Nikon Teams with National Geographic Offering Opportunity to Win an Exclusive Photo Excursion with Renowned Photographer

MELVILLE, N.Y., Dec. 16, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Nikon Inc. today announced the launch of the "Nikon Aspire" Sweepstakes (www.nationalgeographic.com/nikonaspire) offering the chance to win an exclusive photo excursion with renowned National Geographic photographer, Annie Griffiths.  The lucky winner will also receive the new award winning Nikon D7000 digital SLR camera and a private tutorial from a Nikon product specialist.

The "Nikon Aspire" Sweepstakes is the latest in a series of programs created by Nikon to inspire users to capture and share their photos and videos.  Earlier this year, the first ever "Nikon Festival" challenged budding filmmakers to upload their short-form videos online to The Nikon Festival website, which received more than 590,000 unique visitors and generated more than 1.9 million page views across Nikon's social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter and Festival blogs.

"We are excited to launch this new sweepstakes as another vehicle for engaging with photography enthusiasts that have a passion for capturing the world around them with great photography and videos," said Lisa Baxt, Senior Communications Manager for Nikon Inc.  "Working with National Geographic, a brand with a rich history as a trusted source of content, stunning imagery, and education, we hope to continue to encourage aspiring photographers to go out, capture and share their memorable moments every day."

Consumers can enter one time per day at www.nationalgeographic.com/nikonaspire from December 15, 2010 - January 26, 2011.  The winner of the "Nikon Aspire" Sweepstakes will be announced in February, 2011.  National Geographic photographer Annie Griffiths will host the winner in an exclusive photo excursion during the spring of 2011.

Annie Griffiths was one of the first women photographers to work for National Geographic.  She began assignment work for the National Geographic Society in 1978 and has since worked on dozens of magazine and book projects for National Geographic, including National Geographic magazine stories on Lawrence of Arabia, Baja California, Israel's Galilee, Petra, Vancouver, England's Lake District, and Jerusalem.  She has worked on assignments in the Middle East, North America, and the Pacific and creates an annual photographic calendar for Habitat for Humanity.  Griffiths' work has also appeared in Life, GEO, Smithsonian, Fortune, American Photo, Merian, Stern, and many other publications.  Book projects include the A Day in the Life series, Baseball in America, The Power to Heal, Women In the Material World, One Digital Day and most recently National Geographic's Simply Beautiful Photographs, published in October, 2010.

Nikon's D7000 features a 16.2 MP DX-format CMOS sensor, 6 fps continuous shooting and breathtaking Full 1080p HD Movies with full time autofocus  Engineered as an ideal balance of durability and functionality, the D7000 is designed to fulfill the needs of passionate photographers who demand exceptional performance, reliability, and unprecedented levels of control and versatility in a compact form factor.

Eligibility:  Legal residents of the 50 United States and Washington, D.C. 21 years and older are eligible to participate.  For official rules, visit www.nationalgeographic.com/nikonaspire.

About Nikon

Nikon, At the Heart of the Image™.  Nikon Inc. is the world leader in digital imaging, precision optics and photo imaging technology and is globally recognized for setting new standards in product design and performance for its award-winning consumer and professional photographic equipment.  Nikon Inc. distributes consumer and professional digital SLR cameras, NIKKOR optics, Speedlights and system accessories; Nikon COOLPIX® compact digital cameras; COOLSCAN® digital film scanners; 35mm film SLR cameras; Nikon software products and Nikon sports and recreational optics.  For more information, dial (800) NIKON-UX or visit http://www.nikonusa.com, which links all levels of photographers to the Web's most comprehensive photo learning and sharing communities.

SOURCE Nikon Inc.