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80 Comments
ohh… that makes sense now. It says Nippon Kogaku on the top of my Nikon SP
Why is it that Japan is called Japan if it is called Nippon in Japanese?
Why is Deutschland Germany? Why is Nederland, Netherlands?
Why is Spain Espania? Etc…
it is simply because nipon means 日本, origin of the sun …
… but the real thing is: 工学 (kogaku) does not mean optical – it means technology
kogaku not only means “工学”(technology) but “光学”(optics).
Japanese has lots of homonym, just like most Far-east languages.
I believe it’s also a play on the Zeiss Ikon brand…
Yes. In fact the names are so close that Nikon couldn’t sell a “Nikon” camera in certain markets, and sold the “Nikkormat” instead.
There was also a general trend of cameras with the sound “ca” in their name: Ikon, Nikon, Leica, Yashica, Bronica, Canon, Contax, etc. The “ca” is of course short for “camera.”
Finally, the name “Nikkor” oddly derives from the full name Nippon Kogagu KK, where KK is the type of corporation.
The Nikkormat name was to distinguish the non-professional Nikon line from their professional “F” series cameras. It’s like the Dino 246, which was made by Ferrari, but does not have the Ferrari badge as at one time only 12 cylinder cars were true Ferraris. However, like everything else, someone with a brain figured out that if they would drop the pretentiousness and name all of their cameras “Nikon” (pronounced Nee-kon with a long “O” sound in Japan), they would sell more cameras.
Nope.
Nikon is just a short way to say Nippon Kogaku
The full name should be 日本光学工業株式会社
日本=Japan（Sound：Nippon）
光学=Optical （Sound：Kogaku）
工業=Industries （Sound：Kogyo）
株式会社=Limited Company （Sound Kabushikigaisha）
Short Form 日光 （Japan Optical，日=Ni, stands for Japan, kon=光，stands for Optical，then we got Nikon）
There are many short forms of names like this in Japan and China, since both language shares broad similarities. It does not play anything, but just makes it easier to say in daily life.
Wow isn’t this a cool post!
Lol!
I think nothing else to post ^^
Let’s see your blog, Cesar..
I didn’t know that!
Kogaku? hard to pronounce… switching to Canon
hahahaha!!!
+1
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
LMAO
hahahah good one!
And is Cannon any better? Once upon a time they were known as “Kwanon”, named after the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy who has 1000 arms.
1000 arms?
Was that an early attempt at image stabilisation with long lenses?
Kwanon? hard to pronounce… switching to Sony
Nope, not funny.
+100
Woaow… I thought Kwanon was a Barbarian played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the early eighties…
Haha now that’s funny.
hahahaha canon wasnt so good neither
especially that japaneese has much harder pronounciation than english http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/1934kwanon.png
hahaha
Is this a rumor? lulz
A rumor?
Like a rumored D800?
Say it ain’t so!!!
Nice, but what about D800?!?
No. You’re wrong.
Nikon was merged by 2 companies.
1st is ‘Nippon Kogaku (Japanese Optical) you know,
and 2nd is ‘IKON Camera’ that was in Germany.
No, you are wrong. Nippon Kogaku and IKON did not merge.
…not very sexy…
Why dont you Nippon it in the bunghole and give us the D800!
Then the name should be ‘NIKO’ (NIppon KOgaku)
It is – Nikkor (which makes it hyphonetically correct, if that’s actually a word)
“The name Nikon, which dates from 1946, is a merging of Nippon Kōgaku ( “Japan Optical”) and an imitation of Zeiss’s brand Ikon. This would cause some early problems in Germany though as Zeiss complained that Nikon violated its trademarked camera, the “Ikon” and so from 1963 to 1968 Nikon F’s in particular were labeled as ‘Nikkor’ “
So any important news about the D400/D800 or are we expecting to read this kind of boring news/post here for the rest of 2011 ?
isn’t Nikkor the name of Nikon lenses?
Yes, and as stated it was also used on some F cameras
Check this photo
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ZC4MK8NFL._SS500_.jpg
Rumours are pretty slow, eh?
zzzZZZZzzz D800/D4?…. please please dont become another irrelevant site NR.. where are the good stuff?
