products have also increased a lot. Nikon’s production focus has basically been invested in military optical equipment. So when Nikon fought against guns, Canon had two Heartbroken. In 1937, Seiki Koken changed its name to Seiki Optical Co., Ltd. By 1939, when Nikon was producing most of the Japanese military's optical sighting equipment from aerial reconnaissance cameras to periscopes for submarines, Canon In this year, I developed my first lens and named it "Serenar". The pronunciation is quite similar to the name of the car "Sienna" produced by NAC Fiat. The specifications are 50mm/3.5.

From 1938 to 1945, with the outbreak of the war of aggression against China and the beginning of the Pacific War, Nippon Kogaku K.K. opened a series of large factories to meet the needs of the government to produce military optical instruments, military telescopes and other It’s all childish. Let’s take a high-tech example. During World War II, the Japanese army had the largest displacement (46,000 tons) and the largest artillery caliber (460mm). The optical rangefinders used on the two Yamato Musashi battleships were produced by Nikon. It is 15.8 meters long from the baseline (what is the ranging baseline, click this link), and its performance is extremely good. Although it is a similar product made by Zeiss for the German army, judging from post-war data, its craftsmanship and performance are different from the prototype. Not much left.

The outbreak of World War II gave Nikon an opportunity for rapid development. A large number of military product orders stimulated Nikon's rapid expansion. By the middle of World War II, Nikon already had 19 factories and 23,000 employees, producing Optical instruments include telescopes, periscopes, aerial reconnaissance lenses, optical bomb sights, etc., but in the current history of Nikon, this period is never mentioned.

But if you don’t mention it, it doesn’t mean you can get away with it. For example, the aerial reconnaissance lens exhibited at PE2008, as well as the one in the picture above that Nikon refused to reveal the details even to death, was produced in Showa 17, which is AD. In 1942, the Simlar-F 180mm F1.5 weighed 4.5KG. These things silently tell that period of history. In 1945, Japan surrendered after receiving two atomic bombs, and Nikon was almost disbanded by the US military. However, Nikon was smart and changed some of its production lines from military products to civilian products shortly before the end of the war. It still managed to retain one factory and about 1,400 employees. Employees, this is also the most difficult year for Nikon. Due to Japan's defeat in the war and the social recession, within a year, only the original old factory building and another small factory remained in the originally vibrant Nippon Kogaku K.K. Of course, Nikon should be lucky that its factories are located in downtown Tokyo. Canon did not seem to be too involved in the war. By 1946, after the war, Canon and Seiki Koko Co., Ltd. at that time launched a 35mm screw-mount rangefinder focal plane camera with interchangeable lenses. The lens used for the Canon SII was developed by itself. The Serenar series of screw-mount lenses were abandoned by Nippon Kogaku, and cooperation with Seiki Kogaku was immediately stopped. Although it lost its military orders and lost its partners, Nikon relied on its rich experience and outstanding talents in optical design to still stand (survive?) and immediately began the research and development of its own rangefinder cameras.

Since then, Nikon has made rapid progress. In 1946, it launched its first rangefinder body, Nikon 1 (the name is really concise), which went on sale in 1948. This was also the first camera named "Nikon", but its market performance was mediocre. The performance of Nikon 1 itself is not particularly outstanding, and the reason is that there are many similar products on the market. It is also because Japan was still in ruins at the time and the market capacity was too small.

The basic design of the Nikon 1 was a mixture of Leica and Contax, two of the most popular pre-war camera brands. Nikon has successfully combined the advantages of these two types of cameras to develop a more powerful camera. The Nikon One adopts the Contax camera's angular shape, detachable back, top shutter control dial, front focus ring and lens mount; it also uses the Leica camera RangeFinder (rangefinder) viewfinder and focal plane shutter. After the trial production of the prototype was completed, everyone was very satisfied, but the name made everyone think a lot. Many names were used for the new cameras being considered for release, some of which even sound familiar today. According to research, several names were considered at the time, including: BENTAX, PENTAX, PANNET, NICCA, NIKKA, NIKORET and NIKKORETTE. At a critical moment, the name NIKKORETTE was about to win, but in the end, Nikon was still chosen. There seems to be a saying in Japan that you can make a living by choosing a cheap name. It would be funny if you choose a name like Gou Sheng No. 1.

