Nikon's 100th Anniversary Logo and Website

<p>As I mentioned recently, Nikon will be celebrating their 100th anniversary on 25th July, 2017: http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00eIpO</p>

<p>Today, our friends at Nikon inform us that they have set up an anniversary web site:</p>

<ul>

<li>Here is the press release on Nikon's world-wide corporate web site: http://www.nikon.com/news/2017/0110_01.htm</li>

<li>Anniversary web site: <a href="http://www.nikon.com/100th/" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://www.nikon.com/100th/&source=gmail&ust=1484151050948000&usg=AFQjCNG1ta72qAmkRCJHiJ_Dt7WRxrs8bg">http://www.nikon.com/100th/</a></li>

</ul>

<p>They have additional anniversary sites in Japanese and Chinese also, with links from the press release.</p>

<p>There is no information on that gold-plated Df version II special edition yet, but there is plenty of time between now and July 25. :-)</p>

<p>Platinum at the very least!</p>

<p>Hopefully Nikon won't be "lost in space", which was the first thought that popped into my head at the beginning of the video!</p>

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<p>Platinum at the very least!</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Fittingly for the 100th anniversary. Diamond-encrusted to indicate the sparkling future ahead?</p>

<p>When I was a kid, at a jewelry/watch store, the first time I saw a Rolex wrist watch with a round of diamonds around the front face, I was amazed. And no offense to those who own such watches, I thought it was of questionable taste. Along that line, perhaps we can have an F7 film SLR with a ring of diamonds around the lens mount, but Nikon needs to make sure that those diamonds don't damage the lens. Of course, perhaps few would actually mount a lens on those special-edition cameras anyway.</p>

<p>And if you can't wait till July or whenever, the 24K gold Nikon Df has already been available for a couple of years: http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00cvG9</p>

<p>24K gold? Yuk! I wonder if they could make a real Nikon Df.</p>

<p>Two things struck me about the anniversary video: first there were few, if any, shots of families, people doing daily activities and a lot of professional type stuff. And second, a first as far as most in the US are concerned they pronounced the brand as Knee-Con, not Nye-Con, as most here say it. Progress.</p>

After reading Nick's post, I looked further into the anniversary site. It is obvious that Nikon is extremely proud of getting

chosen by NASA for various space programs. I recall that back in the 1970's, NASA used Hasselblad and Nikon for the

Apollo moon landings, and Nikon in NASA projects was promently used in Nikon advertisements and catalogs in that era.

<p>Maybe Nikon will surprises us with some really cool retro-gear. :-D</p>

Very little consumer imaging tech shown. I guess the company is really shifting away from its previous focus on cameras

and lenses.

<p>Just sat through the 12+ minutes of "Lux Centuriae" (without the credits); felt more like an hour!</p>

<p>If Nikon indeed keeps on adding to that website, then they better put up something more interesting fast - or no one will be visiting anymore by the time the anniversary date nears.</p>

<p>Of course Nikon doesn't expect people to watch the boring history and brand marketing stuff they have initially. This is only my guess (as I only have information that is already in the public domain): I assume we'll see some "pure photography" teaser in the coming months. Perhaps they'll start mentioning a new mirrorless product line and a new lens mount (other than Nikon 1, which I assume is pretty much dead).</p>

<p>Usually controversies and rumors generate web traffic and publicity.</p>

<img src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3906/15197717566_d84f08060f_c.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="Nikkor 5cm F1.5 and 13.5cm F4"><p>

 

Maybe they will finally put their Leica Thread Mount prototype into production so i can use these lenses on a Nikon camera. OR bring out the Monochrome Df, using the sensor from the full-frame microscope camera. I'll have to get a shot of my five LTM Nikkors made in the 40s. 5cm f2 collapsible, 5cm F1.5, 3.5cm F3.5, 8.5cm F2, 13.5cm F4. These came on Nicca and Canon cameras.<p>

<p>I really would like to use my Nikon 8.5CM/f2 RF and other legacy lenses on a FF Nikon mirrorless in 2017 that should be better than the A7 it is on now, and be able to use my current AF Nikkors, as well. I would trade a little AF speed for increased accuracy that an on sensor AF system has the potential to offer. Before going digital with a D70 a while back, I enjoyed the smaller form factor that a RF camera and now mirrorless has to offer. (Yes, fast telephotos will be large for whatever camera.)</p>

<p>I likely won't seriously shoot sports after this BBall season, so am not sure that a future D8X0 would offer enough new bells and whistles (better AF) to justify upgrading the D810 I have with another DSLR.</p>

