March 2017 Nikon RF Month

[css9450]

Probably my last one for this year unless I scrape up another one from the CD. S2 is empty but at least I managed to shoot two rolls this March. 😉 Thanks to everyone for posting!

This is with the S2 and 3.5cm/f2.5 Nikkor. I've done this shot with a lot of different cameras over the years!

 

[Corran]

I keep coming back to these images. So good!

I like them too!

What's the outside of that building look like? Hope they're restoring it and not planning to tear it down...

Thank you both! I won't go into too much detail here but basically this is an old city building built in the mid to late 1800s from what I understand. It is being leased to a startup to convert into a brewery. One of the few things this city has done to encourage new business and a rejuvenation of businesses in the downtown area...

I just happened to have a friend loosely related to the project and so we were granted access, and I may have the opportunity to document the renovation and restoration over time. Obviously, nothing has happened thus far. Here's one more shot of the main room looking the other way. As you can see, ferns have taken over a lot of the floor space not covered by concrete:

I also took a bunch of images with my Rolleiflex, and next time will be bringing my 4x5. I was not expecting to be shooting inside an old building that day!

 

[nomadia]

March 2017 Nikon RF Month

blue by bonn aure, on Flickr

W-Nikkor 3.5cm F3.5
Kodak Ektar 100

 

[Timmyjoe]

Finally processed the roll of Double XX that lived in my Nikon S2 for the month of March. Shot with the Nikkor 3.5cm f2.5

"Time to make the donuts" My friend Laura making the bread at Subway

Spent most of my teens and twenties in ice arenas, nothing more peaceful than early morning at the rink.

Best,
-Tim

 

[menos]

Nice shots there guys, especially like the interior wide angle shots in spectacular light from Corran above ;-)

Erik, this

"Sonnar black/nickel 50mm f/1.5"

peaked my interest.
What kind of lens is this and how might it look like?
Is it a Carl-Zeiss Jena prewar lens, corrected to focus on Nikon S bodies?
Do you have a photograph of the lens itself?

 

[farlymac]

Still have two rolls from the S2, and a few frames from the R2S to get to the lab and posted. It is okay to post after the end of the month, right?

PF

 

[richardHaw]

IMG_3879.JPG
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Got myself the VC2 meter after deciding that the VC1 isn't for me since it doesn't make sense to me for a meter to be continuously reading a scene and not have a needle. 😱😱😱
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IMG_3880.JPG

So far so good. It's not perfect but I am liking the convenience a lot. I love the selenium meters but at least I can have a better reading with this one indoors/low light where selenium meters can struggle a bit.:bang:

I am going to check how it's going to fit the Nikon S later. That huge rewind knob is in the way.
​

 

[jonmanjiro]

Richard, the shoe on the CVII meter can be attached in two positions so you should be able to re-position the shoe sideways so that the meter can be attached to your Nikon S.

 

[richardHaw]

Richard, the shoe on the CVII meter can be attached in two positions so you should be able to re-position the shoe sideways so that the meter can be attached to your Nikon S.

Hello, Jon.

I did that at the counter in Fujiya even before I paid for the thing 😱😱😱

It is currently in that position but it does look like it will barely have any clearance for the Nikon S :bang: I think that the shoe is too tall. Maybe I can find one from my spare parts box and fit it to this finder so it can be 2mm shorter 😎 I know that 2mm doesn't sound like much but it is at this rate 🙄

 

[Erik van Straten]

Erik, this peaked my interest.
What kind of lens is this and how might it look like?
Is it a Carl-Zeiss Jena prewar lens, corrected to focus on Nikon S bodies?
Do you have a photograph of the lens itself?

Yes, this Sonnar 50mm f/1.5 is a Carl Zeiss Jena lens in black and nickel in marvellous condition, beautiful blooming glass (blooming is a kind of natural coating that sometimes appear on very old uncoated lenses; improves the quality of the lens). This lens came on a Contax I v7. The lens performs very well (very sharp), except for the fact that it vignettes horribly, so it is unusable for me (I always use the full negative).
I will try to make a picture of it.
The 35mm / 50mm CZ lenses work perfectly on the rangefinder Nikons; maybe there is some focusing error in extreme close-ups (90cm). However, I never do extreme close-ups, so for me this is no problem.

Erik.

Contax I v7, Sonnar black and nickel 50mm f/1.5, 400-2TMY.

Nikon S2, Sonnar black and nickel 50mm f/1.5, 400-2TMY.

 

[Highway 61]

The CZ lenses work perfectly on the rangefinder Nikons; maybe there is some focusing error in extreme close-ups (90cm). However, I never do extreme close-ups, so for me this is no problem.

I too tested my Zeiss standard lenses on my Nikon rangefinders recently : prewar Sonnar f/1.5, prewar Sonnar f/2, postwar Sonnar f/1.5 and f/2, and I never experienced any focusing error even at close-up for portrait so for me this has become a no-brainer.

So, the Contax-Nikon incompatibility problem of the 50mm lenses either may have been inflated a bit or may fix by itself given to some tolerance factors (lens flange to film plane registry, play in the focusing helicoid, etc).

This is with a Nikon S3 and a prewar uncoated collapsible CZJ Sonnar 5cm f/2 on Tri-X :

At the end of the day casually using the Zeiss standard lenses on the highly reliable Nikon rangefinder bodies with no fear about focusing problems allow you to leave the precious and fully restored Contax bodies at home, with no angst of breaking the Contax II shutter ribbons once and again or having your photos suddenly spoiled by the cantankerous behaviour of the Contax IIa shutter...

