Nikon / Canon | cameracollection

Nikon

Nikon Corporation was established on 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.

The Nikon S2 is the Japanese company’s best-selling, and most-produced rangefinder camera with approximately 56,000 pieces rolling out of the factory since its inception in 1955. The S2 succeeded the Nikon S, which was fundamentally built upon the early Contax rangefinder cameras, so much so that even the lens mounts between the two systems are the same.

Like most rangefinder cameras built during that era, the Nikon S2 has a solid heft to it, and you could tell that an amazing effort was put into making the S2 a “tank”. It has an almost full-metal construction, save for the use of plastic for some components such as the skin of the camera.

The Nikkormat FT was an all-metal, mechanically (springs, gears, levers) controlled, manual focus SLR with match-needle exposure control, manufactured in Japan from 1965 to 1967. It was available in two colors: black with chrome trim and all black. The unmetered version was designated "Nikkormat FS."

The FT had dimensions of 95 mm height, 146 mm width, 54 mm depth and 745 g weight. This was larger and heavier than most competing amateur level SLRs of the mid-1960s, such as the Asahi (Honeywell in the USA) Pentax Spotmatic of 1964, but the quality of the internal components gave the FT an amazing strength and durability.

The FT used a metal-bladed, vertical travel, focal plane shutter with a speed range of 1 to 1/1000 second plus Bulb and flash X-sync of 1/125th second. The Nikkormat F-series had a shutter speed ring concentric with the lens mount, unlike Nippon Kogaku's other manual focus SLRs with a top mounted shutter speed dial.

The Nikon F2 is an all-metal, mechanically-controlled (springs, gears, levers), manual focus SLR with manual exposure control. The camera itself needed no batteries, though the prism light meter did (and of course the motor drive). The F2 replaced the Nikon F, adding many new features (a faster 1/2000 second maximum shutter speed, a swing open back for easier film loading, a wider assortment of detachable finders and metering heads, a 250 exposure film back, a larger reflex mirror to ensure no vignetting, and a shutter release nearer the front of the camera for better ergonomics). It also offered a detachable motor drive, something the F only had as a custom modification. It was the last all-mechanical professional-level Nikon SLR.

They were built from 1971 until 1980.

Nikon FE this camera were intended to provide a more reasonably priced alternative to Nikon's professional F-series cameras, which at the time was the Nikon S2, despite the lower price-point they continued Nikon's reputation for high-quality construction, impressive durability and measured technical innovation. 1978 until 1993.

The Nikon F4 introduced many Nikon owners to autofocus (as well as focus tracking), and was the first professional Nikon to utilize a vertical-travel metal-blade shutter (with shutter balancer to minimize noise and camera bounce). As a fully electronic camera with motorized film transport (up to 5.7 frames per second), it required one of three available bottom-mounted battery packs to operate, using standard AA or rechargeable cells. For the first time on a Nikon SLR, two of those battery packs also offered an additional vertical shutter release button and grip for using the camera vertically.

Its controls were transitional between those of mechanical SLRs and future professional film and digital SLRs: the F4's electronics, LCD viewfinder display, autofocus, programmed auto-exposure, and matrix meter looked to the future, but it also retained classic dedicated analog dials for shutter speed, lens aperture, metering pattern, and exposure compensation.

The F4 was the first Nikon F-series camera to lack a manual film-advance lever, though it offered both motor-driven and manual film rewinding. Like previous F-series cameras, the F4 featured a high degree of customization to specific tasks, with various remote controls, film backs, and viewfinders available. While it was a complex camera with over 1700 parts, the F4's high-quality mechanical and electronic components, as well as weather sealing and tough construction, made for a reliable and long-lived professional SLR.

This rewind stop back will fit all models of the Nikon F3. The MF-6B is meant to be fitted on a Nikon F3P. It has an extra film pressure roll. Both the MF-6 and the MF-6B prevent a film to be rewind into the film cassette.

The Nikon F-801 (sold as the N8008 in the US market) is a 35mm SLR of the late 1980s, and one of the first Nikon cameras with autofocus. Although its autofocus mechanism is slow in comparison to modern standards, it was an improvement on Nikon's first attempt at an autofocus SLR - the F-501 (N2020 in North America), and proved to be typically Nikon in its reliability and durability.

Despite being designated in the number range usually reserved for amateur cameras (indicated by the F- or N prefix), the F-801 was built to a high standard and incorporated a number of 'professional' features:

A Depth of Field preview button allows temporary stopping down to the shooting aperture to check DOF.
A Multiple Exposure facility allows up to nine shots within one frame.
A unique 'two shot' self-timer. This allowed a second shot to be taken by the self-timer a couple of seconds after the first, giving a more 'relaxed' and unposed picture.
Fully programmed automatic exposure, Aperture priority, Shutter priority and fully manual exposure control.
30-second to 1/8000-second shutter speed range with bulb mode.
Film-speed setting from DX code or by manual override (ISO 6 to 6400).
1/250-sec. flash synchronisation.
Evaluative 2D Matrix and 75% Centre-Weighted Average metering modes.
Compatibility with the Nikon Multi-Control Back MF-21, allowing freeze-focus, data imprinting, and automatic exposure bracketing.

