A look back at Nikon history

Japanese industry benefitted hugely from allied financial assistance immediately after WWII. Companies there tended to imitate western designs rather than innovate and Nikon, who until this time, were engaged solely in lens manufacture, copied the body shape of the Zeiss Contax rangefinder camera, incorporating its best features along with the rangefinder and focal plane shutter of the Leica IIIc & f for their entry to the 35mm rangefinder market. Success for both the name of the company and its products was assured by two American photojournalists working for LIFE magazine in a story reported by Jacob Deschin writing in the New York Times of 10th December 1950. Almost overnight Nikon became a household word in photographic circles. Today, Nikon continues to manufacture superbly designed and engineered cameras and lenses for professionals and hobbyists, its products reknowned for their performance and durability in tough working environments.
Read more about Nikon history at :www.ajaxnetphoto.blogspot.com

It is probably fair to say that Nikon still maintains the top notch in the world media equipment stakes. One of the reasons for this is that the larger news agencies and many provincial and national newspaper groups have invested huge sums of money into Nikon equipment over the years. Many freelances are committed for similar reasons. Switching allegiance would cost most an arm and a leg. Consequently, there are hundreds of middle aged paunchy hacks who still carry an F2 as backup and thousands more for whom it is the corepiece of an impressive armoury of lenses.
The F2 was not the last of Nikon's all metal cameras - the compact FM2 continues to carry the flame for the company - nor, contrary to legend, was it the most produced slr from Nikon; the F still holds that distinction. The F2 does however, have a certain timeless aesthetic appeal which its predecessor and the later F3 lack, and of course, it was the last purely mechanical camera having the option of removeable metering and non metering heads.
Read more of the F2 review at :www.ajaxnetphoto.blogspot.com