The Nikon F camera, introduced in 1959, was Nikon's first SLR camera. It was one of the most advanced cameras of its day. Although most of its concepts had already been introduced elsewhere, it was the first camera to combine them all in one camera. It was produced until October 1973 and was replaced by the quite similar Nikon F2. Aspects of its design remain in all of Nikon's subsequent SLR cameras, through the current Nikon F6 film and Nikon D3X digital models (which still share its Nikon F-mount for lenses). The "F" in Nikon F was selected by Nippon Kogaku from the letter F in 'Reflex.' That tradition was carried all the way through their top line of Nikon cameras until the introduction of the Nikon D1 (digital) cameras decades later.

The Nikon F became enormously successful and was the camera design that demonstrated the superiority of the SLR and of the Japanese camera manufacturers. This camera was the first SLR system that was adopted and used seriously by the general population of professional photographers, especially by those photographers covering the Vietnam War, and those news photographers utilizing motor-driven Nikon Fs with 250-exposure backs to record the various launches of the space capsules in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space programs, all in the 1960s. After the introduction of the Nikon F, the more expensive rangefinder cameras (those with focal plane shutters) became less attractive. It was originally priced at US$186 with 50mm f/2 lens; in 1964 the US price was $323 with a standard prism and f/2 lens.

Nikon Corporation (株式会社ニコン, Kabushiki-gaisha Nikon^?) listen (help·info) (TYO: 7731), also known as just Nikon, is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, specializing in optics and imaging. Its products include cameras, binoculars, microscopes, measurement instruments, and the steppers used in the photolithography steps of semiconductor fabrication, of which it is the world's second largest manufacturer. The companies held by Nikon form the Nikon Group. Among its products are Nikkor imaging lenses (for F-mount cameras, large format photography, photographic enlargers, and other applications), the Nikon F-series of 135 film SLR cameras, the Nikon D-series of digital SLR cameras, the Coolpix series of compact digital cameras, and the Nikonos series of underwater film cameras. Nikon's main competitors in camera and lens manufacturing include Canon, Casio, Kodak, Sony, Pentax, Panasonic, Fujifilm and Olympus.

Founded in 25 July 1917 as Nippon Kōgaku Kōgyō Kabushikigaisha (日本光学工業株式会社 "Japan Optical Industries Co., Ltd."), the company was renamed Nikon Corporation, after its cameras, in 1988. Nikon is one of the companies of the Mitsubishi Group.