Nikon S2 Production Dates

[steveyork]

With its' compact dimensions, light weight, big viewfinder, and good 50mm optics, the Nikon S2 has gown on me over the last year. Maybe not the great finder of an M3, but not as costly either.

Anyway, never could find a list of production dates for this camera (or any Nikon rangefinder for that matter), unlike Leica where everything little thing seems to be documented, but each of these cameras originally came with a dated guarantee certificate. I know this from my original stint with a Nikon RF some ten years ago, when I purchased an S2, box and all, from the widow of the original owner. Cool story there, but I foolishly sold it shortly afterwards.

Stuck in the house this weekend with a lame dog, and I wondered about the possibility of putting together a list of production dates based on these certificates, to help folks date their cameras. I've seen a couple on the internet, recently acquired a few of my own, so here we go:

SN 6143857 ----> July 26, 1955 (Rotoloni)
SN 6144082 ----> August 5, 1955 (on this forum)
SN 6144711 ----> August 17, 1955 (mine, but sold)
SN 6150278 ----> December 24, 1955 (on this forum)
SN 6158471 ----> May 1, 1956 (Cameraquest)
SN 6165929 ----> August 23, 1956 (Ebay)
SN 6182572 ----> May 17, 1957 (mine)
SN 6190293 ----> September 25, 1957 (Ebay)
SN 6191215 ----> September 9, 1957 (mine)


Here's some 50/1.4 Nikkors that per the certificate were original to the cameras:

SN 358256 ----> July 26, 1955 (chrome)
SN 357855 ----> August 17, 1955 (chrome)
SN 373484 ----> August 23, 1956 (black lens on chrome S2)
SN 385269 ----> May 17, 1957 (black)
SN 393745 ----> September 9, 1957 (black)
SN 394754 ----> September 25, 1957 (black)

Proof that I have way too much time on my hands this weekend! A short list, but it might help someone narrow the date of their camera.

 

[Mackinaw]

There’s a lot of S2 production date info in Bob Rotoloni’s Nikon rangefinder book. Quickly, it was produced from December, 1954 to June, 1958. 56,715 S2’s were produced. I’ll let the more knowledgeable Nikon people fill in the blanks.

Jim B.

 

[steveyork]

There’s a lot of S2 production date info in Bob Rotoloni’s Nikon rangefinder book. Quickly, it was produced from December, 1954 to June, 1958. 56,715 S2’s were produced. I’ll let the more knowledgeable Nikon people fill in the blanks.

Jim B.

I'm sure there's a list somewhere, but I've never seen it. I do have Rotoloni's last book ('The Complete Nikon Rangefinder System'). Nothing there. Good overview but seems to be geared more toward the collector -- you know, lots of info on the rare stuff.

I'm guessing with such a short production run -- just three and a half years -- all S2s are pretty much clumped close together.

 

[css9450]

I'm guessing with such a short production run -- just three and a half years -- all S2s are pretty much clamped close together.

Seems to be the case. Until we get more dates, you'll have to estimate if you're in-between known production dates.

Mine is 6136626. Quite early, but I don't know its date.

 

[Timmyjoe]

I was dating camera gear that I own a number of years ago and somewhere I found out that my S2, serial #61503XX was made in December 1955, but I can't for the life of me remember where I got that information from.

You can find the Nikon Rangefinder lens serial numbers and dates on this web site:

Nikon Rangefinder lens serial numbers/dates

It doesn't give exact months of production, just roughly the years.

Best,
-Tim

 

[Peter Jennings]

Rotoloni's first book has production numbers for each batch, but it does not give the production dates for each batch. 31 batches of 1000-2000 cameras. Interesting to find that the production numbers for Nikon I/S/M is greater than that of the S3/SP combined.

 

[steveyork]

Here's some 50/1.4 Nikkors that per the certificate were original to the cameras:

SN 358256 ----> July 26, 1955 (chrome)
SN 357855 ----> August 17, 1955 (chrome)
SN 373484 ----> August 23, 1956 (black lens on chrome S2)
SN 385269 ----> May 17, 1957 (black)
SN 393745 ----> September 9, 1957 (black)

Interesting that the numerical sequence of lens serial numbers is not, exactly, chronological. See above, the earlier serial number appearing later.

 

[Gooner21]

Just for fun, I punched in my Serial number into Copilot with the list above from SteveYork and asked it to work out when mine was made, Seems pretty accurate :



Based on the serial number progression you've provided for the Nikon S2, we can estimate the production date of your camera (SN 6187808) by interpolating between known dates and serial numbers.


Here’s a quick breakdown of the relevant entries:

• SN 6182572 → May 17, 1957
• SN 6190293 → September 25, 1957

Your serial number (6187808) falls between these two, and fairly close to the midpoint. Let's estimate:

• The difference between SNs:
  6190293−6182572=77216190293 - 6182572 = 77216190293−6182572=7721
• Your SN is:
  6187808−6182572=52366187808 - 6182572 = 52366187808−6182572=5236
  So, you're about 67.8% of the way from May 17 to September 25.
• The time span between May 17 and September 25 is 131 days.
  131×0.678≈89131 \times 0.678 \approx 89131×0.678≈89 days after May 17.
• Estimated production date:
  May 17 + 89 days ≈ August 14, 1957

📷 Conclusion:​

Your Nikon S2 with serial number 6187808 was likely manufactured around August 14, 1957.

