Incomplete kit of S3 2000+50/1.4; does it matter?

[DNN]

Hi, I am not an owner of Nikon RF. But I have been thinking that Nikon RF must be very charming and would like to get it at some point of time. That's beeb my dream...🙂

Sometimes I found a cheaper Nikon S3 2000 with a 50/1.4 lens. It does not come as a full complete kit. The leather case, boxes, a lens hood...some of them are missing and that's why it could be around $2500 or less. Because I am not a collector, basically it does not matter if it comes as a complete kit. But...

If the USED complete kit costs $500 more or so (as high as $1000 more) than the cheaper USED body+lens kit, do you suggest that I should go to the complete kit?

You know...it is entirely up to me, but it is always good to hear opinions from other more experienced RFF members before I make a final decision 😛

I appreciate your comments. I hope that using S3 2000 is not against common sense.

 

[MikeL]

From ads here the body goes for around $900-1000, and the lens for 800-900. With some patience you should be able to get both for less than $1900.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Nikon made too many of these cameras to be "for collectors". They are for camera enthusiasts. Buy one, save the money if you can. The complete kit has the leather case and lens hood. But serial numbvers are not matched between body and lens, so it does not make a whole lot of difference. Maybe in 30 years it will. But who wants to lock an S3-2000 in a vault for 30 years?

 

[dreamsandart]

I've sold more then a few of these kits. It was surprising I found that its was much easier to sell by splitting them up for what ever reason. Maybe it was that folks buying the new Nikon RFs already were into Nikon and had other pieces that they were adding to, an extra new S3 body or that nice millennium lens, they wanted on their 1950s SP or S2? It seemed to me getting them together was the logical choice as the price was usually lower than buying them separately, but if you only need a body or the lens you get what you need. New bodies were in the $1,200 range, millennium lens in the $900 range.

The new leather case was a option for the original kit. If you wanted one it was an 'extra' when you placed your chrome S3 order ( came as part of the Black S3 package and the SP set ), price was about $250.

With the chrome or black S3 camera and lens sets serial numbers are not matching. As you got into the later cameras and black paint version both camera/lens serial numbers were higher but still not the same. Only with the 2005 SP camera and 1.8/35 lens did Nikon provide matching serial numbers for the camera/lens set.

 

[Steve Bellayr]

If you are planning on using it go for the best deal.

 

[jonmanjiro]

These cameras are not true collector's items ..... yet! You'll have to wait another 30 or 40 years for that. I say get what you want at the right price now and and use it and enjoy it.

For what its worth I'm seeing more and more S3 2000 bodies and Millennium 50/1.4 lenses sold separately in the Tokyo camera stores these days. If that means more people will use them for their intended purpose, I'm all for it!

 

[jonmanjiro]

BTW there's an S3 2000 kit listed in the RFF classifieds now for $2,000 (link)!

 

[BillBingham2]

I got my kit to use and enjoy rather than collect. I've sold off all my Leicas and now have wonderful S3-2000 and 50/1.4 M lens with different numbers. Will this impact the value 30 years from now, perhaps. But I buy my cameras to use, not to sell some day.

I myself have no use for the nEver-Ready Case, but that is me. I'm a big stickler for lens hoods but that is me. I love having a new S3-2000 viewfinder that will be bright and clear a lot longer than my eyes will be.

I think it is safe to say that if you buy for collecting, put the camera away in a environmentally controlled space and forget about it. If you are buying it to use, then by all means, USE IT!

You can second guess yourself about what someone might want 30 years down the road. Keep in mind, a collection only has a cash value if someone is willing to purchase it when you want to sell it. If someone does not want to buy it then it has no cash value. An S3-2000 will always retain it's value to you if you are taking pictures with it and enjoying it.

As an example, take my 105mm Brightline finder. I spent over three years tracking it down and spent over $325 on it. It's in great condition, but not mint. I used it on my Bessa T and then on my Nikon S2, it worked great. Now I have an S3-2000 and I do not need it. So I am trying to sell it. Mind you I purchased it about two to three years ago and got a great deal. Good used ones did not come up hardly ever on EvilBay and I did not want to pay the big bucks for a collector condition one. I've been trying to sell it now for two months. $200 on the classifieds here, no takers. I'm not going lower for now, might as time goes on though. No, it's not a collectors item, but it does show how a market can swing. Am I pissed because I paid too much, no. I got a good deal at the time and I've had a lot of good pictures with it. I will sell it, either for the price I paid for to a real bargin to a dedicated S2 user.

Buy for what you want today and enjoy it. Hind sight is always 20/20, ask my wife, she is always able to tell me what I should have done, some times before I do it!

B2 (;->

 

[furcafe]

To echo others, Nikon made way too many of the S3 2000 kits for them to be true collector items, so just do what you want. The only ones that would be worth anything from a collector perspective are the ones that are literally never opened (w/those bearing "auspicious" serial #s being worth a bit more) & there are probably 100s of those sitting around in Japan.

 

[JonR]

Who cares.... the camera and the lenses is there to be used and the whole beauty is that you can channge lenses according to you needs!
Jon

 

[Tom A]

I have one chrome S3 2000 kit and a "broken up" black S3200 kit. When I got the black kit I sold off the case and lens with its hood instantly. Both of the cameras are users (the black S3 is already brassing quietly). I agree with Fred that Nikon overestimated the "collectors" in 2001 and even in 2005 with the SP.
The SP was interesting because of the remake of the 35f1.8 and I got the lens, but not the body.
You can try to make collectors edition, but I suspect the market recognizes it for what it is - a racket!
Leica had a policy making these "special editions" - remember "The Danish Royal Wedding", the Anton Bruckner and my favourite The Year of The Rooster - a.k.a The Kentucky Fried Chicken Camera!. If you ordered sufficient bodies you could get anytihing done!!
The Millenium S3's are good users and the 50f1.4 is a stellar performer as is the 35f1.8 -2005, but they are not collectibles in my mind - they are retro design versions for the afficinado or enthuthiast and as such have a certain value, but as a retirement option - No Way!

 

[xayraa33]

I want the commemorative LBJ edition of the Nikon SP.

 

[splitimageview]

Heh. I had my SP with me at a tour of the LBJ 'Western White House' a couple of weeks ago. The first official group tour...it will be open to the public later in the year, they are restoring it to circa 1960.