Some interesting links(random listing of links on the net, without ratings; please report dead links)
Nikon Professional Service Nikon products were first imported into the United States of America - just after W.W. II - by the Overseas Finance & Trading Company (OFTC) in San Francisco. In 1950 Mr. Al Levin (1919-1999) became their Nikon sales- and serviceman for all States! In 1954 Ehrenreich Photo-Optical Industries (EPOI) took over the import of Nikon products. Al Levin moved from OFTC to EPOI and started in 1954 a technical service for professional photographers. Nikon Professional Service was born! Currently NPS is a membership organization through which Nikon Corporation offers support and services to professional photographers throughout the world (approx. 30 countries). As per November 9, 2010 Nikon Corporation launched a special NPS Global website. Contact: Nikon Professional Service
Nikkor Club The oldest club of Nikon enthusiasts was founded in 1952 by Mr. Masao Nagaoka (1897-1974), in those days president of Nippon Kogaku K.K. (alias Nikon Corporation). Membership is open to everybody, also foreigners, either photographers or collectors. For some of them there might be a minor problem: all publications are in Japanese only! The club organizes various activities, including an annual contest. Contact: Nikkor Club
Nikon Historical Society Founded by a Chicago pharmacist, Robert Rotoloni in 1983, this club has a few hundred members all over the world. Bob Rotoloni, author of many books on Nikon rangefinder cameras, is - more or less - the chairman of the club, although there are no statutes, no official board etc. Membership is open to everybody. Four times a year Bob produces a Journal (in English) and every two years somewhere in the world (not necessarily in the USA) a convention is organized. The NHS-forum is an interesting meeting place for those that are interested in old Nikon gear (Nikon rangefinder & Nikon F in particular). Contact: Nikon Historical Society Linked to the NHS-site is a very interesting site, maintained by a Norwegian photographer, Jarle Aarland. His forum is a must for collectors of early Nikon digital equipment, including cameras and related products made by Kodak, Fuji and others.
Nikon Kenkyukai Tokyo (Nikon Society Tokyo) This club with mainly Japanese enthusiasts resides every month in Tokyo to discuss rare & special Nikon gear. Via their site or monthly reports (in English) via the NHS-site the rest of the world may enjoy their discoveries. Contact: Nikon Society Tokyo
Nikonlinks NHS-member Don Ferrario (USA) started in 2000 a web site with links to a great variety of sites of people that published something about Nikon on the net. You may find reviews, introductions, tests, internet shops and everything else related to Nikon photography and collecting. From July 2004 untill December 2011 Edwin Leong (Vancouver, Canada) took care of the site. In December 2011 long-time Nikon fan and web designer Chris Midyet (Denver Colorado, USA) has taken over the best site to start a search for Nikon information. Contact: Nikonlinks
Nikon Lenses Those who are looking for technical specifications and/or serial numbers of Nikkor lenses should visit the web site of Roland Vink, staff member of the University of Auckland, New Zealand. This gentleman has set up an enormous and very reliable source of all Nikkors - for all Nikon SLR cameras (film, APS and digital) - ever produced!. He only publishes data of lenses he has seen personally! Contact: Nikon lenses
Nikon Catalogus This bilingual (Dutch - English) web site was set up by the Dutch Nikon collector & publicist Hans Braakhuis. His site is particularly interesting for collectors of Nikon binoculars and of publications on Nikon. He also published some books himself with enumerations of (almost) everything Nikon produced. These books, called Nikon Catalogus, are in Dutch only. Finally he published unique manuscripts on the history of the optical industry in general and Nikon´s history in particular. Contact: Nikon catalogus
Nikon Corporation Nikon´s headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, started a few years ago a web site for information to investors (financial reports, etc.), photographers (camera and lens introductions) and collectors (product information). Some employees are digging into Nikon´s history and are publishing (in Japanese and English) interesting stories about rare, old and new Nikon products. Nikon´s headquarters, however, are not accessible for foreigners. Not even a foreign press desk has been set up. Conform to Japanese communication culture e-mails, letters and calls are not answered. Their webmaster may direct you to official Nikon representations somewhere else in the world! Note: Information and/or announcements of new products on the site of Nikon Japan may differ from the announcements on sites of Nikon Europe and/or Nikon USA!! Contact: Nikon Corporation
Nikonians This ´Nikon users club´ was founded by Bo Stahlbrandt (Sweden) and José Ramón Palacios (Mexico) in 2000. These two Nikon enthusiasts and amateur photographers, met in 1999 and decided to set up a site for all those that are interested in Nikon nowadays photography. Many information and subjective reviews and a lively forum. Contact: Nikonians
Nikon Photography This is actually not an official title of the web site of Leonard Foo (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), a very active and well-known IT-expert. This beautiful web site was set up in 1998 and is still extended. It gives a very nice overview of nearly all Nikon products (and some other brands). Assisted by Nikon enthusiasts form all over the world (including Nico van Dijk) Mr. Foo created the most attractive Nikon web site one can find on the net. Contact: Nikon Photography
Apphotnum This strange name stands for APPareils PHOTo NUMériques, in English: digital photo cameras. This bilingual (French + English) site was set up in 1997 for amateur photographers by Pierre Jarleton. In France a Nikon Club never made it, there was a small group within the Mitsubishi club and Nikon France founded a ´Nikonists´ club. The Apphotnum site however gives a very nice pictorial overview of all cameras (not only digital) Nikon ever made. Contact: Apphotnum
Nikon clubs around the world. In many countries around the world clubs of Nikon enthusiasts and/or photographers exist. Some were founded by photographers and/or collectors, some by local Nikon representatives. Not all are represented on the internet, some are a branch of a larger collector´s or photographer´s club. Via nikonlinks (mentioned above) a club or group in or near your region or country may be found. If, for whatever reason, you think your club should be mentioned here, please contact the webmaster. Nikon collectors A lot of collectors have set up web sites to present their collection of and/or their experience with Nikon products. It is impossible to list them all. Via the sites of the Nikon Historical Society and Nikonlinks many collector´s sites can be traced. The Nikon Catalogus is a good source for publications on Nikon products. Nikon publicists Many amateur and professional photographers and camera dealers have published various books, magazines and texts on the net and in print. They show us what they think of certain Nikon products or show us what they were able to do with those products. It is impossible to list all those people here; again via Nikonlinks one may find a review or information about a certain item or of a certain person. Via the Nikon Catalogus a long list of publications (in various languages) has been published. ======== |