Long - Nikon: a Celebration

Nikon A CELEBRATION

Nikon A CELEBRATION

BRIAN LONG

REVISED AND UPDATED THIRD EDITION

THE CROWOOD PRESS

First published in 2006 by

The Crowood Press Ltd

Ramsbury, Marlborough

Wiltshire SN8 2HR

www.crowood.com

This e-book first published in 2018

Third edition 2018

Brian Long 2006, 2011 and 2018

All rights reserved. This e-book is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of thistext may be a direct infringement of the authors and publishers rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 78500 470 4

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

IVE NOW WRITTEN MORE than forty motoring books over the last two decades, usually concentrating on the history of individual models. Ive also done company histories that have included fields outside the automotive realm, but this is my first book on cameras. As such it would simply not have been possible to complete this project without the help and support of many people.

A 1965 advert showing the legendary Nikon F and a selection of lenses from the time.

Special mention must be made of Kazuhiko Mitsumoto (professional photographer, motoring journalist, TV personality, and all-round good guy), who put me in touch with Nikon, and as such put his enviable reputation on the line for me. Another good friend of mine, Yoshihiko Matsuo (designer of the Datsun 240Z and a real old camera buff), has followed the project closely, not to mention the staff at my favourite camera shops Sanai Camera in central Chiba, and Ohba Camera in Shimbashi, Tokyo.

Ive even managed to inspire people who werent really into cameras as weve talked about the project former car engineers catching the bug in much the same way as I did many years ago (sorry, Koby!) even to the point of suggesting we need more general awareness of what Nikon has achieved from a technical angle.

As you can imagine, the pressure to deliver the goods is therefore every bit as overwhelming as it is with one of my motoring titles. In this regard, I am so lucky to have Kenichi Magariyama as my contact at Nikon head office. Now in charge of the Web Communication section, Magariyama-san is a former camera designer who dearly loves to promote the Nikon brand.

While most of the advertising has come from either my collection or that of my stepfather in the States, Ken Hoyle, virtually everything else has been sourced through Nikon in Japan. For this, both I and you, the reader! have to thank Mikio Mickey Itoh for going to great lengths to satisfy my many requests for photographic material and to fill in the gaps in my information. Itoh-san is a former optical measuring instrument engineer who now looks after Nikons archives. His enthusiasm is what has made this book into something I can be proud of, and I only hope that he, Magariyama-san et al. will also be pleased with the results.

Without the help of my wife, Miho, it would have been almost impossible to relay the Japanese side of the story. Between us, weve gone through more than 10,000 pages of reference material! One day I must get around to thanking her properly for all the translation work shes done for me, as well as making contact with the good people at the JCII Camera Museum & Library (in particular, Shinji Miyazaki and Yoshio Inokuchi), Ei Mook and Bungei Shunju, along with ace photographer Bunyo Ishikawa.

BRIAN LONG
Chiba City, Japan

INTRODUCTION

AS A TEENAGER, PHOTOGRAPHY was one of my main hobbies. In my younger days, armed only with a screw-mount Praktica, Id dream of owning an F3, and the F4 simply blew my mind when it came out. Unfortunately work soon consumed much of my life, and the opportunities to take pictures other than those related to my job became fewer and fewer as the years rolled by. The fascination with photography, however, remained as strong as ever and, now working with the Nikon system, I found myself being drawn to the beauty of the cameras and lenses rather than the act of taking shots, which, in reality, I was never that good at anyway. Coming from an engineering background, I could appreciate the dedication and skill that went into these miniature sculptures: my love of the Nikon brand stems from this appreciation.

It took me a long while to buy my first F4, but, during my time in Japan and the gradual shift from user to user/collector, it has been augmented by about thirty more Nikons, all but one of them (the D100 for everyday use) older than the F4, and many of them older than me! I keep telling my poor wife that cameras are really living things, and they breed when no-one is looking. Of course, she just assumes Im crazier than she originally thought, but how else can you explain how they keep mysteriously appearing in the house at such regular intervals?

At the same time, Nikkor lenses have gradually filled my cabinets. After my first batch of film was developed using these fabulous masterpieces, there was to be no turning back the quality of the Japanese-made Nikkor is simply beyond reproach.

As well as enjoying the modern zooms for work, Im constantly amazed by the function and beauty of the brass screw-mount 13.5cm Nikkor I have attached to my pre-war Leica this combination looks and feels as good today as it did more than half a century ago. And it never ceases to impress me that the early 5cm lens seems to weigh almost as much as the Nikon S it is mounted on!

Im very lucky to be surrounded by so many like-minded friends in Japan. Members of the RJC (the Researchers & Journalists Conference of Japan) and JAHFA (the Japan Automotive Hall of Fame), two organizations with which Im heavily involved, are often obsessed not only with cars, but also share my enthusiasm for old cameras and mechanical watches. Most of these guys, however, were using Nikons for a living before I was born, and Im looking forward to the day when my collection will equal that of some of my esteemed colleagues.

I hope this book is a reflection of why so many of my friends and I love and respect the Nikon brand. I will try to present a picture of what makes it special in a format that will inspire you, and make you want to thumb through the pages, not just to learn technical specifications, but to wallow in the photographs and wonderful adverts from Nikons earliest days to the present.

This publication does not include any tips on how to get the best from each camera or lens there are plenty of good books on the market that already cover this aspect, written by people far better qualified than me but it does include the companys history, the way its products have developed over the years, and all the little details that tend to absorb collectors.

Notes on the Third Edition

Time flies, and I dont think either Crowood or myself had realized just how much of it had gone by until a friend in London got in touch to say hed been told that the second edition of the book had now sold out. Asked when the new version was coming out, I was unable to respond, but heres the ultimate answer a further expanded and revised edition that takes the story up to the end of 2017. The year 2017 holds a special significance, of course, as it marks the centenary of the company, and I was both surprised and honoured to be asked to be a small part of the 100th anniversary celebrations by Nikon Europe. Heres to the next 100 years