The Nikon F90 (known as the N90 in the United States) is a 35mm SLR camera manufactured between 1992 and 2001 and replaced the earlier Nikon F801 (N8008 in the U.S.). At the time of its release it was noted for its fast autofocus speed compared to previous Nikon models, which had lagged behind competitor Canon's. It was thus seen by many as a 'stop-gap' measure to prevent the mass migration of many Nikon-using professional photographers to Canon, as Nikon's next fully professional camera, the F5, was some time away from release. The Nikon F4, the professional model available at the time of the F90's release, had very slow autofocus compared to Canon's autofocus SLRs.

The Nikon F90's autofocus system was driven by a small 'peanut' motor in the camera body that drove the lens via a mechanical link, unlike Canon's autofocus system, which used motors built into each lens. It was also the first Nikon SLR to incorporate with the first generation of Nikkor lenses featuring internal focusing motor.

Despite not being intended for the professional market, the Nikon F90 and its upgrade, the F90x, were built to a high standard and were (and are still) used by many professionals.

However, many F90 and F90x's had problems with the rubberized back, where the rubberized coating would start peeling or turn into a sticky mess.^[1] The rubber around the grip and other parts were not affected. This did not affect the functionality of the back but was a nuisance to users. The rubberised coating can however be removed (Once the door has been unclipped and safely removed from the camera body) by rubbing gently with a microfibre towel or similar soaked in plenty of Isopropyl Alcohol. This procedure will remove the rubberised top coating without affecting the surface finish of the underlying plastic or the clear film viewing window. The white printed "Vari Program" icons will remain unaffected also. The end result is a hard semi-gloss finish the same as the camera's top plate.

The Canon AT-1 is a 35mm FD-mount single-lens reflex camera manufactured by Canon of Japan from December 1976. It was produced purely for export and was never sold in the home Japanese market. It was a version of the popular AE-1 but without the shutter-speed priority auto-exposure mode of that camera. The AT-1 featured manual exposure only. This made the camera cheaper, as some consumers did not desire or require autoexposure and did not want to pay for it.

A light meter was included, featuring TTL center-weighted average metering with a CdS photocell, and a match needle in the viewfinder.

The accessories produced for the AE-1 also worked for the AT-1, including motor drives.

The Canon A-1 is an advanced level single-lens reflex (SLR) 35 mm film camera for use with interchangeable lenses. It was manufactured by Canon Camera K. K. (today Canon Incorporated) in Japan from April 1978 to 1985. It employs a horizontal cloth-curtain focal-plane shutter with a speed range of 30 to 1/1000 second plus bulb and flash synchronization speed of 1/60 second. It has dimensions of 92 millimetres (3.6 in) height, 141 millimetres (5.6 in) width, 48 millimetres (1.9 in) depth and 620 grams (22 oz) weight. Unlike most SLRs of the time, it was available in only one color; all black. The introductory US list price for the body plus Canon FD 50 mm f/1.4 SSC lens was $625. While the list price was $625, the camera was generally sold with a 30–40% discount (roughly $375 to $435).

The A-1 is a historically significant camera. It was the first SLR to offer an electronically controlled programmed autoexposure mode. Instead of the photographer picking a shutter speed to freeze or blur motion and choosing a lens aperture f-stop to control depth of field (focus), the A-1 has a microprocessor programmed to automatically select a compromise exposure based on light meter input. Virtually all cameras today have at least one program mode.

The Canon EOS 650 is a 35 mm single-lens reflex camera. It was introduced on 2 March 1987,^[1] Canon's 50th anniversary,^[2] and discontinued in February 1989.^[3] It was the first camera in Canon's new EOS series, which was designed from scratch to support autofocus lenses. The EOS system featured the new EF lens mount, which used electrical signals to communicate between the camera and the lens.^[4] Focusing and aperture control were performed by electric motors mounted in the lens body. The EF mount is still used on Canon SLRs, including digital models. Canon's previous FD mount lenses are incompatible with EOS bodies.

Canon's first EOS camera had the latest technologies, including a microprocessor and a Canon-developed BASIS sensor for high-precision AF. Canon claimed incomparable autofocusing for the EOS 650. A range of high-precision Ultrasonic Motor (USM) EF autofocus lenses were also developed successfully for the 650.

Back To Fleming Photographic

Inexpensive, tough professional manual-focus, auto- and manual-exposure Nikon for use with manual and most AF lenses. Great for long automatic night exposures many minutes long. The F3 works with many bizarre finders and focus screens, April 12 1981, Space Shuttle Columbia left for the heavens on its maiden flight STS-1. This was the first flight of the Shuttle Program and thus the first use of a re-useable space transportation system. Though more importantly, stowed away in it cargo was the first Nikon F3 to go into space. Although still reasonably modified to meet NASA’s strict standards it was developed concurrently with the consumer model which was released only a few months previous. Two F3 variants were produced for NASA. The F3 small camera as seen above and the F3 big camera which incorporated a special version of the 250 frame bulk film back.