<p>Nikon had an amazing 100 years of great products. </p>

<p>Hope there will be some meaningful celebrations.</p>

<p>I see that the M9 is a lot thicker than the M7. Digital camera has to be fat so it's difficult to make a retro camera right. </p>

<p>I looked at the anniversary website, and found something there that I was not aware of. The Nikon Museum. If I ever have the opportunity to get to Japan, I would love to see it.</p>

<p>The Nikon Museum in Tokyo opened a couple of years ago. I would imagine that it is a much larger version of the Nikon House that was at the Rockefeller Center in New York back in the 1990's. I used to visit the Nikon House once or twice a year. I have never been to Tokyo other than in transit at the airport. Hopefully I'll get to visit the Nikon Museum some day.</p>

<p>http://www.nikon.com/about/corporate/museum/index.htm</p>

<p>Too bad they discontinued the one in Rockefeller Center. Would like to see life size galleries of landscapes, wildlife, and the Nikon Small World.</p>

<p>Not a very good video. A pictorial of the products over the years would have been most welcome in my house. Oh well, perhaps they'll get in right for 2117...</p>

<blockquote>

<p>I see that the M9 is a lot thicker than the M7. Digital camera has to be fat so it's difficult to make a retro camera right.</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>The Leica M10 comes out this week and it's supposed to be the same size as the M7. I am sure there will be a Leica stampede to grab them up as quick as possible. Without camera stores around any more I have yet to see a Leica digital camera in my life. Well actually I do not see any new camera's at all. The common snapper out there just uses their cell phone these days so not much to spot out there. </p>

<p>Yes and since Leica did it I hope Nikon can make a digital F that is the same size as the F. Leica has made a digital M that is the same size as the M.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Leica has made a digital M that is the same size as the M.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>BeBu, I assume you are referring to the Leica M10, which is manual focus only (no AF), no video mode, uses a small-capacity battery, and has no USB and other connection jacks ... to achieve that small size. For Leica collectors who either put their cameras in display cases or only use them sparingly, those missing features are non-issues, perhaps neither is the $6595 price tag, which is just slightly higher than $6500 for the huge, powerful Nikon D5 that is built like a tank.</p>

<p>As a practical camera without the Leica logo, I am afraid that Nikon will have a hard time selling a manual-focus DSLR with lots of missing modern features at anything close to $6600. The Df was a step towards that direction but even the Df has Nikon's second-best AF module at the time the Df was introduced, and its price tag is around 42% of that for the M10. Still, the Df is considerably more expensive than the D750 that has a much stronger feature set: better AF, HD video, dual memory cards, stronger battery, swivel LCD ....</p>

<p>The Df is going half way toward less features and more money. I would upgrade my Df if Nikon dare to go all the way. I do expect to pay for it which is not cheap more than the current Df at least.</p>

<p>To be fair, I never thought of the M series as small cameras (in my limited exposure to them). They're thinner than an SLR since they don't need a mirror box, but they're not exactly tiny. I don't believe AF makes the camera any thicker (though it makes it taller and heavier); I doubt the USB makes much size difference either (since my RX100 has a USB socket) and the omission was more to do with Leica's partial weatherproofing and their propensity for hiding everything under the bottom plate. The M10 does have WiFi however.</p>

<p>But if we're comparing camera sizes, the M10 is 139x80x39mm; if you want a small film camera, the Leica/Minolta CL is a full-frame M mount camera which is 121x76x32mm. In Nikon land, the F was 146x102x95mm (though to be fair that 95mm is probably the finder) and about 1049g. The F75, with autofocus, metering and all that, was 131x93x65mm and 380g. The Df is 144x110x67mm and 710g (taller but otherwise smaller than the F). The D750 is 141x113x78mm (narrower than the Df; thicker, mostly due to the larger grip) and 750g. A D5600 is 124x97x70mm and 465g. (Sizes rounded because they came from different sources.) Unless you actually look at a D5 or possibly D700/D8x0 class camera, the DSLRs do have extra thickness at the film plane, but not by much (and the back plate of an F5 isn't exactly thin). I think Nikon could thin the body a bit by taking some technologies from the cellphone market (who have been trying to get thinner for years) - particularly OLED is a bit thinner than LCD - but it might start affecting repairability, and there's usually a heat sink in the way too.<br>

<br>

BeBu: does the camera thickness actually affect the usability to you, or are you just less fond of the thicker grip on post-F5 bodies? It does change the wrist angle (and might explain some of the weird front dial on the Df, in as much as the battery doesn't), but it's certainly a preference thing - I value the more secure grip and better ergonomics for front dial changes, and wouldn't want a shallower grip.</p>