NIKON Corp. introduced its first mirrorless single-lens reflex camera to challenge models from rivals including Sony Corp. and Panasonic Corp.

The world’s third-biggest camera maker will offer its Nikon 1 brand globally from October 20, Yasuyuki Okamoto, head of the Tokyo-based company’s imaging business, told reporters on Thursday.

The smaller J1 model will sell at about ¥70,000 ($917) with a lens, while the V1 model, with an electronic viewfinder and a lens, will be offered for ¥105,000, the company said.

Nikon’s addition of the models leaves Canon Inc. as the only manufacturer among the four largest to still use mirrors in all SLRs, or cameras with interchangeable lenses. Digital camera makers are promoting more expensive models including mirrorless designs as smartphones with built-in cameras win a larger share of sales to consumers seeking simple, inexpensive photography.

“Shipments of mirrorless models will likely continue expanding to contribute to Nikon’s profit and sales in the coming years,” said Nobuo Kurahashi, an analyst at Mizuho Financial Group Inc. in Tokyo. The market is still at a nascent stage, he said.

Nikon last month raised its net income forecast to ¥60 billion in the year ending March 31, 43 percent more than its previous prediction, spurred by sales of SLR cameras. Sales of SLR models will probably gain 26 percent to 5.4 million units in the current fiscal year, the company said at the time.

Panasonic introduced mirrorless SLRs in 2008 with electronic sensors that send image data directly to the camera’s LCD screen, eliminating the need for mirrors, prisms and an optical viewfinder. Canon is the world’s largest camera maker, followed by Sony, according to 2010 sales compiled by researcher IDC Japan.

“It’s the right moment for Nikon to enter the market” for mirrorless SLRS, Okamoto said.

Mirrorless SLR sales surged fivefold to 2.1 million units in 2010 globally, Macquarie Group Ltd. estimated last month.

Sony, Japan’s largest exporter of consumer electronics, said last month industry shipments will probably reach 13 million units worldwide in three years.

Worldwide shipment value of cameras with interchangeable lenses gained 16 percent to ¥304.5 billion in the first seven months of 2011, while that of compact cameras fell 20 percent to ¥506 billion, according to Camera & Imaging Products Association in Tokyo.

In the market for SLR cameras, Canon controlled 44.5 percent share last year, followed by Nikon with 29.8 percent and Sony with 11.9 percent, according to IDC.

(Bloomberg News)