Musings about using Nikon Rf's

Saul said:
Is he using a wooden shoe as bait or did he catch it? 😀
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No, it is a beautiful day and there are many boats on the little river. When a boat comes, he opens the small bridge (for pedestrians only) and he holds out his wooden shoe so that the captain can put his fee into it.

Erik.
 
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I prefer Beutler developer with 100 iso films. This is the ORWO UN 54 (ORWO's movie stock) - rated at 100 iso. Developed on Beutler 1 part A, 1 part B and 10 parts of water for 7 minutes.
Nikon S2 and older Nikkor 50mm f1.4.
 
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Nikon S2 Black dial and Voigtlander S Skopar 25mm f4.0. This is the same formula as the original Snap Shot Skopar 25. One of the great "unsung" heroes in the Voigtlander line-up.
This is the "Card Lady" in her fully equipped van. Light was flat,probably around 5.6 with ORWO 54 movie stock (100 iso) in Pyrocat HD, semi stand development for 40 min.
 
I have just started the somewhat Sisifysian project of developing 50+ rolls of Arista 400 Premium in Pyrocat HD. This is the result of going to Europe for 4 weeks, shooting only with Nikon Rf's (and one F with the 12f5.6 on it). Two SP's and two S3's. 12/21/28/35/50 and the 85f3.5.
I did do a handful of rolls before going, just to check speeds etc on the bodies. Takes me a week or so to get used to the focussing etc. One advantage with the nikon Rf's is that they are quite light and small. I can easily carry two in the bag and one around my neck without too much swearing about the weight.
The main reason for the Nikon's was the NHS meeting in Paris - and the fact that I have really only shot extensively in Paris before with M's - just wanted to try something new. Just did 10 rolls tonight - looks okay hanging up to dry - so tomorrow I will start doing some 15 roll batches.
Did go to Wetzlar - home of Leica and though the locals glared at me - they did not go all crazy and burn me at the stake as a heretic.
Once I am through - i will put something up here and on Flickr.
 
Vick, it was a good meet. Some really interesting presentations, Ulli on the German Nikkor's (i did not know that they were branded Nikkors until 1970!!). A S2X prototype with strange + in the finder - showing 85/105/135 frame lines. Two known and supposedly a third one exiists. Bob Rogan gave a very informative presentation on the Nikonos - lots of stuff I did not know about those beasts. Always liked them though - and in Vancouver it does make sense!
Bob Rotoloni had adopted a bit of a "pirate" look with an eyepatch ( retinal problem - now fixed).
My battered SP came in credible 2nd in the "Worst Looking - still functioning" Nikon competition.
The winner looked really battered (the camera - not the owner).
Lots of good food and wine to go with the all that information.
I like the NHS meeting, no politics, short presentations and a minor swap meet. Did not buy anything (a first?) and the next day it was the Bievre swap meet - 3-4 or 500 tables with stuff, lots of old brass lenses (too heavy for handluggage travel only) and books and photos galore.
I only bought 90 meters of Polypan F though.
Next meet (2014) could possibly be in San Fransisco - though somebody suggested Sydney, Australia too.
Tom
 
Tom, 50 rolls??? Wow! What a backlog to work through. Amazing.

All of you Nikon rangefinder users have got me hooked now. The camera mostly just gets out my way. Can't ask much more than that. This weekend, I was bicycling along the Jersey Shore when I came upon a group of scuba divers getting ready for their dive. I noticed this one fellow in a wheel chair. Struck up a conversation and got his permission for a portrait. He suggested that I stick around because that would be the best way for me see how he'd get fitted with his tank. Before and after pix below.

S2 50/1.4.Agfa Copex Rapid in 1+50 Rodinal semi-stand. Supposed not a good combination. But I don't know any better.

This fellow, Carlos, was a US Marine who served in Vietnam. His doctors think that exposure to Agent Orange (filled with dioxin and other nasty stuff) is what led to Carlos losing the use of his legs. When he was first disabled, a friend of his, also disabled, said, as Carlos was struggling with the weight of this life change, "Now your life begins." And, apparently, it has.

