Nikon I Camera No. 609117

Description:

Nikon I Camera No. 609117, 24 x 32mm, chrome, leather-covered body, with back numbered internally 609117, base-plate engraved Made in Occupied Japan, a Nippon Kogaku W-Nikkor C f/3.5 3.5cm lens no. 9101079 with interior white paint-filled engraving Made in Occupied Japan, and wide-angle finder engraved Nippon Kogaku, Tokyo, (overall good, lacking slow-speeds dial, some minor rubs on body-leather, three acceptable small dings and a couple of bright marks on base-plate).
Note: The Nikon I was produced between March 1948 and March 1949. Although it was originally thought that around seven hundred examples of the Nikon I were produced (cameras with 700-prefix digits have been recorded),research by Robert Rotoloni suggests that only around four hundred units actually came to the market. Of the missing numbers, approximately two hundred may have been converted into Nikon M cameras in the factory; this would have been a relatively simple job for the fledgling Japanese camera industry, involving changing the focal plane, adding a new sprocket wheel, and fitting new top and base plates. Nikon I No. 609117 dates from early in the production, before the conversion from Nikon I to Nikon M began. Thanks to Robert Rotoloni and the Nikon Historical Society for assistance with this lot.
Nikon I No. 609339 was sold at Skinner July 29, 2006, lot 377.
Estimate $10,000-15,000

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