Finally I got an SP original.

goliathus

goliathus

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It took so many years to get an original SP, not a minty but mechanically perfect! 🙂 I did some modification for the treasure. see below.





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1. Jonny's Blue filter installed.
it gives almost same contrasty focus patch compare to Nikon SP 2005. this is really cool, Thank you Jon!

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=74127






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2. F-style film advance lever installed.
I think some later batch of Nikon SPs also has this lever, more heavy and better design.




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3. 3-piece rewind knob intstalled.
Early SP has an one-piece rewinding knob. F's knob is far more comfortable to rewind the film.



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Final set up !! (Except an S3, I sold it for Original SP.)
 
goliathus said:
4096511857_4231c57860_o.jpg


2. F-style film advance lever installed.
I think some later batch of Nikon SPs also has this lever, more heavy and better design.
Click to expand...


I'm curious to know how you managed the lever switch, Park? I'm guessing that the later lever you've installed has three holes and is screwed into place (like the one on the right, below) whereas the lever you removed would be held in place by the frame counter cap above it (like the one on the left, below). how can you screw the new lever into place? Did you change part of the wind mechanism as well?

3407170576_231e6cef6b.jpg


3407172380_448bbe4848.jpg
 
jonmanjiro said:
I'm curious to know how you managed the lever switch, Park? I'm guessing that the later lever you've installed has three holes and is screwed into place (like the one on the right, below) whereas the lever you removed would be held in place by the frame counter cap above it (like the one on the left, below). how can you screw the new lever into place? Did you change part of the wind mechanism as well?

3407170576_231e6cef6b.jpg


3407172380_448bbe4848.jpg
Click to expand...



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Hi Jon, thanks for your comments! later lever has one more brass part. see above picture carefully, the three holes are exist for the part. with this part, you can install a lever into place. but when you change the lever, you should replace a ratchet under the lever also. (see above picture) If you want to do this work, You need to open up your top plate. the work was little bit sophiticate.
 
Jonmanjiro - Yes she has a cloth shutter : ), do you know when she was born?

Tom A - I really really want to be there in next May. I hope you see at NHS meeting in someday.

bogelgelbo - Actually it is hard to find the Nikon RF which has mechanical problem. but beware about a fainted finder.

David Murphy - Thank you David Murphy, I used Fuji colour filter. I'm not sure you can get this filter in your region. but linked article would be helpful for you.
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=74127



Thanks a million for your comment kshapero, digitalintrigue, BillBingham2 : )
 
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Nice SP.

My Nikon SP in the 62 22xxx range has a longer advance lever, 7-ring cover for the film counter, and "neon" color shutter speed dial of the Nikon F. The 62 19xxx has the same lever and features as the older ones.
 
I briefly owned a very late SP from the batch of around 1,000 cameras with serial numbers starting with 623****, and have handled several others.

The CameraQuest website says of these SPs - "Occasionally you will see SP's with serial numbers ranging in the 30,000 range or over. These are cameras with replacement top plates."

However, everything I've read on the subject in Japanese says that this is not the case. Rather, production was restarted in 1962 to make this batch even though Nikon RF production had already stopped specifically because Nikon had received many requests from journalists to manufacture more SPs. The more I think about it, the more I think this story has been blended over the years with the story of the "Olympic" S3s that were manufactured in 1965 one year after the Tokyo Olympics!!!

All these SPs have Nikon F features such as flat self timer, longer more robust film advance lever, later ISO dial, rewind crank with rotating tip, 7-ring cover for the film counter etc. This batch of SPs was the first batch of SP reissues!!!
 
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Sonny Bono owned a Nikon SP from that late batch. It was on Ebay from his estate. he also owned a Leica CL. I bid on the SP, but it went for more. A good user condition camera. He certainly put it to use, but treated it with respect.
 
Of course. But barring that, I always opt to speak to the seller, rather than communicating by email.
And my confidence in KEH stems from having purchased two vintage rangefinder pieces, (body and lens) as well as a number of Nikon manual focus bits of gear, all without any problems.
As an aside, I've never looked through the viewfinder of a new S3 or SP, so I really can't say for certain that the patch in the SP I got was faded or not in comparison. All I can say is it works and I shoot without difficulty. In reality it could very well be as "faded " as the one the unnamed RFFer returned.
 
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There are truly faded patches (oxydized mirrors in the RF lightpath) or patches looking faded because of greasy deposits laying on the mirrors of the RF lightpath.
It's only once cleaned up that you can tell if the RF patch is faded for good, or not.
The actual weak point of the SP is rather the secondary viewfinder IMO, with its very fragile prism, prone to break at any time when you try to clean it.
 
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