INTERESTING Nikon Leica Thread Mount Rangefinder Prototypes

[xayraa33]

I have heard about these Nikon LTM prototype RF camera bodies but I never have seen photos of them, till now.


http://members.webone.com.au/~gbrown/Nikon/nikon_LTM_prototype.htm

 

[richardHaw]

i have a couple of pictures of those prototypes 😱😱😱

 

[wes loder]

What does 'M' stand for?

What does 'M' stand for?

I have seen others state that the 'M' stands for medium format, but it does not make sense. Why would NK want to point out that its camera was midway between 24X32 and 24X36? It wanted to sell a camera that would conform to standard film-processing machines. I have always believed and continue to contend that M stands for "modified." That way, buyers would know that such a Nikon had been corrected to conform to a standard film advance.

 

[xayraa33]

I have seen others state that the 'M' stands for medium format, but it does not make sense. Why would NK want to point out that its camera was midway between 24X32 and 24X36? It wanted to sell a camera that would conform to standard film-processing machines. I have always believed and continue to contend that M stands for "modified." That way, buyers would know that such a Nikon had been corrected to conform to a standard film advance.

I find it odd that Nippon Kogaku wanted a product for world wide sales, no different than the other up-start miniature camera makers in post war Japan and yet played around with 24x32 and 24x34 formats.

The idea of getting more photos from one roll of film might have sounded great in Japan that was rebuilding from the destruction of war and wages were low but it was a bad idea to go against the mainstream, even for fitting full frame in Kodachrome cards alone.

Yes, I know that even German camera makers had made cameras in 24x24 formats ( Zeiss and Robot, for example) but these were not mainstream and sold poorly and or were for specialised applications.

 

[lxmike]

very interesting l bet that museum is worth a look round

 

[wes loder]

Nikon formatting

Nikon formatting

I find it odd that Nippon Kogaku wanted a product for world wide sales, no different than the other up-start miniature camera makers in post war Japan and yet played around with 24x32 and 24x34 formats.

The idea of getting more photos from one roll of film might have sounded great in Japan that was rebuilding from the destruction of war and wages were low but it was a bad idea to go against the mainstream, even for fitting full frame in Kodachrome cards alone.

Minolta "invented" the 24X32 format and promoted it heavily to the Japanese government, who, in turn, specified that projectors sold in schools had to use that format. In 1948 the 24X 32 format looked like it could be a winner. Tokyo Kogaku's 35mm Minion As and Olympus' first cameras also used the 24X32 format. Gasser and Liholm, the American importers, refused to take any more Nikons in the 24X32 format after importing about 72. The Nikon camera could not be expanded to 24X36 without changing the entire body casting. 24X34 was the workable compromise. The Nikon could be expanded to that size and a standard eight sprocket advance made it compatible with automated processing machines. The Nikon did not go to 24X36 until the Nikon S2 of late 1954.

 

[richardHaw]

i actually prefer that format to be frank 😱😱😱

for printing purposes...