{"id":770492,"date":"2026-09-14T15:34:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T15:34:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/770492\/"},"modified":"2026-09-14T15:34:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T15:34:12","slug":"60-year-old-nikon-documentary-surfaces-online-and-its-an-absolute-must-for-camera-nerds-like-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/770492\/","title":{"rendered":"60-year-old Nikon documentary surfaces online, and it\u2019s an absolute must for camera nerds like me"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are you a huge Nikon<\/a> fan like me? Then you absolutely have to watch this retro documentary about the legendary optical manufacturer\u2019s history. I first caught wind of The Eye of Science \u2013 Nikon via Japanese news outlet Digital Camera Life<\/a>, which linked to the YouTube video by @NPO\u6cd5\u4eba\u79d1\u5b66\u6620\u50cf\u9928<\/a> (below).<\/p>\n

This 30-minute documentary was produced in 1966. For context, that\u2019s the same year that England won the World Cup and Star Trek debuted on TV. But in Nikon terms, it was the year after the Nikon F Photomic T and Nikkormat FT\/FS were released.<\/p>\n

\u79d1\u5b66\u306e\u773c\uff0d\u30cb\u30b3\u30f3\uff0d – YouTube
\n\"\u79d1\u5b66\u306e\u773c\uff0d\u30cb\u30b3\u30f3\uff0d<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

And indeed, the film showcases the aforementioned then-latest additions to the Nikon line-up being manufactured and carefully assembled by hand. The film also includes Nikon F<\/a> cameras undergoing shutter durability tests: said to be \u201capproaching 150,000 consecutive cycles\u201d.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most interesting process is the manufacturing of lens elements. They start life as huge, rugged blocks of glass that are chipped down into carefully selected cubes. They\u2019re then heated, pressed and precisely ground into spherical lens elements before being polished and assembled.<\/p>\n

\n

\"A\n<\/p>\n

The Nikon Nikonos is a legendary series of underwater 35mm film cameras (Image credit: Nikon)<\/p>\n

The film doesn\u2019t just lift the lid on the company\u2019s manufacturing processes; it also touches upon Nikon\u2019s then-impact on the wider world, including the Nikon F\u2019s Motor Drive, which enabled 4-fps burst shooting. That\u2019s nothing today, but it was revolutionary back then. Even Nikon\u2019s waterproof 35mm film camera, the Nikonos<\/a> (I), makes an appearance.<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

And of course, Nikon\u2019s business is much more than just its imaging division. The documentary also touches upon the company\u2019s other optical products, including microscopes, telescopes, medical equipment and more. If you have any interest in Nikon or camera manufacturing in general, and have a spare 30 minutes, this video<\/a> is definitely worth watching.<\/p>\n

You might also like…<\/p>\n

Are you into retro Nikon film cameras? The Nikon FM is an SLR in its purest form<\/a>. Perhaps you like the retro look but want the many advantages of a modern mirrorless camera<\/a>. If so, take a look at the Nikon Zf<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The best camera deals, reviews, product advice, and unmissable photography news, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Are you a huge Nikon fan like me? Then you absolutely have to watch this retro documentary about…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":770493,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,1120,96,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-770492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=770492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770492\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/770493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=770492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=770492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=770492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}