Nikon Corporation (株式会社ニコン Kabushiki-gaisha Nikon) 
listen (help·info) (TYO:7731), also known as Nikon or Nikon Corp., is a multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan specializing in optics and imaging. Its products include cameras, binoculars,microscopes, measurement instruments, and the steppers used in the photolithographysteps of semiconductor fabrication, of which it is the world's second largest manufacturer.[2]The companies held by Nikon form the Nikon Group.[3] Among its products are Nikkorimaging lenses (for F-mount cameras, large format photography, photographic enlargers, and other applications), the Nikon F-series of 135 film SLR cameras, the Nikon D-series of digital SLR cameras, the Coolpix series of compact digital cameras, and the Nikonos series of underwater film cameras. Nikon's main competitors in camera and lens manufacturing includeCanon, Casio, Kodak, Sony, Pentax, Panasonic, Fujifilm and Olympus.
listen (help·info) (TYO:7731), also known as Nikon or Nikon Corp., is a multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan specializing in optics and imaging. Its products include cameras, binoculars,microscopes, measurement instruments, and the steppers used in the photolithographysteps of semiconductor fabrication, of which it is the world's second largest manufacturer.[2]The companies held by Nikon form the Nikon Group.[3] Among its products are Nikkorimaging lenses (for F-mount cameras, large format photography, photographic enlargers, and other applications), the Nikon F-series of 135 film SLR cameras, the Nikon D-series of digital SLR cameras, the Coolpix series of compact digital cameras, and the Nikonos series of underwater film cameras. Nikon's main competitors in camera and lens manufacturing includeCanon, Casio, Kodak, Sony, Pentax, Panasonic, Fujifilm and Olympus.Founded in 25 July 1917 as Nippon Kōgaku Kōgyō Kabushikigaisha (日本光学工業株式会社 "Japan Optical Industries Corporation"), the company was renamed Nikon Corporation, after its cameras, in 1988. Nikon is one of the companies of the Mitsubishi Group.
Nikon Corporation was established in 25 July 1917 when three leading optical manufacturers merged to form a comprehensive, fully integrated optical company known as Nippon Kōgaku Tōkyō K.K. Over the next sixty years, this growing company became a manufacturer of optical lenses (including those for the first Canon cameras) and equipment used in cameras, binoculars, microscopes and inspection equipment. During World War II the company grew to nineteen factories and 23,000 employees, supplying items such as binoculars, lenses, bomb sights, and periscopes to the Japanese military.
[edit]Reception outside Japan
After the war Nippon Kōgaku reverted to producing its civilian product range in a single factory. In 1948, the first Nikon-branded camera was released, the Nikon I.[5] Nikon lenses were popularised by the American photojournalist David Douglas Duncan's use at the time of theKorean War. Duncan, who was working in Tokyo when the Korean War began, met a young Japanese photographer, Jun Miki, who introduced Duncan to Nikon lenses. From July 1950 to January 1951, Duncan covered the Korean War.[6] Fitting Nikon optics to his Leicarangefinder cameras produced high contrast negatives with very sharp resolution at the centre field
Founded in 1917 as Nippon Kōgaku Kōgyō Kabushikigaisha (日本光学工業株式会社 "Japan Optical Industries Corporation"), the company was renamed Nikon Corporation, after its cameras, in 1988. The name Nikon, which dates from 1946, is a merging of Nippon Kōgaku (日本光学: "Japan Optical") and an imitation of Zeiss's brand Ikon. This would cause some early problems in Germany though as Zeiss complained that Nikon violated its trademarked camera, the "Ikon" and so from 1963 to 1968 Nikon F's in particular were labeled as 'Nikkor'.[8]
The Nikkor brand was introduced in 1932, a Westernized rendering of an earlier version Nikkō (日光), an abbreviation of the company's original full name[9] (Nikkō coincidentally means "sunlight" and is the name of a Japanese town.).
Another early brand, used on microscopes, was Joico[10], an abbreviation of "Japan Optical Industries Co"[citation needed].
Nikon is pronounced differently around the world. The Japanese pronunciation is [nikoɴ]; the British pronunciation /ˈnɪkɒn/; the North American pronunciation is /ˈnaɪkɒn/.