So… seems to be nearest a NIKON D800…
Tired of waiting on the D800? Join us on Facebook -> http://www.facebook.com/groups/241211695916921/
I’m guessing it will be Nikkor D4/D800. :p
educational … will probly forget about it in a week
Najpon Conegaku?!
But remember that it is pronounced “Knee-cone”
no it’s not. but it’s not pronounced “nigh carn” either.
the problem is the american pronunciation of “O”, which in america is pronounced like a sheep with no B as in (b)aa.
there are no pirates in nikon and no ARRRRRRRRRRR.
Incorrect. I’ve spoken to Japanese folks about this, including people that work in the camera industry there. It’s pronounced with a “e” sound for the “i” in Japan. Nee-kon.
This post should clear further more about how to pronounce Nikon.
In Japanese and Chinese, sometimes, i is equivalent to the sound of “ee” in English,like “bee”, like Nee-pon for “Nippon” , which means Japan. Even in english, i is sometimes pronounced as the short form of “ee”,like “bit”.
um. i wasn’t talking about the “I”, i was talking about the “O”. I have talked to japanese people about this. I am married to one.
For the birds…
This must be what is called “a slow news day”. Stand by for a bulletin stating that the Sun always appears to rise in the East, although actually it’s an illusion caused by the Earth’s rotation on its axis.
Okay, Japanese Kogaku, now bring us D800.
Nothing new, every Nikon fan already know that.
But thank you to keep us busy until the 18th.
Didn’t it come from Nippon and Con ? Ni-Con but due to pronunciation issues they changed it Nikon.
My name is shortened from “Total Greatness”
Wow. I’m surprised no one got this right. It’s more of a play-on-words than “shortened.” NIKON comes from NIPPON KOGAKU and IKON but it doesn’t involve any German brands merging in any way, or anything like that.
Nippon Kogaku was formed in 1917 as a merge between two Japanese optical companies. In 1934, the name Nikkor was born to identify its lenses. They primarily manufactured glass elements for industrial use, mostly with the Japanese Army. Once that, erm, ended…they came out with a camera system that many of you know as the S-mount rangefinders. The first of which, was the NIKON 1. The NIKON was their first camera. From there, it was just updates…NIKON M, NIKON S, NIKON S2, NIKON S3, NIKON SP, NIKON S4…until we get to the NIKON F and we see a second line of cameras, as well as a NIKKOREX F! Which I don’t think was introduced until the early 60′s, I know the SP and F were manufactured at the same time but I believe that the SP had been stopped by the time Nippon Kogaku chose to focus their efforts on the F-mount line. The “Nippon Kogaku” logo disappeared from Nikon F cameras in the early 70′s…however, they kept the name NIPPON KOGAKU all the way until 1988 when they finally changed it to NIKON CORPORATION!
There ya go. That’s the truth.
Nippon Kōgaku Kōgyō Kabushikigaisha.
Nycon with Nick-or lenses.
Which is a good reminder that most of us pronounce “Nikon” incorrectly – it’s not Neye-kon, it’s Nee-kon.
Really? Everyone I know says Nee-kon (UK) is this a US thing?
Yep, every time americans say Nykon, it drives me crazy like WTF, u dont even know where nikon comes from.
u is spelled YOU and you forgot the apostrophe in DON’T.
Nycon
Nycon
Nycon
Nycon
Nycon
Nycon
Nycon
hlshcd
Posted November 10, 2011 at 8:01 pm | Permalink
Yep, every time americans say Nykon, it drives me crazy like WTF, u dont even know where nikon comes from.
And every time you brits say “Obomber” instead of “O-bom-a” it drives me crazy. So we’re even.
+100000
Yes it is. BFD.
Why is everyone so bent out of shape about this. Nikon’s own pronuciation in their own advertisment is Nycon.
Nikon was a camera brand, not the company’s name until later. It’s like Matsushita had several brands/lines of products, Panasonic, National, Technics, Sanyo … and finally settled on Panasonic as the company name.
So do Americans pronounce Nippon N-eye-pon?
