Electronics

Nikon cameras achieved such success through the years that the company adopted the brand name as the name for the entire company. Nippon Kogaku K.K., formed in Japan in 1917, started by making optical equipment, binoculars and microscopes; their camera lenses came about in the 1930s. The first Nikon camera was marketed in 1946.

They marketed their first SLR (single lens reflex) camera, now the professional standard, in 1959. Their optical equipment is in telescopes around the world and in 1980 NASA put them on the space shuttle. In 1988 the entire company became Nikon. With the introduction of the Nikon Coolpix cameras in 1997, Nikon joined the market for digital cameras.

Nikon cameras run the entire range of cameras, from inexpensive point-and-shoot cameras to highly capable digital SLRs. The advantage of the SLR is that the image you see in the viewfinder is the image taken on the sensor–rather than having the viewfinder off to the side. The Nikon D70 digital cameras are Nikons most affordable D-SLRs.

Choosing between Nikon Cameras
You should judge Nikon cameras on their lenses, sensor sizes, and pixel counts. These are the basic elements that determine performance. There are other factors involved but for the average user these are the most important. Nikon also uses the inexpensive CompactFlash memory cards for their picture storage medium.