Japan · 9 lenses

Nikon (Nippon Kogaku)

Nikon began in 1917 as Nippon Kōgaku, and its lenses have carried the Nikkor name since 1932. The F mount arrived on the Nikon F in 1959, a three-lug bayonet with a 44mm throat, and Nikon kept it through its film and digital SLRs up to the D6. Manual-focus Nikkors come in generations. The first Auto Nikkors, now called pre-AI or non-AI, coupled to the meter with a prong on the aperture ring and were all single-coated. AI lenses from 1977 added a ridge on the aperture ring that tells the body the f-stop, and AI-S lenses from 1981 standardized the aperture's travel for shutter-priority and program cameras. Pre-AI lenses can damage many later bodies unless they've been converted to AI, and Nikon's own Z adapter won't take them, so the version matters even on a mirrorless camera.