goliathus
Well-known
It looks like prices for Nikon S4 is lowered and good to get and So I did.
http://sangin1122.tistory.com/
menos
Veteran
Oh now that is a real beauty, Congrats on the nice find!
I always confuse this, now what are the exact differences from the S4 to the S3 apart from the obviously missing selfie lever ;-)
Does it have a Ti shutter and F sourced cosmetic parts?
Any quirks special to the S4 ?
What frame lines?
Was there ever made a black paint S4?
EDIT: You have a beautiful website!
I always confuse this, now what are the exact differences from the S4 to the S3 apart from the obviously missing selfie lever ;-)
Does it have a Ti shutter and F sourced cosmetic parts?
Any quirks special to the S4 ?
What frame lines?
Was there ever made a black paint S4?
EDIT: You have a beautiful website!
richardHaw
junk scavenger
most likely only available in metric
mynikonf2
OEM
The S4 does not come with titanium shutters and is not motor drive coupled. As already stated, it does not have a self-timer and the frame counter must be manually reset. The S4 viewfinder has bright line frames for 50 & 105mm only.
menos
Veteran
Thanks Mike ;-)
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
What a pretty camera. Best of luck.
Cal
Cal
Fraser
Well-known
How is the frame counter reset, do you just keep winding util you reach zero then load the film?
Highway 61
Revisited
Manual reset of course, like on the Contax I/II/III, Nikon I/M/S/S2, Leica I/II/III, Leica M2.
You load the film and you both expose the proper amount of blank frames (according to your own habits) and close the back, then manually set the frames counter to 0. There is a dot to grab the frames counter disk and make it turn.
lxmike
M2 fan.
very cool camera
mynikonf2
OEM
menos,
Forgot to mention that the S4 was not intended for export to the U.S. market. With a total production run of 5,895 units, starting with serial #6500001 in March of 1959, & ending with serial #6505900 in July 1960, there were no black S4 versions in the series.
Forgot to mention that the S4 was not intended for export to the U.S. market. With a total production run of 5,895 units, starting with serial #6500001 in March of 1959, & ending with serial #6505900 in July 1960, there were no black S4 versions in the series.
menos
Veteran
Thanks Mike, thats good info ;-)
It looks like prices for Nikon S4 is lowered and good to get and So I did.
Congrats Park! Your collection must be quite comprehensive by now
They're supposed to have only 50mm and 105mm bright lines but I have seen a few in Tokyo that also had a 35mm bright line. No idea if they were modified after purchase or the guys on the assembly line accidentally (or intentionally?) installed S3 finder parts. Interesting variation regardless.
richardHaw
junk scavenger
menos
Veteran
Congrats Park! Your collection must be quite comprehensive by now
They're supposed to have only 50mm and 105mm bright lines but I have seen a few in Tokyo that also had a 35mm bright line. No idea if they were modified after purchase or the guys on the assembly line accidentally (or intentionally?) installed S3 finder parts. Interesting variation regardless.
Very cool, that sounds like a desirable modification to a S4 back in the day ;-)
I like the clean look without self timer resetting the frame counter manually shouldn't be a big deal (if one doesn't forget it, and even if, not a big deal either).
But then again I also equally like the look of a S3 (strangely enough the S3 is now my favorite Nikon RF although the SP finder for a 50mm is just wonderful on it's own).
Fraser
Well-known
I see it now the counter is just like the s2 sitting on top of the wind on lever.
FUJINON
Member
I have a Nikon S4. It's one of the rare 10% of the S4's which were produced and scaled in feet.
See Cameraquest (Stephen Gandy's two excellent articles) on the Nikon S4:-
https://cameraquest.com/nrfs4.htm
https://cameraquest.com/nrfs4DDD.htm
See Cameraquest (Stephen Gandy's two excellent articles) on the Nikon S4:-
https://cameraquest.com/nrfs4.htm
https://cameraquest.com/nrfs4DDD.htm
stedge
Newbie
what's the going rate for an excellent S4 w 50/2? I see prices for all the nikon S cameras all over the place, but interested in testing the H2O -
Many thanks.
Many thanks.
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
I love my old retro glass to have the distance scale marked in feet only. Love the uncluttered look and being an American feet is best for me.
My 35/1.8 Nikkor in LTM is in feet only.
Cal
SolaresLarrave
My M5s need red dots!
Wasn't this one issued around the Japan Olympic Games? I always thought it was one of the hardest to find. And it's true... the Nikon S4 rangefinder prices are surprisingly low these days.
Highway 61
Revisited
The S4 is a lesser S3 : no 35mm framelines in the viewfinder but for the variations noticed by Jon in Tokyo (otherwise it has the same viewfinder magnification and eyepoint), manual frames counter reset, no selftimer. As "rare" as it might be, it's not particularly interesting for users. There might not always be a surprise behind prices.
No selftimer may provide a cleaner look to the camera and the selftimer is often looked at as a useless gadget but during a recent trip to Berlin and Leipzig I used it extensively to shoot interiors at 1s and f/8 with the S3 and the W-Nikkor-C 35mm f/1.8. It was always easy to find something flat and horizontal to put the camera on, hence (what I think to be) acceptable architecture photos. No selftimer would have meant small tripod and cable release outfit, which would both have gathered attention on me. Plus, it was more easy to get the camera horizontal and in axis without any pocket tripod. I didn't even framed through the finder. The 10s selftimer delay allows the camera to be fully steady when the shutter fires.
