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A Pictorial History of Nikon Cameras is the incredibly comprehensive work of Michael Liu that takes you on an insanely detailed ride through the world of Nikon's F-series SLR cameras. Its navigation can be confusing, but so can be the amount of information on the site.

What might strike you as odd is what unbelievably complicated and unbelievably expensive, yet technically brilliant solutions have been found for things that seem to be a mere question of software today - and for things that still are surprising or even unachieved by today's standards: F2 Data Cameras to superimpose handwritten data on a photo, F2 High Speed and F3 High Speed motor winders for 13 exposures per second, bulk film backs for 250 or 750 exposures, the Speed Magny Large-Format Attachment Back for exposing large format films, F2 Photomic viewfinders and the EE Aperture Control Units that employs an external motor to rotate the aperture ring of mechanical lenses, thus adding shutter priority and program modes to non-computer models like the F2.

This all adds to the complexity of system cameras which are complex yet per se. With a modular body design with interchangeable prisms and viewfinders, focusing screens, film and data backs, motor winders and power sources and a wide array of accessories like remote controls and intervalometers, film SLR would beat current DSLR cameras hands down when it comes to customization.

A Pictorial History of Nikon Cameras >