Nikonos

Nikonos is the brand name of a series of 35mm format cameras specifically designed for underwater photography launched by Nikon in 1963. The early Nikonos cameras were improvements of the Calypso camera, which was an original design by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Belgian engineer Jean de Wouters. It was produced in France by La Spirotechnique until the design was acquired by Nikon to become the Nikonos. The Nikonos system was immensely popular with both amateur and professional underwater photographers. Its compact design, ease of use, and excellent optical quality set the standard for several decades of underwater imaging. Nikon ceased development and manufacture of new Nikonos cameras in 2001, but the camera remains popular, and there is a large and active secondary market.

History

Nippon Kogaku trace their underwater camera history back to 1956, when the company developed an underwater housing for the Nikon S2 rangefinder camera, which was marketed in May as the Nikon Marine. At approximately the same time, Jean de Wouters was building the first prototypes of the Calypso for La Spirotechnique, which went into serial production in 1961. However, La Spirotechnique was not experienced with camera design and manufacture, so they approached Nippon Kogaku to license the production and sales rights in June 1961; the two companies signed a contract in February 1962 granting the worldwide sales and distribution rights to Nikon outside France and the European Economic Community.
Nippon Kogaku acquired the patent to the Calypso in 1963 and began manufacturing the Nikonos equipped with Nikkor optics instead of the original SOM Berthiot and Angenieux lenses.

The "Workhorse of the War"

Because of its waterproof housing, lens options, and toughness, the Nikonos was an important tool for photographers working in the steaming jungles, flooded rice paddies, and rain-lashed battlefields of the Vietnam War. The wire services loaded their Nikonos cameras with Tri-X, Ektachrome-X or High-Speed Ektachrome.

Discontinuation

Nikon continued to manufacture Nikonos V bodies until 2001, when it formally announced it was terminating the series. Without any new models in years and with digital imaging taking over the market, Nikon saw no reason to continue the series.
However, in a 2010 interview with French magazine Focus-Numérique, Tetsuro Goto, Director of Laboratory Research and Development at Nikon Japan, said on the future of Nikonos, "Personally, I think the Nikonos will be reborn in the future."

Design and operation

The numbered Nikonos cameras are often called rangefinder cameras, but in truth they are scale focus cameras as there is no rangefinder. The viewfinder is used purely to compose the shot, and to display exposure information on bodies with internal metering.
Focus distance is set with an outsized dial mounted on the left side of the lens barrel, and the aperture is set with a dial mounted on the right. Refraction affects the estimated distance underwater by making objects appear 25% closer than they actually are; for example, an object that appears to be three feet away underwater is actually four feet away. Nikon assumed the user did not compensate for appearances underwater, so the distance markers on the lens are marked for apparent distance. Thankfully the Nikonos wide-angle lenses have ample depth of field, so these discrepancies are often not a noticeable problem. The depth of field indicators on most Nikonos Nikkor lenses mechanically adjust with aperture.
The numbered Nikonos models all had rugged construction, simple controls, and were waterproof to. The camera is made waterproof by a simple system of o-rings at all the crucial joints. Each new model brought various improvements such as light metering, flash circuitry, and improved shutter and film advance design.

Model	Intro	Disc	Image	Size	Weight	Metering	Shutter speeds	Serial numbers	Price	Ref.
						External, manual shutter speed & aperture	B,,,,,	900001–? 30,675 shipped
II						External, manual shutter speed & aperture	B,,,,,	950004–? 92,935 shipped
III						External, manual shutter speed & aperture	B,,,,,	3100001–? 78,309 shipped
IV-A						Internal TTL, Aperture-priority autoexposure	Electronic stepless to Mechanical	4100001–?
V						Internal TTL, Aperture-priority autoexposure and manual modes	Electronic stepless to Manual Mechanical	2000001–?
RS						Internal TTL, Aperture-priority autoexposure and manual modes	B to	0000001–?

