Nikon I (1946–1949)

Name: Nikon I
Brand: Nikon

The Nikon I is where the Nikon camera line begins. It was the first camera made by Nippon Kogaku K.K., and the direct predecessor to the Nikon S. It's a 35mm rangefinder with a die-cast body, a combined rangefinder/viewfinder, and interchangeable lenses on a bayonet mount. The standard lens was the Nikkor 5cm f/3.5. The top plate engraving reads "Nippon Kogaku Tokyo."

The picture format is the odd thing about the Nikon I. Instead of the standard 24×36mm frame, it exposes 24×32mm on ordinary 35mm film, which gets you 40 exposures per roll rather than 36. The original user manual says it plainly: it uses standard 35mm motion picture film and makes 24×32mm pictures. The format was reportedly chosen partly to set the camera apart from Leica designs. It also meant the camera was never approved for export to the U.S. market by the occupation forces, since the format wasn't standard. Production ran from 1946 to 1949 (Wetzlar Camera Auctions).

A few early examples, the first twenty or so according to Early Photography, were fitted with a Makinar shutter before Nippon Kogaku's own focal-plane shutter was ready. Those early shutters are a known weak point today. The slow-speed mechanism tends to gum up after decades, and replacement parts are essentially impossible to source, so repairs are typically done by hand-fitting custom parts. The leather covering also frequently deteriorates, and the viewfinder can develop haze between its elements.

How many were made is not firmly documented. Estimates range from "only a few hundred" to "fewer than 1,000," and no authoritative production figure appears in the record. The camera is certainly rare. A 2023 WestLicht Auctions sale realized €13,200 including premium, and another example brought $24,000 at Heritage Auctions the same year. A collector listing at WestLicht described it as an "extremely rare and historically important camera." High Fidelity (February 1983, p.47) ran period advertising from camera dealers of the era. No formal contemporary review of the Nikon I appears in the audio press, since the camera predates the useful coverage of these publications by nearly four decades.

Known specifications: