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Thursday, 08 June 2017


Interesting that you comment on Nippon Kogaku lenses in the 1960s. I have one from that era, a 200mm ƒ/4 with built-in sun shade.

It is built like a tank, focuses tight and smooth. The images rivals and outperforms a lot of new lenses, especially zooms (particularly the Nikon 70-300mm), which I sold. I have it aftermarket milled to AI and use it on a NEX-7 with a Novaflex NEX/NIK converter. I grew up with manual focus so it's not an issue; I even prefer it. The weight assists me to hand-hold. They are readily available for $100 bucks!

Eamon's article on these "issues" revolving around Nikon's business is very likely on-point. Not only is the Japanese Ministry of Trade likely interested in this core competency not falling in to the hands of other Asian companies, but other companies as well. As it turns out, Nikon is currently involved in a lawsuit with Zeiss and ASML over photolithography patent infringement. So, at the end of the day, the Sentaku/Fuji/Ministry of Trade "intrigue" may involve photolithography IP due to these lawsuits and counter-lawsuits, and not the camera division, per se.

I agree with your points. And Further, the Optical Stepper is becoming obsolete. A newer technology is likely to overtake it soon. From my reading and an exchange with a tech friend in Japan, Nikon felt that the new technology, not being optical, was outi of their area of expertise. So, they decided to make a move.

I'm told by my tech business friend that the camera division of Nikon is very healthy. The Friday Group plays a big part in this... And, Nikon and Fujifilm have partnered in many camera related products. So, it's not out of the question that some deal may be in the works.

I was told long ago that Nikon got into the Stepper business because they wanted to make their own camera ICs. They now have their own sensor foundry. I think that's pretty good for a small camera company.

Excellent back story to... [scathing comment about the FujiRumors post edited out —Ed.]

That sounds much more likely than the rumor story.

I have heard of that magazine before, but could not remember where. I do remember having a bit of a negative impression of it for some reason. It does not seem to be a widely read magazine, or an often quoted one. Sometimes those sort of magazines do come up with scoops that regular media misses or hesitates to print, but it seems that's unlikely in this case.

Might help some of us Luddites if you explain what a Stepper and Repeater is? I thought a repeater enabled you to shoot fast follow up shots at coyotes trying to get away.

[Google is your friend:


"A stepper is a device used in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs) that is similar in operation to a slide projector or a photographic enlarger. The term 'stepper' is short for step-and-repeat camera. Steppers are an essential part of the complex process, called photolithography, that creates millions of microscopic circuit elements on the surface of tiny chips of silicon. These chips form the heart of ICs such as computer processors, memory chips, and many other devices." (Wikipedia) --Mike]

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