In 1949, Nikon launched the Nikon M (why not call it Nikon 2?). In 1950, Nikon launched the nikon S, which was almost the same as the M. It added a new flash sync port and launched five of them. Interchangeable lenses Nikkor-W 3.5cm f/3.5, Nikkor-O 5cm f/3.5, Nikkor-H 5.0 cm f/2.0, Nikkor-P 8.5cm f/2.0 and Nikkor-Q 13.5cm f/4.0, in the lens model The letters are used to indicate the structure of the lens. "U (Uns) means 1 element, B (Bini) means 2 elements, T (Tres) means 3 elements, Q (Quatour) means 4 elements, and P (Pente) means 4 elements. It is 5 pieces, H (Hex) is 6 pieces, S (Septem) is 7 pieces, O (Octo) is 8 pieces, N (Novem) is 9 pieces, and D (Decem) is 10 pieces. 』Also, Nikon lenses are often engraved with "Auto" (meaning the aperture blades will automatically shrink), focal length (displayed in mm) and serial number.

The Nikon M camera is very good and very lucky. Nikon became famous overnight because of it, and it is known all over the world. There is also an old gossip in it. In 1950, the New York Times published a special article reporting and introducing the high-quality performance of Nikon cameras and Nikkor lenses. It was written by the famous photojournalist Jacob Deschin, who was famous for reporting on the Korean War. . At that time, the New York Times Asia correspondent office was located in Japan. All reporters going to North Korea would report in Tokyo first before going to the front line. Jacob Deschin accidentally discovered the Nikon M while wandering around Tokyo. The popular model among reporters at that time was the Leica M model. Although M and Leica M are very similar, they have other features in design and are easier to use. Jacob Deschin bought two and carried them to the battlefield. After using them, he found that the Nikkor lenses were clear and sharp. The Nikon M body is light and sturdy, and its performance is very good. After returning, he boasted about it (an act now known as poisoning), and Nikon became famous and became the darling of journalists. Nippon Kogaku K.K. regards this as a great honor.

Canon, who was happy to break up, was certainly not idle. In 1947, it changed its brand again, from "Seiki Koko Co., Ltd." to "Canon Camera Co., Ltd." In 1949, while Canon was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange to make money, it produced the Canon IIB. Unfortunately, although the Canon IIB won the first prize at the National Camera Exhibition in San Francisco the year it was released, its popularity and market performance were mediocre. This fully illustrates the principle that no matter how many awards you win, it is better to find a good shooter. Judging from my dark psychology, Canon’s strategy of loaning equipment to famous photographers and journalists for free is definitely not the same as the stimulation it has experienced for 50 years. No contact. Nikon established the Nikkor Club in the United States in 1952. The main role of this non-governmental organization is to contact users and increase its influence. This approach was imitated by many companies in the future. For example, Huaqi Information has a Patriot Club (if you are not familiar with the situation You might think it is a political group when you see it), but then again, because of the popularity of its products, Nikon's body and lenses have been banned from import by some European countries for a long time (the specific countries will not be named) , but to test everyone, which country are Zeiss, Leica, Schneider, and Radina? ), Oh, by the way, Nikon S was born this year. In the same year, Canon launched the world's first 35mm camera with flash synchronization, the Canon IVSb. This achievement was quite amazing and of epoch-making significance. Since it could use a 1/125 second shutter to synchronize the flash, it greatly expanded the camera's application in news. Nikon made great achievements in the rangefinder system. In 1954, it launched the Nikon S2, an improved version of the Nikon S, with a built-in 100mm rangefinder. However, this was just the beginning. In 1957, Nikon launched the Nikon SP, the successor to the S2. , it has a built-in linkage viewfinder that can be used with six fixed-focus lenses of different focal lengths from 28mm to 135mm, and can automatically adjust the parallax. Its function is far more powerful than the Leica M3, which was regarded as the king of rangefinders at the time. Leica did not have similar performance until the M4-P launched in 1980.

Nikon did not give up the RF model. In March 1959, Nikon updated and redesigned the S4 in an attempt to continue the lifeline of the S series. The rise of SLR cameras was inevitably accompanied by the decline of rangefinder cameras. In 1960, Nikon released the last rangefinder camera, the S3M, and stopped the development and production of the S series rangefinder cameras. The SP is the pinnacle of Nikon's rangefinder 35mm cameras. In 2005, Nikon released a limited batch of SP replicas, which were all booked before they even started production.

In 1959, Nikon and Canon, a former romantic couple, discovered the great potential of the 135 single-lens reflex camera and began to develop related products.

