Nikon I

OBJECT TYPE: Camera
MANUFACTURER: Nippon Kogaku Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
DESIGNER: Fuketa, Masahiko
NATIONALITY: Japanese
PLACE MANUFACTURED: Japan, Tokyo
INTRODUCTION DATE: September 1946
PRODUCTION DATES: 1948-1949
FILM TYPE: 35mm rollfilm
IMAGE SIZE: 24 x 32 mm.
APPROXIMATE MANUFACTURED QUANTITY: 750
SERIAL NUMBER RANGE: 609001-609758
FUNCTIONAL TYPE: 35mm rangefinder
STANDARD LENSES/SHUTTERS:
  50mm f/3.5 Nikkor
  50mm f/2.0 Nikkor

NOTES:
  Nikon's first camera. Basically a Contax II with a Leica shutter.
  Used non-standard 24 x 32 which Nippon Kogaku called Nikon format.
  The format closely fit the aspect ratio of printing papers and allowed
  for 40 frames per roll. Export of cameras using this format was
  banned as it was not an accepted standard outside of Japan, perhaps
  in response to a protest from Eastman Kodak about compatility with
  standard slide mounts. The format was changed in 1949 to 24 x 34mm
  with the introduction of the Nikon M and to the 'standard' 24 x 36mm
  with the introduction of the Nikon S in 1951.
  Camera serial numbers used 8 digits, beginning with 609xxxxx. The 609
  stands for the year and month of the beginning of production (or
  production planning) which was September 1946. Nikon also had the
  foresight to set aside serial number blocks for future models:
  62xxxxx for S-2; 63xxxxx for S-3; 64xxxxx for F; 65xxxxx for S-4; and
  66xxxxx for S-3M (half frame).

OBJECT IDENTIFIER: N719.00002
VIDEODISC 1, FRAME NUMBER: 118

BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES:
Hasbroeck, Paul-Henry van. --150 Classic Cameras: From 1839 to the Present.-- London: Sotheby's Publications, 1989. pp 157.//
McKeown, Jim & McKeown, Joan. --Price Guide to Antique & Classic Cameras: 1992-1993.-- Grantsburg, WI: Centennial Photo, 1992.//