Hinter den Kulissen | PMDA presents its 2006 Technical Achievement Award

PMDA award ceremony, Florida, February 2006.

TOMINO, Naoki :
In short, I am extremely happy. As an engineer, it is truly an honor to receive this type of recognition for the work to which I've dedicated my professional life. However, and please forgive the cliché, I am keenly aware that I must accept the award on behalf of a great many others. I am so grateful to the exceptional skill of all those I have had the privilege to work with, the support of my company, and a variety of opportune conditions, without which I never could have achieved such recognition.

This may prove to be a major milestone for Nikon. I am truly grateful for any benefit this award has for Nikon as well.

Naturally, I have a special fondness for both the NIKONOS, the first camera for which I lead development shortly after being hired at Nikon in 1975, and the F801, the last camera for which I lead development. However, with so many obstacles to overcome in the development of the D1, that is the camera with which I feel the deepest attachment. Although I spent roughly ten years from the latter half of the 1980s participating in the project to standardize APS, in 1996, just before the project was completed, I was appointed leader of the team established to “develop a camera worthy of becoming Nikon's flagship model within two years.” At that time, we were already seeing the conversion of film cameras to digital cameras and, feeling the pressure of these advances, Nikon felt very strongly that we must hurry to convert our best SLR camera to digital. Therefore, the project was placed under the direct authority of Nikon's president, vice president, and senior managing director at the time, Mr. Ono, Mr. Yoshida, and Mr. Tsuruta, respectively. These impressive men were so well known in their respective fields—Mr. Ono was known as “the camera god,” Mr. Yoshida internationalized the stepper industry, and Mr. Tsuruta was an eminent authority in optical technologies—that I remember actually shaking at the thought of answering directly to them.

It sure is! I asked to have the period extended to three years, but Mr. Ono replied, “The digital era will not wait for us.” However, we all realized that a certain amount of time and preparation was required to develop a digital-SLR camera, so we finally decided to launch our first compact digital camera, the COOLPIX900, in two years (1998), followed by our flagship digital-SLR camera in three years (1999). With release in September 1999, we actually ended up spending two and a half years developing the D1. One of the first things I learned with my initiation in the development of digital cameras was the extreme importance of collaboration with other companies, much more so than in the development of film-based cameras. In my search for reliable partners, I actually visited about two thousand companies in a single year!

It would have been impossible for Nikon to supply all of the components necessary to successfully develop and manufacture the camera in such a short period of time. By explaining our aspirations regarding the kind of product we wanted to create or the value we wanted to offer customers to just about anyone who would listen, began development of the camera by expanding a network of those who shared the same vision. Take the CCD for example. When I began looking for a partner to help in its development, no one would have anything to do with it. So I began explaining our perception of photography culture and attempting to pass along our passion until they were as eager as we were to see us succeed. Though the process was often tedious, it allowed us to create something that is truly great.

Exactly! When I said earlier that I was receiving the PDMA award on behalf of everyone, I was not referring only to everyone at Nikon. No, I meant EVERYONE, including those who supported us from other companies. I hope that this award allows us to establish greater variety in our partnerships and to fortify the network that we rely upon so much.