As a flagship model, the latest electronic technologies of the day were adopted for the Nikon F3. This was the first camera to offer electronic shutter control and an aperture-priority auto-exposure control mechanism. The F3 also featured new functions like an LCD viewfinder display, a TTL sensor positioned at the bottom of the camera mirror box, and Speedlight TTL flash control. The F3 was not equipped with a motor drive, but the optional motor drive was designed to work as an integral part of the camera body to achieve shooting at up to 6 fps. Both the camera and motor drive were designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro of Italy. He designed the two to appear as one when the motor drive was attached to the camera. Giugiaro's fresh design pursued a simple form featuring a raised grip on the camera body, and an eye-catching red line. These design elements had a great impact on later camera designs.

OPTISTATION is a device that enables automated wafer transport and efficient visual inspection. This was commercialized to replace the NICIS-MX2 wafer surface inspection apparatus released in 1979.

Nikon began looking into electronic imaging around the middle of 1979. In 1984, the company released the NT-1000 (B&W photographic), the world's first film direct telephoto transmitter jointly developed with Kyodo News Agency and designed for use by the press. This device revolutionized conventional systems to read enlarged prints and transmit them over telephone lines. The device could read photographic negatives and positives directly, and enabled trimming and simultaneous transmission of hand-written text while checking with a monitor to respond to the time-sensitive needs of the journalistic workplace. Also in 1988, the company released a still video camera system consisting of the QV-1000C electronic black and white camera, QV-Nikkor interchangeable lenses and the QV-1010T electronic transmitter. These technologies led to the development of Nikon's digital camera systems.

Computer Numerical Control (CNC) image measurement systems use the image-processing technologies of computers and optical measurement technologies to measure and inspect the dimensions and shapes of workpieces, including precision devices and electronic components.

As electronic and automotive parts became more detailed and precise, the need for non-contact optical measurement systems to measure component surfaces without touching them was ever-more pressing. Furthermore, as automation in manufacturing became more prevalent, strong demand for automated, high-speed mass measurement industrial inspection processes emerged. To meet these demands, the company developed the Nikon EXcellent Intelligent Vision system (NEXIV) based on the concept of automating the vision and judgment of humans.

NEXIV uses a CCD camera to detect the edge of the workpiece from an image, and can process data to make complex measurements with high precision. The telecentric optics system does not change size even with focus shift or image blur (the size appears the same whether far or near). This is an appropriate optical system for processing and measuring images because the image dimensions are constant.

By developing this revolutionary technology, Nikon achieved detection with speed and accuracy beyond the capabilities of humans, which contributes to maintaining quality in inspection processes of cutting-edge precision parts as they become increasingly complex.