Nikkor

Nikkor is the brand of lenses produced by Nikon Corporation, including camera lenses for the Nikon F-mount.

The Nikkor brand was introduced in 1932, a Westernised rendering of an earlier version Nikkō (日光), an abbreviation of the company's original full name Nippon Kōgaku ("Japan Optics"; 日本光学工業株式会社). (Nikkō also means "sunlight" and is the name of a Japanese town.) In 1933, Nikon marketed its first camera lens under the Nikkor brand name, the "Aero-NIKKOR," for aerial photography.

Nikon originally reserved the Nikkor designation for its highest-quality imaging optics, but in recent history almost all Nikon lenses are so branded.

Notable Nikkor branded optics have included:

• F-mount lenses for 35mm SLR and DSLR photography (for a full list see Nikon F-mount).
• Z-mount lenses for Nikon mirrorless cameras.
• 1-mount lenses for Nikon 1 series cameras.
• Lenses for Zenza Bronica and Plaubel Makina medium format cameras.
• Lenses for Nikon S-mount and Leica rangefinder cameras, as well as very early Canon cameras.
• Amphibious lenses for Nikonos underwater cameras.
• Lenses for large format photography.
• EL-Nikkor photographic enlarger lenses.
• Microscope objectives.
• Industrial lenses, including lenses in support of the Japanese war effort during World War II.