Plus, you then use a body with really better ergonomics and a better viewfinder.

Of course, this ain't no purist way.

 

[nomadia]

I too tested my Zeiss standard lenses on my Nikon rangefinders recently : prewar Sonnar f/1.5, prewar Sonnar f/2, postwar Sonnar f/1.5 and f/2, and I never experienced any focusing error even at close-up for portrait so for me this has become a no-brainer.

Is this true at the widest apertures too? I have the CZJ 50mm 1.5, but use it exclusively with Contax II due to internet talk about focusing errors.

 

[Highway 61]

Is this true at the widest apertures too? I have the CZJ 50mm 1.5, but use it exclusively with Contax II due to internet talk about focusing errors.

My opinion is that it will depend on both your own lens and your own Nikon RF body.

The talk about focusing errors is based on something real and demonstrated with maths, this is not a hoax.

But it doesn't take into account either some infinity collimation error on the Zeiss lens or some bayonet flanges to film plane distance error on the Nikon camera body. It seems that in some cases, those errors, once matched, would cancel each other so that focusing is just as good as it gets.

If you own a Nikon RF body, just carefully test your CZJ 50/1.5 on your camera... and you'll see what you get.

 

[jonmanjiro]

Is this true at the widest apertures too? I have the CZJ 50mm 1.5, but use it exclusively with Contax II due to internet talk about focusing errors.

With a perfectly collimated Contax mount Zeiss lens on a perfectly collimated Nikon S-mount body, you would get about 10cm back focus when the camera's rangefinder is focused at 0.90m i.e. actual point of focus of the lens is about 1.00m

Lenses 35mm and wider cover this error with DOF. That's why Cosina labels their Voigtlander S-mount lenses as "SC" (for Nikon and Contax) even though the lenses are actually designed to the Nikon S-mount specification.

Lenses 50mm and longer will show focus errors at close distances and wide apertures when there is not enough DOF to cover the focus error. Cosina provides the following chart in the Bessa R2S/C user manual to show you what you can expect for 50mm and 85mm lenses. A cross indicates that focus point is outside the DOF for that focal length and f-stop combination, and a circle indicates that the focus point is inside the DOF.

My opinion is that it will depend on both your own lens and your own Nikon RF body.

The talk about focusing errors is based on something real and demonstrated with maths, this is not a hoax.

But it doesn't take into account either some infinity collimation error on the Zeiss lens or some bayonet flanges to film plane distance error on the Nikon camera body. It seems that in some cases, those errors, once matched, would cancel each other so that focusing is just as good as it gets.

If you own a Nikon RF body, just carefully test your CZJ 50/1.5 on your camera... and you'll see what you get.

But the reality is as Nicolas describes above. Manufacturing tolerances may stack up in your favour and focusing might be fine. I used to own a 1938 CZJ Tessar 50/2.8 that focused just fine on a Nikon S2. No problems at all.

 

[jonmanjiro]

Hello, Jon.

I did that at the counter in Fujiya even before I paid for the thing 😱😱😱

It is currently in that position but it does look like it will barely have any clearance for the Nikon S :bang: I think that the shoe is too tall. Maybe I can find one from my spare parts box and fit it to this finder so it can be 2mm shorter 😎 I know that 2mm doesn't sound like much but it is at this rate 🙄

The best thing to do is go "sunny 16" and not worry about mounting the meter 🙂

 

[richardHaw]

The best thing to do is go "sunny 16" and not worry about mounting the meter 🙂

Tried it when i got home and the damn thing won't fit the Nikon S. 😱😱😱

 

[farlymac]

Railroad, scenic, and a bit of urbex. I’ll try anything.

Nikon S-2 on Ilford Delta 100. 3-18-17

Nikkor-H 1:2 5cm (with front elements separation issues)


Kirby Road Gas Station by P F McFarland, on Flickr



W-Nikkor 1:3.5 3.5cm


New River Trail Railroad Trestle 4 by P F McFarland, on Flickr




Carbide Plant 7 by P F McFarland, on Flickr




Lowing About by P F McFarland, on Flickr




Top Of The Dam by P F McFarland, on Flickr


See the other 21 photos at https://flic.kr/s/aHskSSsWgR

PF

 

[menos]

Actually March 2017 was my most active Nikon RF month so far, I just now came around to look through the shots after having them scanned a few weeks earlier. Here are a few - all shot with either a S3 or SP reissue and mostly with 3.5cm/1.8 and 50/1.4 Millennium:

2017-03-07-0019--for_flickr by Dirk Steffen, on Flickr

2017-03-07-0022--for_flickr by Dirk Steffen, on Flickr

2017-03-07-0020--for_flickr by Dirk Steffen, on Flickr

2017-03-07-0028--for_flickr by Dirk Steffen, on Flickr

2017-03-11-0004--for_flickr by Dirk Steffen, on Flickr

2017-03-11-0001--for_flickr by Dirk Steffen, on Flickr

2017-03-11-0037--for_flickr by Dirk Steffen, on Flickr

and many more from March just uploaded on my flickr

 

[michaelwj]

Actually March 2017 was my most active Nikon RF month so far, I just now came around to look through the shots after having them scanned a few weeks earlier. Here are a few - all shot with either a S3 or SP reissue and mostly with 3.5cm/1.8 and 50/1.4 Millennium:

2017-03-07-0019--for_flickr by Dirk Steffen, on Flickr


and many more from March just uploaded on my flickr

Love this one Dirk.

Every year I see the thread and think I should get an S2, and every year ...

 

[menos]

Thanks Michael, … and yes, you should ;-)