The NIKKOR brand
NIKKOR is Nikon's brand of photographic lenses. The NIKKOR name arose from taking "Nikko", the Romanized abbreviation for Nippon Kogaku K.K., Nikon’s original name from when the company was first established, and adding "r"—a common practice in the naming of photographic lenses at the time. The NIKKOR trademark was registered in 1932, and in 1933, the large-format lens for aerial photography was introduced with the name Aero-Nikkor.
In 1959, Nikon released the Nikon F SLR camera, as well as the first NIKKOR lenses for Nikon SLR cameras, including the NIKKOR-S Auto 5cm f/2.
Currently, Nikon offers NIKKOR F lenses for digital SLR cameras, and NIKKOR Z lenses for mirrorless cameras. The total lineup currently consists of approximately 100 types of lenses that supports a wide variety of applications, including fixed focal length (prime) lenses and zoom lenses that cover ultra-wide-angle to super-telephoto angles of view, fisheye lenses, and Micro lenses.
NIKKOR F lenses, since its initial introduction in 1959, have throughout its legacy of more than half a century, incorporated the cutting-edge technologies of the time. This includes features such as aperture control, autofocus, and vibration reduction (VR). The latest NIKKOR Z lenses are lenses for Nikon mirrorless cameras in which a new, larger-diameter mount has been adopted. Further possibilities in lens design have been unlocked with the adoption of the new, larger-diameter mount, greatly increasing capabilities in optical performance. It has allowed Nikon to offer a variety of high-performance lenses, including the fastest lens in Nikon history2, with f/0.95.
From the initial design and development to the production and final inspection, the entire process leading to the release of a NIKKOR lens is managed in accordance with Nikon's own strict quality standards, which enables high-quality NIKKOR lenses.
1Total number of interchangeable lenses for SLR and mirrorless cameras produced by Nikon
2Among interchangeable lenses for Nikon cameras