48 1 June 2019 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I subscribe 0330 333 1113
T
he fi rst digital single lens
refl ex (DSLR) was a hybrid:
part Nikon, part Kodak.
Basically, it was a Nikon F3
with a Kodak digital image sensor bolted
on the back. One problem with this- and many subsequent cameras –
was that digital sensors in those days
were much smaller than the standard
24x36mm 35mm image size, and so
the resulting digital images were severely
cropped. As a result, a 50mm standard
lens behaved more like an 85mm
telephoto and, to get a normal standard
lens-type image, a wideangle lens of
around 35mm focal length was needed.
In 1996, Nikon got together with Fuji
to produce the E2 camera which solved
that problem with what they called
Reduction Optics Technology. Before
the image from the lens reached the
sensor, it passed through auxiliary
lenses to reduce its size. In this way, any
focal length of lens recorded its image
on the 2/3in sensor in exactly the way
DIGITAL STARS
UNLESS INDICATED OTHERWISE , ALL PICTURES © JOHN WADE
What a
whopper!
John Wade takes us through Nikon’s
amazing E2 series of digital SLRs
The Nikon E2, a huge beast of
a digital camera from 1996,
equipped with an AF Nikkor
35-70mm zoom lensBOTH ILLUSTRATIONS FROM AN ORIGINAL NIKON BROCHURE © 1996 NIKON CORPORATION
The unusual twin
light paths that
made the E2 workThe reduction optics
technology used by the E2