Nikon RF musings...

[former member]

My Dad drove Sherman Tanks.

I think it was lighter than that 5cm/f1.1...

Nice lenses. We gotta check out that f1.1.

 

[NIKON KIU]

Hi!

I dont know if this is going to work as I am somewhat clueless as to how this computer stuff works...

Attached should be two pictures of my "February is Nikon RF Month Kit".

The S3 has the 35/1,2 Nokton and the 2nd prototype Rapidwinder on it and the black SP has a SP 2005 35/1,8 whilst the black S2 has an older 50/1,4 on it.

The film in both of them is Neopan 400 - they are after all Japanese cameras!

Heavy Breathing and drooling in the Nikon Forum😀 😀

Kiu

 

[Tom A]

Hi!

This is my favourite Nikon SP. The term well-seasoned applies to it as there is not a single surface that has not been dented,dinged or scratched. The shield around the shutterspeed dial was most likely put there after the fact and some-one made this nice softrelease and drilled and threaded the release post. It has a bright and clear finder and is remarkably smooth.

There are notches cut in to the filmgate (great for identifying which camera is screwing up). I usually do more discreet ones on my cameras. On the SP small animals can hide in them!

The lens was given to me by a friend in Tokyo as he thought it matched the body condition. The front element looks like someone has used it as a skating rink! Nice soft contrast and flare.

I had it serviced a year ago (the former owner claims to have had it serviced in 1973-4 so it was due) and Horst, my technician, here in Vancouver - was amazed at the amount of dirt and dust that was in it. Now, he is German and a perfectionist so that might account for these opinions.

This is the Nikon rf that I can take anywhere, rain, snow, duststorms, etc. are just old hat for it and I suspect that it will shrug off small caliber bullets too although I haven't tested, nor do I want to!

Oh, the 135 window will not show because the former owner said "who needs that stinking lens!". I have a black 135/3,5 with hood and caps. It is mint because I never use them, but being that February is my Nikon RF month I will shoot a couple of rolls with it. My black SP has the 135 finder in it so that will work.

 

[back alley]

that camera looks like i feel right now!!

i have to say you guys are killing me with all this nikon chatter and pics.
i keep looking around the net for a nice used s2 with 35/2.5...

joe

 

[sirius]

Off topic...

Tom, I really like that you are posting more (or so it seems to me) here in RFF. I like reading your posts very much.

Aah, those cameras are pretty.

 

[former member]

My Nikon SP with 13.5cm F3.5, wide-open.

Had the S3 out in the Snow today. The focus wheel is very easy to use with gloves.

 

[VinceC]

13.5cm Nikkors also do nice portrait work. Here's one from last week. f/5.6 with a bounce-flash.

 

[back alley]

contax cameras have the rep for being very complicated, inside.
how do the nikons compare?

joe

 

[VinceC]

Nikon innards are based on LTM Leicas, not Contaxes. The shutter is Leica-based, as is the basic rangefinder mechanism.

 

[back alley]

so they took from both contax and leica, very clever.

joe

 

[xayraa33]

they should be simpler Joe, esp. the S and S2.
they use a Leica type shutter and even the rf is not as complicated as the on on the Contax II/III despite the Nikon's Contax like appearance.
now.. the Finder on the SP.. that is and was an expensive & complicated tour de force, it even caught Leitz off guard in September 1957.

 

[VinceC]

They combined the best of both, then kept improving. The Nikon SP and S3 are, for all practical purposes, identical in quality and construction to the Nikon F, one of the most dependable cameras ever made.

 

[back alley]

an s2 is looking more and more attractive to me.

i have a 35/2.5 on my ebay watch list already.
joe

 

[NIKON KIU]

i have to say you guys are killing me with all this nikon chatter and pics.


joe

It's only gonna get worse! I told u I have to help u with the transition!
How about I send u an S2 and 3.5cm for a month...just to get you broken in....this Nikon RF stuff may not be for u joe, its like going backwards for someone who's been using the new Zeiss-Ikon, much simpler camera,no lightmeter,etc.

Kiu

 

[back alley]

i had canon p cameras, no meter.

i have the contax lla, no meter.

now, if you had one for sale...

joe

 

[xayraa33]

a Nikon S2 would be a nice companion to your Contax IIa Joe.

 

[back alley]

a Nikon S2 would be a nice companion to your Contax IIa Joe.

that is what i am thinking also.

 

[Tom A]

contax cameras have the rep for being very complicated, inside.
how do the nikons compare?

joe

Once someone gave me a "dead" Contax II and I spent many evenings trying to resurrect it. Once you got all of it apart it reveals itself. Extremely complicated and that shutter! I did rebuild it, although it took many days and many tries to make the shutter work. My thought is that the Contax was designed by a pack of engineers and the Leica by a photogtapher. I doubt that the quality of material, the fit and assembly that went in to the pre-war Contax has ever been duplicated. Every piece is machined. polished etc. The Leica is far less complex and less likely to cause problem. The Contax is "dense", very heavy for its size and that focussing wheel is cut with sharp teeth!.
When the Contax dies you dont try to fix it on the road. With the Leica you can often restart it with some poking at its innards ( provided it's not a part thats broken, just a "regular" jammed shutter or advance). The Nikon RF is a mix of the two, Leica style shutter and less complex over all. If you have a chance to pick up a dysfunctional Contax really cheap ( $20-25 most likely with a dead shutter)it is worth it. Dont expect to fix it, just take it apart an look at it.
What is amazing is that you can find 60-70 year old Contax 1 and II's still working. So the much heralded 1/1250 sec is probably closer to 1/750 today and truth be told, I suspect that it never was 1/1250 - it was strictly one-upmanship over Leica's 1/1000 ( which also rarely achieves that).
The beauty of the S3/SP is that you can pick up a cheap F and keep around as a parts camera. Shutter/selftimer/timing gear is all the same.
The Nikon RF is also lightweight. It is no great strain to carry 3 of them - the exception being the early Nikon I/ the M and the S which , just like the Contax are "dense" and solid. They also suffered from rather mediocre finders, but even the IIIF Leica was a bit of peephole type finder back then.

 

[VinceC]

Feeding the beasties!

Feeding the beasties!

On another thread, I mentioned that I find it pretty easy to hold a Nikon rangefinder camera and its removed back with one hand while loading film with the other hand. This used to be more common when more people were shooting Nikon Fs, and of course Kiev and Contax users are also in this dilemma (literally) of what to do with the camera back while reloading.

Here's what works for me:

Method One: First picture -- Hold the camera lens-down in the palm of your hand with your thumb, pointer finger and middle finger firmly holding the camera while your two smallest fingers hold onto the film back.

Method Two: Second (blurry) picture -- A variation on Method One. Hold the camera lens-down in the crook between your thumb and forefinger, with your palm curling around the lens, while holding the camera back with your two smallest fingers. This second is actually my preferred method. It keeps the awkwardly held camera back far away from the shutter, and it also works if telephoto lenses are on the camera.

The hardest part of all of this was trying to take a picture with one hand (the wrong hand at that) to show it.

Of course, now that removable backs have become so uncommon in the digital age, many witnesses become very disturbed at the sight of your camera breaking in half, so it becomes harder to blend into the background.

Cheers,

 

[micromontenegro]

I am a Contax man, never had a Nikon, but admire them from afar... so in this is daft question please be undertanding. Here it goes:

Are later Nikonos cameras related in any way to Nikon RFs? I know the first ones were essentailly french Calypsos, but as they evolved, it seems natural that they could have "taken" after the RFs... And I've heard that the Nikonos ubiquituos 35/25 is in fact the very same RF lens in the inside.