Canon obviously made some mistakes in its judgment of the market. The first 35mm SLR camera Canonflex developed had a mediocre market response and did not attract much attention. However, the rangefinder camera Canon 7 developed at the same time was more popular in the market. Although it is relatively weak on the body, Canon is in good shape in terms of lenses. The rangefinder lens 50/0.95 was developed in 1961, the R58/1.2 for SLRs was launched in 1962, and the first zoom lens R55- was launched in 1963. 135/3.5 and FL19/3.5, the ultra-wide-angle SLR lens with the largest aperture when it was launched in 1964, were both excellent works that pioneered the trend.

In 1959, Nikon launched their first 35mm single-lens reflex camera, the Nikon F. This year, it has been 22 years since the invention of the world's first SLR, but only nine years since the invention of the prism eye-level viewfinder design, which was first pioneered in 1955 by Asahiflex (remember who developed it? Click here to review) The body using an immediate rebound reflector structure is only four years old. Therefore, the Nikon F, launched in 1959, was basically at the forefront of technological trends and had the best performance at the time.

Nikon F adopts a modular design. Around the body, Nikon provides a large number of different accessories to meet different needs. For example, the viewfinder, focusing screen and motor can all be replaced. Nikon F, on the first day of its launch, has become a model of professional SLR design. This modular design idea of ??matching on demand has continued to the subsequent F2 in the 1970s, the F3 in the 1980s and the F4 in the 1990s. Each of Nikon's top-end bodies has spawned a large number of models to meet the needs of various photographers. It can be said that until the release of Canon EOS 1, Nikon's advantage in the high-end professional 135 SLR market was overwhelming.

In total, from 1959 to the launch of F2 in 1972, the Nikon F product continued to be produced for 13 years. No matter in terms of output or life cycle, it has rarely been matched by opponents. The Nikon F has also undergone several minor changes and launched derivative models. For example: the Nikon F Photomic (commonly known as the big-head F) launched in 1962 used external Cds (cadmium sulfide) original metering for the first time. It’s the round white eyes next to the big F on the forehead. The measurement range is EV 2~17; the 1965 Nikon F Photomic T used a TTL-type Cds metering component. The metering display was a pointer type. The method is average metering; the Nikon F Photomic TN in 1967 was a modified version of the T. The metering method changed the original average metering to center-weighted metering; the Nikon F Photomic FTN launched in 1968 was the last model of the F series. , the maximum aperture indicator is implemented, and the shutter speed can be seen in the viewing window. In a blink of an eye, it’s 1971. It’s been 12 years since Canon developed the first camera Canon Flex (1959). After being suppressed by Nikon for more than 10 years, Canon finally came up with a professional-grade 135 SLR F1. model, and the number of matching FD lenses (I don’t mention how many in the information I have...). This high-end professional camera, known for its durability, can be used in environments of -30°C and 60°C, and The camera's shutter has withstood the test of 100,000 failures without failure and uses an advanced ultra-thin titanium horizontal-travel curtain shutter. This well-designed professional camera caused a sensation in the entire photography world when it was launched. The picture below is the Canon F1. It is equipped with Canon's first mass-produced aspherical lens FD 50/1.2 AL SSC. AL means aspherical lens and SSC means multi-layer coating. Similar to the design concept of the Nikon F, the F1 also uses an interchangeable viewfinder, which has proven to be not particularly necessary on the 135 SLR camera. Canon F1 is one of the components of the FD system. Another very important part is the FD lens. Canon is very enthusiastic about the research and development of new materials and new processes, and the results are very outstanding. For example, in 1969, it launched the use of fluorite lenses. The telephoto lenses FL-F300/5.6 and FL-F500/5.6 to correct chromatic aberration have since established the iron law of "Canon with telephoto" that is still insurmountable (among the mass-produced civilian telephoto lenses, Canon EF 200/ 1.8L is the world's top level, and its performance indicators are unmatched by anyone. This conclusion was made by Hasselblad Laboratory). Nikon's weapon against Canon's F-1 is the F-2 (how do they look like brothers...), which was also launched in 1971. There is not much difference between Nikon's F2 and the previous generation F. The maximum shutter speed is increased to 1 /2000s, for the convenience of journalists. Nikon mainly promotes F2 photomic, a derivative model of F2. The difference from the basic model is that F2 photomic has a light metering system (both F and F2 do not have it, so an external light meter is required) , equipped with a DP-1 metering viewfinder, the metering mode is center-weighted weighted average, the shutter speed and aperture can be displayed in the viewing window, and the metering range is EV 1~17.