No. There are two Ps in Nippon, which makes the O a short sound. In American English, typically, when faced with double consonants after a vowel, that vowel becomes short. Jesus Christ, what is so hard to understand? If Nikon thinks Americans are pronouncing it wrong, they should start saying it “correctly” in their own goddamn advertising. We’re just saying it as they say it here.
If all you part-time, misinformed grammar/pronunciation enthusiasts are going to hijack another thread with this faux controversy, I’m switching to Canon.
Rage all you want, but you’re still wrong.
It’s N-ee-kon, with the ee being a long “i”, but shorter than “ee”. Whatever your justification for your incorrecrt prononciations are, they’re wrong too. You can get the Pope on your side, or Obama, or aliens from Area 51.. You can get English grammar teachers, linguists, or professors. you’d still be wrong… What matters is how.. you know.. the people who invented the company (Japanese) say it, and they don’t say “N-eye-kon”
I know that doesn’t sound as “cool” to you yanks, but there you go.
1 TRILLION LIKES!!!!!
Neither is wrong. Both are correct.
Nypon, sounds like Bra or something very funny,lol
This was on a forum in DP Review on April 1 a year or two ago:
Nikon used the Kiritsu concept to get started as it wasn’t (and probably in legal terms like a lot of companies) is actually a collection of organizations.
In 1903, Damare Konoyarou, and optics grinder (everything was ground back then, not cast) from Ketsunoana emigrated to Tokyo and set up the factory that was soon to become the core of the company we know and love to-day. Obviously, the Russo-Japanese war kind of disrupted things, but from small acorns to mighty oaks grow.
Over the years, the firm began making optics for a variety of purposes from industry to medicine, and during Second World War, developed several optical sights including the famous Panopticon helmet, where soldiers could use a reflecting series of mirrors and prisms built into their helmets to give them 360 degrees of view to prevent the enemy from sneaking up on them. Unfortunately this six-foot high, 172-lb device had operational issues and was never deployed successfully.
Post-War, the company focused more on optics but retained its R&D focus by developing the first autodeveloping-like systems in the 1950s that proved an inspiration to the Polaroid system. The Knee-Can project saw film from SLRs of that era fed from the camera in a lengthy strip from a bulk loader into a collection of development tanks strapped to the lower legs. Mechanical power to operate the system was collected in a fly-wheel as the photographer walked.
A major issue with the Knee-Can system was that the fly-wheel acted as a gyroscope.
This contributed to a horrific incident on April 28, 1952 when the American occupation ended and home-rule resumed in Japan.
Introduction of the Knee-Can system
Kenta ‘Kin Tama’ Nogomo (Kin Tama literally means Golden Balls, a nick-name that refers to a war injury), was running to get into position at the ceremony, when the fly-wheel began to spin so fast that he was unable to move except along a horizontal plane.
Given that the photographers were being requested to move into a specific spot so that the dignitaries could could continue with the ceremony, Nogomo found himself struggling like a man under water. Military Police on hand thought the man was either being unco-operative or having a fit and as the spinning apparatus and piped watercan system chugged away. They began for push him along but the hundreds of pounds of torque began to overcome Nogomo. He was flung about the room as in a spastic whirligig that many of the attendees thought was an interpretive dance showcasing the fusion of Japanese industrial resurgence and traditional values.
This event was captured on film and ballet students still use some of the footwork in entrance auditions for the prestigious Baka Yaroo Academy.
True aficionados and Nikon history buffs have known this for years.
the explanation suggested above may be anywhere from benign to bizarre. nippon kogaku, when contracted from left to right, might yield nikku, or nippoku, but dropping one letter from the second word into the first would seem rather arbitrary. it’s been speculated that the arrangement of letters may have had some “other” purpose.
one competing explanation, is that in 1959, the year nippon kogaku changed it’s name to Nikon — the Zeiss Ikon brand dominated the prestige camera category. the conjecture was Nikon, was nippon’s ikon. this clever contraction would immediately help the company piggyback atop the ikon’s fame.
which explanation, if any, is the authentic answer — no one knows for sure as it can’t be independently verified. however zeiss, at the time, was pretty upset about this development.