Nikon

For more info please visit our website www.nikon.co.uk

---

Nikon

The name Nikon is synonymous with superb optics and groundbreaking cameras. A world leader in photography for its revered Nikkor lenses, cutting-edge digital cameras including the multi-award-winning D-SLR series and high-performance 35mm cameras such as the Nikon F6, Nikon has been the first choice of professional photographers for decades - in fact, Nikon cameras and lenses have been behind more Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs than all the other camera brands combined.

Nikon’s Coolpix digital compacts have received more awards and top rankings than any other consumer digital cameras, and the company is the proud purveyor of a string of photographic world firsts, including launching the first aspherical SLR lens, the first genuine wideangle zoom, the first AF zoom-micro lens, the first underwater autofocus SLR and, in the shape of the now legendary F4, the world’s first professional single-lens reflex to use autofocus.

This record of innovation and achievement owes a great deal to the fact that Nikon is the only major optical company in the world that controls and manufactures every aspect of its glass-making business, allowing it to finely tune Nikkor lens specifications, quality and performance. From the raw silicon to the final coatings, Nikon glass production is both a science and an art form. The latest developments include the environmentally-friendly Eco-glass, which will be used in all new consumer lenses by 2007.

In 2004, for the third year running, Nikon was named a Superbrand by the Brand Council. Only the most deserving of brands attain this status, and the panel of distinguished judges who conferred the award said that, for Nikon, ‘The essence of the brand is passion and inspiration combined with quality and reliability.’

Those few words do a pretty good job of summing up the Nikon philosophy. Since the company was founded in Japan in 1917, it has focused on creating high-quality products which people can trust, and over the years has won the worldwide respect of both professionals and enthusiast photographers alike. The reliability of the Nikon brand is based on technological superiority and an ongoing and extensive R&D programme whose ethos is to provide what the customer wants, rather than design an product and then try to create a market for it. This continuing emphasis on the needs of the photographer also shows through in Nikon’s superlative customer support and training services.

The company’s first SLR, the Nikon F, was launched in 1959 and boasted a feature unique to Nikon at the time – true interchangeable lenses. What’s more, these lenses used the newly developed F mount, which is still in use to this day on ultra-modern Nikon SLRs such as the flagship F6 professional SLR, providing an unrivalled compatibility of product use across the decades.

By the early 1970s, Nikon’s reputation for technical innovation and product reliability led to it being chosen by NASA to supply cameras for its space programme. SLRs based on the original F1 design blasted into orbit and onto the moon with Apollo 15 in 1971, and two years later on the Skylab, while by the 1980s cameras modelled on the F3 and F4 were being used on the Space Shuttle. This stellar success was beneficial to terrestrial photographers too, as Nikon was able to apply the lessons learned from developing cameras for such an unforgiving environment to its consumer models, cementing their reputation as SLRs which could withstand the most severe and unusual conditions a photographer could throw at them.

By the mid-1990s, Nikon had entered the fledgling digital arena, bringing out its first Coolpix digital compact camera in 1997. Two years later the award-winning D-series of digital SLRs was launched with the D1, and today its digital range boasts 18 Coolpix models and six digital SLRs. The latest include the professionally specified 12.4 megapixel D2X and the ultra-high-speed action-orientated D2Hs; the ultra-slim Coolpix S1 with its innovative non-protruding zoom lens; and the Coolpix 4600, 5600, 5900, 7600 and 7900, all of which boast a raft of in-camera image enhancement features that make them ideal for beginners as well as experienced digital photographers.

Nikon in the UK

Nikon UK was established in 1979, and today at its headquarters in Kingston-Upon-Thames, Surrey employs over 100 people. It’s also home to Nikon’s purpose-built Training Centre, where a comprehensive programme of workshops and seminars covering a huge range of topics are held throughout the year – from learning about the basics of digital photography and specific imaging techniques to getting the most from a particular camera, whether as a novice or a professional. There are now three regional training centres too, in Leicester, Manchester and Glasgow.

The UK website also features product details – including key features, full specifications and brochure downloads – for all current digital and 35mm SLRs, lenses and accessories, plus scanners, binoculars, fieldscopes and software. There are regular special offers, an exclusive on-line gallery of inspiring images from professional Nikon photographers, and a helpful digital buyers’ guide to help you choose the right camera for your particular photographic needs. You can also sign up to the Nikon News Bulletin, a bi-monthly email newsletter packed with essential info, from new product launches and special offers to prize competitions and expert advice on getting the most from your photography.