However, the luck of the F2 is really not very good. After the F2 was launched mainly for the 1972 Munich Olympics, it encountered the Munich Massacre. In 1978, Nikon launched a special edition of the F2H to prepare to compete for the sports reporters of the Moscow Olympics. At the time of the market, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, and American countries unanimously boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Nikon had no choice but to sell F2H to the public. There are only 501 units of F2H. In addition to the all-titanium body, it is also equipped with an MD100 motor and an MD100 battery pack. It is truly the most collectible product in the entire F2 series. In 1973, Nikon launched the F2 Photomic S, which was equipped with an improved DP-2 metering viewfinder, also referred to as F2S. The metering used an LED display instead of the original pointer indicator, and a DS-1 could be attached for shutter-priority automatic exposure; 1976 Nikon The F2 Photomic SB was launched again: it was equipped with a new DP-3 metering viewfinder and used SPD as the metering component; the Nikon F2 Photomic A in 1977 was equipped with another new DP-11 metering viewfinder, but the metering component was expensive to replace. The lower Cds was mainly used to match the Ai series of lenses that had just come out at that time, which was the Ai version of the F2 Photomic. In the same year, Nikon also released the F2 Photomic AS, which was equipped with a DP-12 metering viewfinder and used an SPD metering component. In 1972, Nikon launched the first automatic exposure Nikon camera - Nikkormat EL. This was a newly designed Nikon camera. Nikkormat EL had aperture priority automatic exposure, ten/one two-stop exposure compensation, exposure memory lock, flash The light hot shoe (the first Nikon camera with a built-in flash hot shoe), except that it cannot autofocus. Other Features Today's automatic cameras don't differ much - but they were invented 35 years ago. However, compared to the achievements of Canon at the same time, Nikon seems a bit bleak. In 1976, Canon took the lead and brought SLR cameras into a new world of electronics with the AE-1. It also improved the production line, used new materials (engineering plastics), and introduced "value engineering" to excellently control costs. Canon's A series of SLR cameras have become unprecedentedly popular due to their convenient functions and reasonable prices. The entire A series has produced more than eight million units. From 1976 to 1984, Canon's SLR camera sales have topped the list for eight consecutive years. Although Nikon still dominates the top SLR market An overwhelming dominant position, but fatigue is already showing. During this period, Canon's actions were fast and efficient, while Nikon's response strategy was very chaotic, giving people the feeling of being in a hurry and trying to support itself. In order to cope with the challenges of Canon's excellent A series, Nikon improved the F mount and became the AI ??mount. (Automatic Maximun Aperture Indexing, AI mount can achieve aperture priority exposure) Afterwards, multiple series of bodies such as NIKKORMAT, FE, EL were released, but the market response was very bad. In the top 135 SLR field, Nikon F2As also had a disadvantage to Canon F-1. There are almost no advantages at all. After much stumbling, in 1979, Nikon released the lightweight compact 135 SLR camera EM (Economic Model), equipped with several E-series lenses (28mm f/2.8, 35mm f/2.5, 50mm f/1.8, 100mm f/2.8, 135mm f/2.8, 135mm f/2.8, and a 70~150mm f/3.5). Due to the conflict between EM and Nikon’s body’s tradition of being strong and made of materials, they were criticized by the market and ended up failing. (However, many people later collected and played with E-series lenses second-hand, claiming they had a special flavor and so on...).

In the 1980s, Nikon took the lead in releasing the third-generation flagship camera of the F system, the F3. This camera was designed by the famous Porsche family. It has very powerful performance and has so many derivative models and accessories that no one can surpass it. There are 15 models of replaceable focusing screens, such as central split image, microprism, high magnification, highlight, grid, etc. The viewfinder can also be replaced, one of which is similar to the one used on 120 cameras. The waist-level viewfinder is extremely convenient to use. With it, you also need a right-angle viewfinder. The F3's light metering system is also very sophisticated. Its reflector has been processed with a special process. The 18-degree light can pass through the main reflector to the auxiliary reflector, and then be reflected to the photoresistor at the bottom of the reflector box for measurement. light, so replacing the top of the F3 will not affect the metering system. The titanium shutter of the F3 has a nominal service life of 150,000 times, and the actual service life should be at least twice this number. The editor once saw a device that had a horribly worn appearance. The owner of the F3T, which has an MD4 winding motor, claims that it has been his main camera since he bought it in 1988. Given the nature of the owner's work (he is a journalist), a little extrapolation shows that the shutter may have exceeded its nominal lifespan. However, According to my personal test shooting with reversal film, the exposure is still accurate, the shutter movement is crisp and clear, and the sound has a slight Nikon-style metallic tail sound, which is really amazing.