;Notes

First generation Calypso derivatives

The initial Nikonos line consisted of three models that were improved versions of Cousteau's Calypso of 1961:

Nikonos, renamed Nikonos I after the Nikonos II was released
Nikonos II
Nikonos III

The Nikonos was introduced at Photokina 1963; in the beginning, each camera was individually tested for water-tightness. In Europe, under the terms of the licensing agreement, the Nikonos was known as the Calypso/Nikkor. In July 1966, Nikon began marketing the Nikonos as an all-weather camera and sold a limited number of cameras with a white finish, which consisted of Nikonos cameras with white leather body panels. It is estimated that less than 150 examples of the white-finished Nikonos were made.
In total, approximately 200,000 Nikonos I, II, and III cameras were manufactured between 1963 and 1983. The three Calypso-based Nikonos models share the same basic structure where the complete camera consists of three modules: lens, housing, and shutter/film transport assemblies. Film is loaded in the shutter/film assembly, which is inserted into the housing, and the mounting of the lens locks the three pieces together. The strap lugs are used to pry the shutter/film assembly out of the housing.
The Nikonos II was cosmetically and dimensionally similar to the original Nikonos, but the shutter speed dial has an additional rewind setting, and the rewind knob is equipped with a lever to facilitate operation. Internally, all parts of the Nikonos II were coated to avoid corrosion; in case of leakage, the internal parts could be rinsed in fresh water and dried, leading some to call the Nikonos II indestructible. The film transport mechanism was redesigned for the Nikonos III to use the sprocket holes for positive framing; the original Calypso design did not count sprocket holes which sometimes resulted in overlapping frames. This resulted in a noticeably larger body. In addition, the flash sync port gained an extra pin to support electronic flash units.

Second generation metered cameras

A second viewfinder line was Nikon's complete re-design and included a through-the-lens light meter with automatic exposure:

Nikonos IV-A
Nikonos V

In contrast to the prior Nikonos line, the Nikonos IV-A introduced a one-piece body using a hinged back for film loading; sealing was accomplished through numerous o-rings, including a large gasket for the back. The film transport mechanism for the IV-A was adapted from the contemporary Nikon EM. Like the EM, the Nikonos IV-A primarily operated in aperture-priority autoexposure mode using stepless quartz-controlled shutter speeds between and, but the camera also offered two mechanical shutter speeds in case of battery failure. In addition, the shutter speed dial can be set to "R"ewind. The viewfinder is equipped with a LED indicator, which glows steadily when the shutter speed is in the operating range, and blinks when the range is exceeded.
The Nikonos V retained the new features of the IV-A and added manual control to set discrete shutter speeds. The V was released to address specific criticisms of the IV-A, namely that the flat gasket design was prone to failure, and that the new flash sync shutter speed of was too fast, especially since slower speeds could not be set manually to use fill-flash. The Nikonos V was capable of off-the-film-plane flash metering with the SB-102 speedlight, which was introduced alongside the camera at the Photo Marketing Association Show in Las Vegas, held April 1984.

Third generation autofocus SLR

Nikonos RS waterproof to 320 ft

The 1992 Nikonos RS introduced an entirely new concept. Unlike its predecessors, the RS was a complete amphibious single lens reflex camera, with auto-focus, waterproof to and its own set of unique lenses that also utilized water-contact optics. They are, a 50mm 2.8 macro, 28mm wide, 13mm fisheye, and the world's first underwater zoom lens, a 20-35mm. The body features considerable automation, with a built-in motor drive for film advance and rewinding, an autofocus system with multiple modes, DX film speed detection, and an aperture-priority autoexposure mode. It is equipped with a high-eyepoint "action" finder, with an eye relief of, allowing the user to wear a typical underwater mask.
Previous Nikonos models used lens-mounted knobs for aperture and focus; these controls were moved to the top deck and front grip of the Nikonos RS, respectively.
The RS represented the pinnacle of Nikon's commitment to underwater imaging, and generated significant interest at the time. Although groundbreaking in many ways, it was also very expensive, putting it out of reach of all but the most dedicated underwater photographers. According to Brian Long, the RS was a development of Japan's bubble economy of the late 80s, which saw a number of cost-no-object consumer products and automobiles produced. The potential market was further limited by export controls placed on the camera; the potential for using it in underwater espionage was seen as enough to justify treating it as a strategic product.
Unfortunately, early versions also had a tendency to flood if not maintained perfectly. Flooding was attributed to many factors, one of which was the change to orange-colored silicone o-rings that could swell and fail if third-party silicone grease was applied instead of the Nikonos grease that was petroleum-based. Non-Nikon silicone grease was commonly used without problems on black Nikonos o-rings by underwater photographers for several decades. Nikon replaced all these floods at first, but in the end, it clearly became not worth the trouble. The RS was quietly discontinued about 5 years later, and no subsequent models were ever designed or manufactured.