On 23 August, Nikon introduced two new cameras – a pro reporter camera, the D3, and an advanced amateur camera, the D300. The 45 European journalists who were invited to the Japanese press event were ferried off to Nikon's Sendai factory, which is about 340 km (200+ of those non-metric miles) outside Tokyo. It took us only two hours to get there, though - the train was very fast and very comfortable.

We had to pose for a quick group shot, and then it was into the award-winning plant. It has to be one of the best, since the D3 is assembled in here.

First, a thorough presentation of the company

Nikon has nine plants in Japan, two in China and one in Thailand. The Thai plant is where Nikon D300 is produced.

A time-line of production in the Sendai plant – it is usually used for flagship models.

There's only one thing that really matters for 2007: D3.

About half of the employees are directly employed in manufacturing and assembly.

The Sendai plant also produces robot components for use at the Honda factory, as well as steppers used for production of CCD and CMOS imaging sensors.

Nikon plants also produce all kinds of advanced microscopes.