 

[Dan]

Gooner21,

Your post intrigued me to find out when my S2 was produced. Copilot estimated May 05, 1956 based on SteveYork's serial number ranges. Fun "fact"!

 

[nsp9107]

from cards I've seen on ebay or ( * that i have) don't have the cameras to go with them though.
s2's
b 6139222 L 353134 6/10/1955 *
b 6141572 L 355380 7/2/55. *
b 6153583 l 363522 2/24/56
b 6154418 L 661530 3/14/56 *
b 6155398 l 366862 3/22/56
b 6161993 L 372754. 7/28/56

S
b 6110780 no lens no. 9/7/53. *
b 6120571 l 343600 5/18/54. *

sp
b 6211982. L 409733 3/3/59 *

 

[NIKON KIU]

I don’t remember how I got this, it’s for a Nikon S (not mine).




And the following is S2




Kiu

 

[Gooner21]

from cards I've seen on ebay or ( * that i have) don't have the cameras to go with them though.
s2's
b 6139222 L 353134 6/10/1955 *
b 6141572 L 355380 7/2/55. *
b 6153583 l 363522 2/24/56
b 6154418 L 661530 3/14/56 *
b 6155398 l 366862 3/22/56
b 6161993 L 372754. 7/28/56

S
b 6110780 no lens no. 9/7/53. *
b 6120571 l 343600 5/18/54. *

sp
b 6211982. L 409733 3/3/59 *

I asked Copilot to further refine the data with your Serial No's and Dates, it changed mine by 1 day so it seems pretty accurate:


Further refine the date with the below new serial numbers and dates


b 6139222 6/10/1955
b 6141572 7/2/55
b 6153583 /24/56
b 6154418 3/14/56
b 6155398 3/22/56
b 6161993 7/28/56




With the refined dataset, your Nikon S2 serial number 6187808 is now estimated to have been produced on August 13, 1957.
This is based on linear interpolation between nearby serial numbers and their known production dates, offering a more precise estimate than before.

 

[nsp9107]

early s birthdate 6094799.6/15/1951 no boy with the cirtificate

 

[blacksaphier]

With its' compact dimensions, light weight, big viewfinder, and good 50mm optics, the Nikon S2 has gown on me over the last year. Maybe not the great finder of an M3, but not as costly either.

Anyway, never could find a list of production dates for this camera (or any Nikon rangefinder for that matter), unlike Leica where everything little thing seems to be documented, but each of these cameras originally came with a dated guarantee certificate. I know this from my original stint with a Nikon RF some ten years ago, when I purchased an S2, box and all, from the widow of the original owner. Cool story there, but I foolishly sold it shortly afterwards.

Stuck in the house this weekend with a lame dog, and I wondered about the possibility of putting together a list of production dates based on these certificates, to help folks date their cameras. I've seen a couple on the internet, recently acquired a few of my own, so here we go:

SN 6143857 ----> July 26, 1955 (Rotoloni)
SN 6144082 ----> August 5, 1955 (on this forum)
SN 6144711 ----> August 17, 1955 (mine, but sold)
SN 6150278 ----> December 24, 1955 (on this forum)
SN 6158471 ----> May 1, 1956 (Cameraquest)
SN 6165929 ----> August 23, 1956 (Ebay)
SN 6182572 ----> May 17, 1957 (mine)
SN 6190293 ----> September 25, 1957 (Ebay)
SN 6191215 ----> September 9, 1957 (mine)


Here's some 50/1.4 Nikkors that per the certificate were original to the cameras:

SN 358256 ----> July 26, 1955 (chrome)
SN 357855 ----> August 17, 1955 (chrome)
SN 373484 ----> August 23, 1956 (black lens on chrome S2)
SN 385269 ----> May 17, 1957 (black)
SN 393745 ----> September 9, 1957 (black)
SN 394754 ----> September 25, 1957 (black)

Proof that I have way too much time on my hands this weekend! A short list, but it might help someone narrow the date of their camera.

Hello steveyork,
I'm collecting Nikon RF cameras and lenses since 35 years and have around 300 cam and 350 lenses in my collection.
The serial number issue is a problem that we "non-Asians" find difficult to understand. In our understanding, the number 2 follows the number 1. This means that serial numbers are sequential with production. Not so in Japan at that time. At least not until around 1960. Think of the post-war problems in an occupied country. Procuring raw materials and refining them was very difficult. You had to make do with what was available. Nobody cared about serial numbers. For example, 300 topplates were produced in one batch, and they were used as and when it was convenient. Therefore, it's difficult and pointless to base production order on the serial number. Just think of the S4 with S3 topplates, and that was in 1959/60.