Nikon F

The Nikon F is a modular 35 mm single-lens reflex (SLR) camera introduced in April 1959 by Nikon. Evolved from the Nikon SP rangefinder by lead designer Yusaku Kamekura, it was the company's first SLR camera. The model was the first to utilise the three-lug Nikon F bayonet mount, featuring a 44 mm throat and a 46.5 mm flange-to-focal-plane distance. Widely adopted by professional photojournalists covering the Vietnam War, as well as NASA astronauts aboard the Skylab space station, the camera earned a reputation for exceptional durability that led to it being nicknamed "the hockey puck".

Production of the Nikon F continued until October 1973, yielding 862,600 camera bodies before it was succeeded by the Nikon F2. It established a lineage of flagship single-digit professional SLR cameras that Nikon maintained for decades. Due to trademark disputes with Zeiss Ikon, units destined for certain European markets, particularly Germany, were marked and sold under the name "Nikkor F". Engineered as an adaptable system camera, the Nikon F features a titanium-foil focal plane shutter, mirror lock-up capability, a depth-of-field preview button, a single-stroke ratcheted film advance lever, and a fully removable back. The body was designed to accept an array of accessories, including the F36 motor drive, specialised film backs, interchangeable focusing screens, and various viewfinders. Finder options included waist-level, magnifying, and action viewfinders, as well as the Photomic series of metered prisms, culminating in the Photomic FTn that provided 60 percent centre-weighted through-the-lens exposure metering.