Nikon Corporation is a Japanese company specializing in the manufacture of optical and electronic devices for image processing. Nikon photographic equipment has won the love of users worldwide, both professional photographers and “green” beginners.

The company named Nippon Kogaku KK was founded in July 25, 1917 through the merger of three companies - Tokyo Keiki Seisaku-sho's Optical Division, Iwaki Glass Seisaku-sho and Fujii Lens Seizo-sho. At that time Nippon Kogaku’s main business was manufacturing of a variety of optical facilities from telescopes and binoculars to complex periscopes for the Japanese naval forces, and that fact most likely contributed to the formation of the values and reputation of the company noted for uncompromising reliability of its products and reasonable conservatism.

In 1931 Nippon Kogaku initiated the first civilian product – the 120mm f/4.5 Anytar lens for conventional cameras. In 1932 the brand Nikkor was offered, under which the lenses have been produced up to nowadays. For several years the company has managed to create a wide range of lenses with focal lengths from 50 to 700 mm.

During the Second World War the company was loaded with military orders from the Japanese army. In 1945 out of 19 plants that Nippon Kogaku had had before the war, remained only one, the number of employees reduced from 23 thousand up to 1.5 thousand. The company faced the task of urgent demilitarization of products’ range. It began to produce microscopes, levels, telescopes, and the like.

In 1946 Nippon Kogaku came out to the film camera market with a new camera, which was given a symbolic name Nikon. Nikon is a derivative of the company’s name, which was preferred as pleasant to the ear and easy to be pronounced both by Japanese and foreigners.

In the periods to follow Nipon Kogaku has been mastering new areas of optical and electronic devices. In 1959 the company released its first single-lens reflex (SLR) camera Nikon F, that permitted a photographer to see precisely what would be captured. This camera was equipped with interchangeable viewfinders, a good focusing screen and a powerful motor for automatic film advance. In the period from 1959 to 1974 there were produced more than 1 million pieces of this model and the name of Nikon entered the world of professional photography, having ensured a standard of reliability and precision.

Over the time digital cameras replaced film ones and since 2006 the company has almost completely stopped production of film cameras, focusing on the manufacturing of digital photography.

Nikon brand was becoming more and more popular, eclipsing gradually the name of the company. In 1988 Nippon Kogaku officially changed its name to Nikon.

Nikon Corporation is now a part of the Mitsubishi empire. The corporation has three major divisions: Precision Equipment Company responsible for the production of precision instruments for science and medicine; Instruments Company involved in manufacture of microscopes, telescopes, binoculars, various optical measuring devices and Imaging Company engaged in everything related to image. The Corporation is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.