I am sort of with Msmoto. I predict rangefinders will come back in DX sensor size. Just need two things: quick/accurate focus and a small highly detailed electronic viewfinder to show you exactly what the sensor sees in real time, like a DSLR does. Electronics should be able to give you the view through the lens while eliminating the flipping mirror and probably even the shutter mechanism (extracting the image from the video stream off the sensor). I don't think relying on viewing through the back LCD, which requires holding the camera out away from your face and dealing with reflections, will replace a viewfinder to the satisfaction of advanced amateurs like most of us here.

I just picked up another Voigtlander Bessa-R2A - this one has the Auto aperture. I love ebay - $275 delivered. My other one was full manual and I don't use it enough to be able to change the settings quick enough. I just like to set my aperture as shallow as possible and fire.

Something about them are fun - and easy to use. I would like to get a Contex G2 but for $2,500 for that system, I would rather have the Fuji X-pro1 or the Oly OMD M5 instead for the convenience.

Many miss the history that SLRs and Nikon in the 60s were groundbreaking as you could see what the camera saw. We take that for granted now and especially with digital. The rangefinder popularity has re-emerged only in the last few years. Different style of shooting for sure and is not for everyone.

I cannot resist....In the next year or two... Nikon will introduce a "rangefinder" style mirrorless APS-C body and it will be exactly what a lot of us want. My last rangefinder was a Canon 7 with an f/2.0 Summicron. About a zillion years ago...

Both Canon and Nikon will come up with their version of Fuji's X-Pro1. Eventually, this will replace the DSLR, but only after the technology allows the almost instant continuous servo focus found on the latest pro bodies...

I'd guess the same Charley

Nikon is in business to make money; the only way to make money selling cameras is to make cameras that LOTS of people WANT, and will BUY.

I'm guessing now, but I think Nikon is perfectly happy making camera models that sell in the thousands, ( and tens of thousands, and possibly hundreds of thousands ), and are just as happy leaving the "dozens of units" market to Leitz, ( or anyone else wishing to attempt to sell "mega-buck" outrageously expensive "gadgets" to people who have more $$$$ than they have common sense.

( Remember, that's just my "guess"; I may be wrong. )

Charley

When Nikon was reformed after World War II, they made rangefinders, the first of which was released in March of 1948. There were eight models released between then and April of 1960. The Nikon F SLR was released in June of 1959. The market was much smaller back then and all of the rangefinders, including special anniversary reproductions, sold just over 151,000 units in total, which is nothing by today's standards.

Nikon I: March, 1948 32x24mm 7-perf 40 exposure. 759 Units Manufactured. MacArthur wouldn't let Nikon export it because the frame size wouldn't work with Kodak mounts.
Nikon M: Oct, 1949. 34x24mm 8-perf 36 exposuroe. 3240 units.
Nikon S: Dec, 1950. 35,127 units. Same as Nikon M, but with Flash sync.
Nikon S2: Dec, 1954. 56,715 units. 36x24mm 8-perf (modern standard) 90% viewfinder. Most popular Nikon viewfinder.
Nikon SP: Sep, 1957. 22,348 units. Titanium shutter, Motor drive ready, dual viewfinder. Cost $375 in 1960, which is $2771 in 2008 dollars.
Nikon S3: Mar, 1958 14,310 units. Basic version of SP. Viewfinder had lines for 35, 50 and 105mm lenses only.
Nikon S4: Mar, 1959 5898 units. Basic version of S3. Not sold in U.S. as the Nikon importer at the time didn't feel it was worthy. Cloth shutter. Not Motor drive capable. No self-timer. Only 50, 105 frame lines.
Nikon S3M: Apr, 1960 195 units. Half frame rangefinder. Motor drive ready. 72 exposure.

There may have also been a black version of the S3 called the Nikon Olympic S3 that was manufactured in 1963.

The 1st Nikon SLR, the Nikon F, was released in June of 1959 and not discontinued until September of 1973 in spite of the fact that there were many new Nikon F models released during that time. That 1st model sold over 862,000 units. It's obvious from the sales that Nikon made the right decision to abandon rangefinders in favor of SLRs. While Leica still makes beautiful rangefinders, Leica is a niche company and generally loses money.

There have been three Nikon rangefinder anniversary releases, all of which were supposed to be sold only in Japan, although some importers got hold of a few copies and I think even BH had some of the last one. They sold for $6000 each:
S3 Year 2000 Anniversary Edition: November 2000. This came with a 50mm 1.4. 8000 manufactured.
S3 Year 2000 Black: Spring 2002. 2000 manufactured. $6000.
SP Year 2005 Black (Nikon Eye Candy) w/ 35mm 1.8. January, 2005. $6000. 2500 manufactured.

Even those these cameras sold for $6000, Nikon made them by hand and were reputed to have lost money on each one. That's probably why we didn't see (although the year isn't over yet) an anniversary edition of the Nikon F, which many had expected this year for its 50th anniversary.

A digital rangefinder has been rumored from Nikon for some time, but I never believed those rumors. It's simply too small a market for Nikon to pursue.

Nikon actually started as an OEM optical manufacturer mostly for German companies, but they have made optics for Canon also.
Nikon, as virtually all others 35mm film camera manufacturers at that time, started out with rangefinders. The lenses weren’t F–mount, F stands for the first Nikon SLR system model, they were called Nikkor RF. SLR lenses must be mounted further away from the film plane to allow for a mirror to move and do not need the mechanism to allow a range-finding focusing to work.
You could find more information on
http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/nikon/htmls/models/htmls/rangefinder.htm

Thanks for replying!

Did Nikon start out with rangefinders? And the lenses weren't F-mount right?

Last Nikon rangefinder was Nikon S3M, as far as I know, made in1960 (not counting remakes and limited editions). Leica is making them since the beginning, and rangefinders were always their most popular models.
Since the introduction and wide acceptance of Nikon F SLR model (made to bit the Leica among other things) Nikon just stopped developing them, and one of the primary reasons for that where lenses. Nikon have focused all development and manufacturing resources on the better and more profitable concept at the time. Although it can be done rangefinder cameras with SLR lenses would lose all the advantages such as smaller size and smaller possible distance from the film (or sensor) plane to the lens which has some optical advantages especially on shorter lenses.
Depth of DSLR cameras is a little bit larger because of the size of sensor and its mount, they are much thicker than film as you can imagine. As for grips, Nikon has couple experimental left hand models but I am not sure they have reached the shops.
Today virtually all point and shoot cameras are conceptually rangefinder cameras (some with and some without optical viewfinder), but in the future I am sure we will see some rangefinders in the upper category.

If I am correct, Nikon used to make rangefinders. Why did they stop producing them, and why do other companies, like Leica still make them now? And what's stopping Nikon from making a digital rangefinder? Is lens compatibility an issue?

A related question- why does Nikon not make cameras with the form factor of say, the FM2? It's actually less deep than my D40, and the D40 is pretty small. Pretty much, thinking back, cameras evolved a "grip". It's good ergonomics, but I'm pretty sure that's annoying for a left handed photographer.