February is Tom A's Nikon Rf Month :-)

[Tom A]

Hi!

As the film is piling up I thought we should start a new thread on February being Nikon Rf month.

Let's not be too selective either and invite Contax and Kiev users too. After all the camera body is just a box with some mechanical gizmo's inside and a finder. What really counts is the glass up front.

This project has given me an opportunity to cycle through my Nikon camera bodies and lenses.

Today's "users" were the battered SP with the old version 35/1,8 and the 2nd black 50/1,4.

Just loaded the "Saturday Specials": two chrome S2's with a 35/2,5 and a chrome 50/1,4.

So far I found the whole thing quite interesting and although there is an M2 sitting on my desk with the 40/1,4 SC on it, I have resisted it.

There is still the odd time when I twist the lens the wrong way, but after 7-8 rolls I am doing it less and less.

So get those Nikon's out there and fire them up. Dust off the Contax's and the Kiev's and load up.

The promise is for Vancouver is overcast and showers tomorrow so it will be an easy 5,6/250.

 

[VinceC]

I don't own much that's exotic. I guess I'll have to shoot some pictures with my Orion 28mm f/6 and with the Zeiss Biogon 21/4.5.

 

[sigma4ever]

Boooo! I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Feb. is too crappy of a month to put such a glorious name with it. Give Nikon May. We should shoot with Canon or Pentax this month.

 

[FrankS]

I believe this heralds a Nikon RF renaissance here at RFF!

A leading of the lost tribes of Nikon out of the deserts!

🙂

 

[VinceC]

>>Boooo! I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Feb. is too crappy of a month ...<<

Nikons thrive in crummy conditions.

 

[NIKON KIU]

I got the S3 loaded, the 1.8 is mounted, The 1.1 is standing by...Brian, how about Sunday?
I was thinking of showing the New Aerospace Museum to my little boy.

Kiu

 

[jsuominen]

My S2 is ready with Nikkor-S.C 5cm/1.4. Although I have shot the whole December and January with that lens. My Leica M2 is sitting useless with film inside. I have already forgotten, what film I put in it few months ago... 😕

 

[VinceC]

For some of us, every month is Nikon RF month.

 

[jsuominen]

I'm digg'n that vented hood, Tom. Yama's right?

like the one here...
http://openuser7.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/user/yama1yamajp

Thanks for link. I just wonder, are those nice Yama hoods available outside Japan? I can't read nor write Japanese, so Yahoo Japan looks a bit complicated...

 

[Tom A]

Hi!

Today I managed to shoot 4 rolls with the Nikon RF's.

The good wonderfully sunny weather made me add my Black Dial S2 to the bag. The rangefinder patch is "invisible" so I use that one for scale-focused lenses only -today it was the 28/8 Tessar.

Tomorrow's "kit" is loaded and ready. The black S3 Millennium with the Millennium 50/1,4, a chrome S2 with my "ugly" 35/2,5(serious scratches on the front element) and the Black Dial S2 with a 15/4,5 Ultra Wide Heliar.

Now have 10 rolls on the darkroom bench - might even do a processing run this week to avoid processing fatique at the end of the month.

The old mechanical cameras still infuse you with the feeling that YOU took the picture. The modern ones are more like you are issuing a command and the camera performs a multi-task operation.

Today's set is on my flickr site (below). I updating & will publish Feb. Rf pics there.

http://flickr.com/photos/36506481@N00/

 

[NIKON KIU]

>

I held up the N8008s and announced "This camera used to be Digital! I converted it to film!" It used to be a Kodak DCS200c.

I love it, may be you should've pulled out the E3😱 🙂
Kiu

 

[Tom A]

Good Evening,

Today the weather here in Vancouver, BC was grim! 1/60 at 2,8 for most of the day so I left the 15/4,5 at home. Shot with the black S3 2000 and the 50/1,4 Millenium and the "ugly" 35/2,5.

Loaded tomorrow's cameras; the chrome S3 Millenium with a black 50/2
and the S2 with the VC 35/2,5.

The black S3 Millennium has the smoothest release of any of my cameras - Leica/Nikon, etc. My chrome S3 Millennium is positively "rough" compared to it
and it also has a bit of a squeel in the focus.

So far I have been cycling mainly through my 35's and 50's. After tomorrow I will start with the wider and also longer lenses.

The enclosed shot (I hope it will be there - yesterday the pic failed to attach) is taken with the Ricoh 28 Digital. Close focus to 1,5 cm!


http://flickr.com/photos/36506481@N00/

 

[Tom A]

Hi!

Today was a three roll day. I finished the rolls in the 28/3,5 VC camera and the roll in the 50/2 black Nikkor - as well as the one with the 35/2,5 VC lens.

