As World War II came to a close, optical companies shifted their focus from the development of optical weapons employing optical technology to the creation of products for everyday life. Nippon Kogaku K.K., one of the largest companies in the industry, decided to concentrate on the manufacturing of cameras.

At the same time, it began re-manufacturing lenses for 35mm(135) format cameras.
These lenses were made to be mounted on Leica cameras, and even though materials to make the glass were in short supply, the assembly line moved fairly steadily and the lens lineup had been broadened.

Nippon Kogaku had been supplying other companies with main camera units.
However, since they were attempting for the first time to manufacture a product they'd made themselves, it was difficult for them to decide what type of camera to make.
The TLR (twin lens reflex) camera was the first subject of serious study. The camera was an ambitious one, intended to be an "automat" (after loading the film, the user would be able to start shooting from the first frame by simply winding the knob). A limited number of samples were made and the camera was called "Nikoflex" (engraved in the body).
However, in order to build the lens shutter mechanism intended for use with this camera, the plant and equipment investment were apparently going to become costly.
In order to avoid this hassle, Nippon Kogaku decided instead to develop a 35mm-format camera incorporating a focal plane shutter.

They opted for the focal plane shutter over the lens shutter.
Instead of Contax's vertical-passing "metal folding curtain" shutter, they chose Leica's horizontal-passing "cloth curtain" shutter, as it offered more stable performance.
The shutter speed (high — low) dial was located on the same shaft — a very innovative design.

Following original Nippon Kogaku dynamics analysis, a miniature ball bearing was placed at an effective position in order to prevent the rear curtain from causing the front curtain shaft to curl.

The adoption of Swedish piano wire in making a shutter-driving spring and other material parts such as the shutter ribbon and shutter curtain was being investigated.
Though the body was made of aluminum (Al), it was quite heavy.
Back then, there were many camera diecasts resembling woven "nests", so they adopted a sand-molded type diecast, which resulted in a slightly thicker camera body.
The metering device had to be redesigned from scratch.
Elements such as a sample shutter, a system that measures the picture brightness and uses the data to adjust the shutter speed, and the use of a selenium and a galvanometer were all part of the new concept.
To supplement their own knowledge, Nippon Kogaku sought the advice of aircraft laboratories regarding lubricating oil, which supports durability, performance stability, and temperature resistance. Temperature experiments were performed repeatedly at such diverse locations as a meteorological observatory laboratory, the freezer at a fish market, and other industry's refrigerating facilities.
The achievement of smooth shutter movement, as well as results from other experiments would begin to appear during the latter portion of the Korean War.

The history of the first Nikon camera began with its development in 1945.
The camera was designed and samples were produced during the difficult times that immediately followed W.W. II.
During the process, many problems were encountered, and the skill required was somewhat higher than Nippon Kogaku had forecast.
Once they realized this, they stepped up their efforts to improve the camera and make adjustments in various areas, and finally released it in March of 1948.
Soon thereafter, the photofinishing laboratory ran into problems due to the modified picture size — the film was being cut in the middle.

To compensate, they returned to the seven perforation design, so that the picture would not automatically get cut in the middle.
At the same time, they worked on enlarging the picture width, but this all proved to be very difficult.
There was not enough room inside the shutter, so the frame was asymmetrically widened at first. This meant that the light beam from the lens and the center of the picture frame had shifted, just like the shifting control of the PC Nikkor lens, which came later.
As the shutter was improved, this "shifting" was later solved.
This 24 x 34 mm-format Nikon camera was called the Nikon M, and was released in October of 1949. (In order to distinguish between the very first Nikon camera and this later edition, many people refer to the original one as the "Nikon I [One]").

Nikon had created a camera that virtually ensured steady sales through improvements in film advancing, picture size, and other areas.

This camera, called the Nikon S, was released at the end of 1950.
Nikon's popularity spread even further, and production started to increase.
Regarding Nikkor lenses, which I earlier acknowledged are deserving of credit for kicking off the "Nikon legend"... the base of the S-type lens was established during the 6FB era.

There were many interchangeable lenses released, like the hi-speed 5 cm f/1.4 lens, the 2.8 cm f/3.5 wideangle lens, and the 25 cm f/4 telephoto lens for reflex box (an accessory which converted a direct-view viewfinder camera to an SLR camera).
These were being used at different shooting locations and performed at high levels.
The Nikon S, which was based on the Nikon I, underwent no further improvements itself.
Although it was still popular, its lower magnification ratio of 0.6 x, excessive weight and a form that caused difficulties in mass production were addressed during the design of its successor, the Nikon S2 (refer to Vol. 8).

Nikon's future course set by its first endeavor

The founding Nikon camera (Nikon I) was designed while Nippon Kogaku was busy studying German cameras, trying to learn as much as they could.
Therefore, as with many other cameras made in Japan, there is a heavy German influence. While other manufacturers were busy simply copying Leica cameras, though, Nippon Kogaku showed its courage and superior capabilities by achieving improvements in operational ease and basic performance.
They also applied the optical knowledge and engineering skills acquired during their experience with high-precision optical machines to the development of cameras and lenses.
Nippon Kogaku has performed countless experiments, and we have seen an incredible number of improvements born of those efforts.
This could possibly be linked to the earnest attitude seen in Japanese camera manufacturers following W.W. II.
However, Nippon Kogaku's camera developmental style did not display the dexterity that might be expected from a Japanese company.
They were more "argumentative", and at the same time they were "optimistic" — decidedly "un-Japanese" traits.
Traits which defined the camera's character, and can still be seen even in the modern-day Nikon F5.
The corporate personality of Nikon appearing clearly in its cameras is a characteristic that began to emerge during the development of the very first Nikon camera.

Note

This issue first appeared in "Nikkor Club Quarterly" magazine , published by the Nikkor Club, and was revised for Nikon's webpage.
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