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Hi all,
Rob nice shots, This weekend I went to New York City and used my Nikon S2 and the
35mm f2.5 Nikkor. I was very impressed using this camera, it work wonderful, the large
viewfinder and focusing were spot on, I went to Chinatown, a Street Fair and to the annual
Hare Krishna parade and took some shots, will be getting the film tomorrow.


Range
 
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This is the kit I took along too Europe for 4 weeks + 50 rolls of Arista Premium 400 and some ORWO UN 54.
I have finished uploading it to Flickr (439 shots!!!). Everything worked fine until the last day when my S3 Millennium developed what looks like either a "sunburn" or "crack" in the shutter curtain.
It takes a while to switch from M's to Nikon Rf's - but it is not an insurmountable problem. The "vintage" Nikkor lenses did very well - and the C Sonnar 50mm f1.5 as usual - did a perfect job with black/white.
The Apo Lanthar 85f3.5 was used only once - Paris is not a medium tele city. The 28/35/50 combination got the most work out - with the 12f5.6 and 21f4 Voigtlander used sparingly.
Looking at the shots I cant fault any of the cameras or lenses - and I doubt that I would have seen any major improvement in using the latest lenses from Leica. The Arista is rated at 320 (roughly) and exposures were done according to "sunny f16" - with the occasional check with a Gossen meter (maybe once a day!).
If you go to our Flickr and use the tag "Europe 2012" or "Paris 2012" you can see them. I had no great aspirations to "document" anything - it was all my view of Paris. We have been there many times and even lived there for a while - so the tourist places were avoided - or just a couple of shots to show a different point of view (the 12f5.6 worked well - I never used an ultra wide in Paris before). Miles of walking, lots of coffee' and lots of wine. It is one of the great cities for photography as well as a city that appreciates photography - always exhibitons of great photography - as well as good bookstores.
 
Tom,
Many fantastic photos in your flickr collection. This thread feeds GAS! I haven't made it through the whole album but I will. Europe with a few Nikon RFs sounds pretty much like perfection to me.

Tom A said:
Looking at the shots I cant fault any of the cameras or lenses - and I doubt that I would have seen any major improvement in using the latest lenses from Leica.
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I have to say I absolutely agree. I recently got an Amedeo adapter for Nikon to Leica M and happened to find a few amazing deals on lenses. I've since collected a chrome 5cm f/1.4, chrome 3.5cm f/2.5 and a later black 2.8cm f/3.5, along with a few FSU lenses to play around with.
Last week I did an informal test of: a V5 Summicron vs. Helios-103, V2 50 Summilux vs. 5cm f/1.4 Nikkor, 35 Lux Asph vs. 3.5cm f/2.5 Nikkor.

My results were surprising. Close up and wide open the Helios was just as sharp and with less falloff than the Summicron. The Cron had smoother bokeh.
The 50 Summilux outperformed the 5cm Nikkor only past medium distances and up close the Nikkor beat the Lux from f/2 - f/5.6.
The most surprising test was the 3.5cm Nikkor vs. the 35 Lux asph. Of course the Lux is much faster but at medium distances and close up, the Nikkor was its match aperture-for-aperture.

The RF Nikkors are truly amazing lenses that perform so well, that I've replaced my 35 and 50mm focal lengths with the Nikkors and I don't think I'll look back. The 2.8cm Nikkor continues to surprise me as well.

Now I'm going to have to find an SP or at least an S2 for these awesome lenses.

Phil Forrest
 
Phil, I agree - the difference between the vintage Nikkors and modern lenses (Leica, Konica etc) is not huge. Yes, some of the Leica glass is spectacular (50f1.4 Asph, 75f2 Apo-Asph) - but in "real life". handheld with 400 iso bl/w film - it really doesn't matter.
The 35f2.5 Nikkor is very good (which is why I have at least 5 of them!). I took the old 35f1.8 along to Paris as I thought that extra speed would help, but in reality, I could have survived with a f2.5 (which is smaller and doesn't really need a hood either)
Rather than the SP or S2 - go for a S3, it has the 35 frame in it already and you dont have to shift the eye to catch the 28/35 frame as on the SP.
 
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