Loaded up tomorrow's bodies and I am sticking to the S2 (two) and the chrome S3 Millennium.

This package has one of the S2's with a postwar 35/2,8 Biogon T* lens and the other S2 with one of my favourites - the 25/4 Skopar. In the screwmount version it is a stand-out-lens. Very sharp with nice smooth contrast and the S-mount has the advantage of having a coupled rangefinder due to the Nikon Rf's built in helicoil.

The chrome S3 sports the 50/2,5 VC lens. It is not a very popular lens, but I like it because it is compact and as good as any of the Nikkor 50/2's or even the Summicron 50/2. The hood is cute although it tends to become a repository for crumbs and as i am a pipesmoker - a lot of tobaccoflakes!

I did run 5 rolls last night. Neopan 400 in Beutler for 11 1/2 minutes. It is not a fine grain film in this combination, but very sharp.

The promise is for some sunny/overcast weather tomorrow so maybe I get a chance to finish off the roll in the S2 Bd with the 15/4,5.

 

[NIKON KIU]

Tom,
You are the man...I am on my second roll:bang:
Today,we got Snow/Freezing Rain...(Brian got what he wanted), I am out with my low light set.😉

Keep the good posts coming,
Kiu

 

[Tom A]

Tom,
You are the man...I am on my second roll:bang:
Today,we got Snow/Freezing Rain...(Brian got what he wanted), I am out with my low light set.😉

Keep the good posts coming,
Kiu

Hi Kiu!
Hit rolls 15 today! Last night I did another run of 5 rolls in Beutler.

I did cut the develping time by a minute as the first batch looked a bit too contrasty.

Tuulikki has promised to load this morning's scans onto the FLICKR- site (in the footer) tonight.

The light was good enough today to finish the roll in the S2 with the 15/4,5 Ultra Wide Heliar.

Loaded that cameras for tomorrow, this time with the 12/5,6 Heliar.

I hate the process of developing film. Thus I do it in 5 roll batches. It takes just as long to do 5 rolls as 1 roll.

The process of having to do a set amount of film is good for you. You start looking for new areas to shoot in and it forces you to veer off the beaten track a bit.

 

[bobkonos]

I am on board, too: used one of my chrome S2 bodies with Nikkor-S.C 5cm/1.4 this past weekend, searching out sun through grey skies. A delight to advance the film, nice feel. Will load up my other S2 and attach the C/V 25 tonight. Then (trumpets blare) I plan to use my SP and S3. This is a big deal for me, as I have owned the SP since 1992 (purchased at NHS Convention in Seattle) and the S3 since 2003 and never put film through them. Yes, it is true, for I have put these on the collectibles shelf in my heart and mind. But leave it to Tom A. to inspire me to use these things. In fact, I am psyched to see results of the SP with the 35 f1.8 and 105 f4 lenses. Thanks to all for the inspiration. Is that dust I see on my MP and M3?

 

[VinceC]

Every month is Nikon RF month for me, but I'm using this as an opportunity to try out some of the lenses that usually sit on the shelf. Last weekend I used the Zeiss Biogon 21/4.5on my S3-2000 for quite a few shots at my daughter's birthday party. (I like the fact that my cameras have interchangeable lenses, so, while shooting two rolls, I also used the 28/3.5, 35/1.5, 50/1.4 Millenneum and 85/2). I had a few frames left over at the end of thbe day, so I used the Orion-15 28/6 to get some shots of her doing homework.

 

[bobkonos]

Kiu,

What does the 50f1.1 feel like? Heavy in the hands? I have seen them in person but yet to use one. Is yours internal or external mount? Yikes, I am back to Nikon RF mania...

 

[NIKON KIU]

Mine is External....feels like a 105mm on a Nikon F!!
Kiu

 

[Tom A]

Good Evening,

Today was a good day!

The weather co-operated; it was nice & mild & 1/250 & f8!

Finished the roll with the 15 Ultra-wide Heliar and also the 28/3,5 VC as well as the one in the S3 Millennium.

Most of the squeeky sound in the focus is gone - it probably needed the exercise!

Loaded up for tomorrow: The chrome S3 Millennium now sports a pre-war Sonnar 50/1,5,

One S2 has a pre-war 35/2,8 Biogon on it. That is a substantial lens! They certainly did not lighten it by using anything flimsy.

The Bd S2 has the 12/5,6 Ultra Wide Heliar attached. I just finished another processing run and the tally is 15 rolls run, 4 cameras loaded (I did not finish the roll in the S2 with the 25/4 on it yet).

Let's see what tomorrow brings picture wise.