Nikon Rumors » Nikonos

Nikon’s rugged Coolpix camera: the rebirth of the Nikonos?

[NR] admin — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 17:20:24 +0000

In an old interview with Focus-Numerique, Mr. Tetsuro Goto (Director of Laboratory R&D at Nikon Japan) said:

“Personally I think the Nikonos reborn in the future”

The upcoming rugged Coolpix from Nikon may actually be the rebirth of the Nikonos line. The rumor is that the new camera will have a depth rating of 33 feet (10 meters), very good low light capabilities and may even resemble the design of the old Nikonos cameras. Another source told me that Nikon may be after the GoPro cameras and will release a whole line of accessories for attaching the camera to a helmet, bike, surf, etc. just like GoPro.

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New underwater camera from Nikon?

[NR] admin — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 08:23:27 +0000

Update: the Facebook posts is now removed.

On June 27th Tim McKenna wrote on his Facebook page that he received a "new secret weapon from Nikon, a new underwater camera for some testing and campaign images":

Nikon does not have an underwater camera in their current product offering. The pictured package is quite big for just a point and shoot camera, but it may contain more than just a camera. The Coolpix lineup will be refreshed in August (Nikon point and shoot announcement are always in February and August) and there will be another major product announcement at the end of August. It will make sense for Nikon to introduce a new underwater camera, but something tells me that it won't be more than a point & shoot model.

Just two days ago I reported that the Nikonos trademark already expired back in 2008.

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Nikonos trademark expired back in 2008

[NR] admin — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 12:58:13 +0000

There were some chatter last year that Nikon may bring back to life their underwater Nikonos product line. Tetsuro Goto (Director of Laboratory R&D at Nikon Japan) had this to say in an interview with Focus-Numerique: “personally I think the Nikonos reborn in the future”.

Trademarkia lists the Nikonos trademark as expired as of 08/22/2008 which probably means that Nikon has no plans of a new digital underwater product line:

The Nikonos trademark was registered back in 1967.

According to about.com, trademarks must be renewed every ten years:

"The term of a federal trademark registration is ten years, with ten-year renewal terms. However, between the fifth and sixth year after the date of initial trademark registration, you must file an "affidavit of use" and pay an additional fee to keep the registration alive. You must also file an affidavit and pay a fee within a year before the end of every ten-year period."

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Flashback from 1998: Navy SEALs training with mysterious Nikon underwater digital camera

[NR] admin — Wed, 05 May 2010 17:37:57 +0000

"NAVAL AIR BASE CORONADO, California (June 8, 1998) -- Navy SEALs attached to SEAL Team One, Naval Air Base Coronado, CA, conducts training using the Nikon/Kodak DCS 425 underwater digital camera which can sends real time digital images to decision makers, and an LPI LPD tracking device uses brevity codes to send both mission status and precise longitude/latitude. U.S. Navy photo by Photographers Mate 2nd Class Ted Banks." (source)

This is an interesting story because when I tried to research this underwater digital camera (Nikon DCS 425) I could hardly find any info online. It seems that this model was produced for the US military/intelligence organizations and initially even its existence was denied:

"The Nikonos RS was the World's first underwater SLR camera, capable of going down to a depth of 100 meters without special underwater housing. Searching Google at the time (May 2005) produced absolutely no hits for the digital Nikonos (DCS 425 and DCS 435). Absolutely nothing. I then sent an e-mail to Kodak, asking for more information. Their reply:

"I'm sorry but those cameras never existed here at Eastman Kodak. We never made cameras for that specific use. The information you have is incorrect."

Strange, because I was certain the camera existed. Asking another Kodak source, I was told: "I think the issue is who they were made for".

In other words: The camera was made for some US military/intelligence organization. Kodak Professional support, which sent the above reply, probably didn't even know that such a beast existed. (It later turned out that the camera probably never was a big secret after all. Read on for more info..)"

Read the whole story @ Nikonweb.

More info on the film version Nikonos RS available here (very expensive on eBay).

More pictures of the Nikon DCS 425 underwater digital camera after the break:

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Interview with Tetsuro Goto

[NR] admin — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 01:50:15 +0000

Mr. Tetsuro Goto is the Director of Laboratory Research and Development at Nikon Japan. Focus-Numerique just published a lengthy and very interesting interview with him (in French | Google translation).

Key points & quotes:

No medium format from Nikon: "We have no experience in the niche market of medium-format. It may simply be impossible for Nikon to go on the market."

On Micro 4/3 & Nikon: "If we follow this type of equipment, we change our frame (mount). The new frame will provide new opportunities or provide access to new technologies and to use targets smaller and lighter".

Large sensor compact camera: "We study this way. You'll know soon enough."

On EVF: "In the near future, it is possible that we will also use electronic viewfinders, but for now the quality is not there yet."

On SWM (Silent Wave Motor): "We are currently investigating a new system for the future."

On the future of Nikonos: "personally I think the Nikonos reborn in the future."

Sorry about the bad translation, but you get the idea.

Hit the comments section for some better translations of the interview.

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