Nikon is a company that specializes in cameras, optical equipment, scanners and microscopes. Known mainly for its consumer optical products, Nikon competes with Canon and Dutch company ASML Holding to be the world's number one maker of photolithography steppers, which are used in the manufacture of semiconductor wafers and LCD screens. Some of the less known product lines of the company include eyewear, surveying instruments and industrial equipment. Founded in 1917, Nikon is a member of the big Mitsubidhi keiretsu group of businesses, which are aligned through cross-ownership.http://www.hoovers.com/company/Nikon_Corporation/hrkcti-1.html

Nikon was instrumental in making 35mm single-lens reflex camera predominant in the market. The Nikon F model, which was released in 1959, became synonymous with "rugged" camera and was for a period of time the camera of choice for photojournalists. Nikon backward and forward compatibility is known in the photography world. Some lenses from 1959 still fit Nikon cameras today, and vice-versa.http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10835599/ In September 2010, Nikon D7000 became the first digital SLR with 1080p HD recording.http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=123884

Nikon was born in 1917 when three of Japan's top optical manufacturers merged into a comprehensive optical company, Nippon Kogaku KK. Optical glass, ultra-small-prism binoculars and microscopes were some of the early products of the new company. The Nikon 1 small camera was released in 1948. Eleven years later, the first Nikon SLR camera followed suit. Nikon entered the space age when NASA installed Nikon cameras on Apollo missions. The Nikon COOLPIX 100 digital camera was launched in 1997.http://www.nikon.com/about/info/history/corporate/index.htm Less than a decade later, Nikon announced that it was gradually discontinuing its production of film cameras.http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10835599/