Nikon S3 Olympic

How do you get such brassing on the top of the top plate without getting the area of the body immediately behind and above it ?
 
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The camera (in the OP) has been swimming in the ebay pond for quite a while now.. i first put it on my watch list about 6-7 months ago. It was sold once late last year, but was back on the block again about a month later.
 
I just tallied it up in my head and came up with about 7k, given the fact prices are down. Seller doesn't want to break up the collection, but whoever buys it will end up with a lot of unwanted duplicates and, unfortunately, will sell off a lot of the pieces. This will hold down the overall price. The seller would get a lot more money in the end by breaking up the collection and selling each piece. That way everyday bidders will pay for the piece they really want, and some will bid high. Right now, only a few photo businesses or serious collectors can afford to buy the whole lot, and 1)They already have collections, and 2)Will be willing to pay only market-based business prices that account for their overhead and time/energy to resell.
 
The nice thing about it is, it's really a dynamite user kit, rather than a collection. Couple of exotic pieces but otherwise all the Nikkors you'd ever want/need for shooting with the SP. It's a 1957 dream kit.
 
Some of the stuff is interesting, but there seems to be no hood for the 50f1.1 and the 25 finder looks like a Canon one, rather than the elusive Nikon finder.
I saw a 25f4 in Tokyo for $1150 - with finder (no case), The SP is in nice shape, but even so, probably will bring under $2000 on its own.
I think Vince is right on the button there, with a $7K maximum value. Lenses like the 50f1.4 and the 135/3.5 are cheap - $100-175. Nikon cassettes are around $20-25 (though I got 12 of them in Tokyo for $7 each in March (rounded up my stash to 50 total).
If someone would want to "start" a small collection and have a base to work from - it would be a nice kit. Adding other bodies and lenses as you go along (21f4/105/4,Micro Nikkor 50/3.5, various S3/S4/Olympics/S36 - well you know).
 
Tom A said:
I wonder if this was the Olympic S3 at Sanpo Camera. I saw it last month - body only at Yen 129 000. Finder is quite beat up, but the camera seemed to work OK. The seller might have added the 35f1.8 to make it more attractive. They had a bunch of Nikon Rf's there, several S3's in the yen 70 000 - 90 000 range (most with 50f1.4's) some SP's in the Yen 125-130 000 range, also with either 50f1.4's or 50f2's on them and the beaten up Olympic S3. I was tempted, but Sanpo only takes cash, no cards so I got a S3 chrome with a 50f1.4 #50051037 (1 st version - usually on a Nikon M) for Yen 68 000. Oh, they also had a chrome 25f4 with finder for Yen 115 000 and a 21f4 with finder and the elusive back cap for Yen 290 000. They usually have some interesting stuff, mostly not mint - but good user pieces at decent prices.
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I saw the 2.1cm f4 there last Saturday, Tom! It's down to 245,000 yen now. I would have been sorely tempted if the front element wasn't so scratched up. Was with an RFFer who took some test shots with it on his S2 (or was it the SP?), so will be interesting to see how they turn out!
 
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Tom A said:
If someone would want to "start" a small collection and have a base to work from - it would be a nice kit. Adding other bodies and lenses as you go along (21f4/105/4,Micro Nikkor 50/3.5, various S3/S4/Olympics/S36 - well you know).
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you're a sick, sick man, you know? I like that. 😎
 
jonmanjiro said:
I saw the 2.1cm f4 there last Saturday, Tom! It's down to 245,000 yen now. I would have been sorely tempted if the front element wasn't so scratched up. Was with someone who took some test shots with it on his S2 (or was it the SP?), so will be interesting to see how they turn out!
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Yeah, I am interested. I am going to call Kiitos tomorrow and talk it over with them. I probably will order the 85/1.5, S2 and 2.1cm when they open back up on Friday.
 
Tom A said:
Jon, interesting thought! I have never had the RF 21f4 and the SLR one at the same time, so I cant say if they can be switched. The formula looks the same though.
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Jon and I looked at the front elements of both lenses at the store and they look identically sized, but possibly mounted in the lens very differently. If anyone can tell me it should be Kiitos. I'll call them later today.
 
Sounds like a good price....never dreamed of having the 21mm lens (next 20 years). I am looking for the 25mm instead.
 
Mister E said:
Jon and I looked at the front elements of both lenses at the store and they look identically sized, but possibly mounted in the lens very differently. If anyone can tell me it should be Kiitos. I'll call them later today.
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That's what I thought as well. Let us know what Kiitos says!
 
jonmanjiro said:
That's what I thought as well. Let us know what Kiitos says!
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Kiitos said that either of my ideas: having the lens re-coated or replacing the front element with the f-mount optic wouldn't work very well. They said adjusting the back-focus is extremely difficult and wouldn't result in the image quality I would be happy with. I've heard of ways to either polish off or chemically remove coatings before, but they said the person they use that re-coats lenses must lap the coating off which will take some of the glass with it and slightly modify the optics enough where it could create a soft image. Like I suspected if I buy that lens I have to do it knowing that it may never be fixed.
 
I didn't look too closely at that lens when i was in the store in March. The marks looked like coating marks more than "gouges" in the glass. As long as the marks are in the coating, it could be chemically stripped and possibly re-coated - or used as an uncoated lens (though you would have to fix a hood for it). It is a 21 mm after all and it would work quite well. I have a couple of Zeiss lenses, 28f8 and a 35f2.8 that have been "stripped" of coating and still works well. Sharp - but some flare with strong light in the image area.
 
I think it might perform better with the scratches than without any coating. They were all very shallow, just cleaning scratches. If the lens came with the ultra-rare hood I would have already bought it, but as of now I am waiting to see the film. It's time to go pick up the slides right now!
 
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