Nikon SP 2005 on ebay

And here I was thrilled to "win" an Olympus SP last night for $65! How does one quantify the superior performance of the Nikon SP to justify spending the marginal cost difference of $9,935? Oops, sorry, that's like comparing trunk space of a Rolls Royce to a Ford Escort wagon. I know, "if you have to ask, you can't afford it." Gosh, it sure is purty, though. Ha.
 
How come I think my wife would be more understanding if I went to Las Vegas and spent $11,000 on a woman with no morals than she would if I spent it on a camera?
 
How often would you use an $11,000 Nikon?
The Olympus SP can be used everyday and you don't have to worry about the finish....
The Nikon would just sit in a cabinet......
 
rover said:
How come I think my wife would be more understanding if I went to Las Vegas and spent $11,000 on a woman with no morals than she would if I spent it on a camera?


Probably because you wouldn't spend as much time fondling the woman as you would an $11,000 Nikon SP. ;)
 
Be smart. Buy a Kiev instead. Then invest the $10,900 balance in an index fund for your retirement.
 
Oldprof said:
Be smart. Buy a Kiev instead. Then invest the $10,900 balance in an index fund for your retirement.

Maybe someone can get his better half convinced that the SP is as wise an investment as an index fund....
 
If Nikon could get that kind of money for a new Black SP with lens they would leave it in production. A new one in Japan is around ~$6,000. The 10K min bid represents a good profit margin for someone who was in it for the money. I have my wife convinced that I can sell cameras at a profit on EBay. Buy some lenses for $100, fix em up, shoot a test roll, list them, and get $200. Pretty easy to convince someone of it. It will be long time before someone turns a profit on a $10,000 new Black Nikon SP with lens. But it has been done. I suspect that it will pull the price of original Black Nikon SP's from the stratospheric $25K that they fetched a few years ago. And you all thought that Leica's were expensive!
 
I wonder what this pricing will do to that of the S3 2000? The S3 kit had fallen to around $2,500, I wonder if it will climb again as the SP is so much greater.
 
The S3-2000's have fallen below $2K. The price of the SP-2005 is closer to $6K in Japan, which is close the $5K S3-2000 started off at. The consensus from the dealers I know is that people are unloading the S3 for the new SP. Better yet, the availability of these new cameras brings the price of the original cameras lower. I picked up an S3 with 5cm f1.4 for under $850 and an SP with 5cm F1.4 for under $950. That is lower than they were in 1991. Once the cameras are out of production, they will creep up for a while.
 
$10K for it ? Even if it was the last RF in the entire world !!! For much, much less you can buy a very decent *original* SP with a couple of very fine lenses, overhaul them and put the entire kit in pristine condition.
 
rover said:
How come I think my wife would be more understanding if I went to Las Vegas and spent $11,000 on a woman with no morals than she would if I spent it on a camera?


I agree !!! Surely the woman option is much more interesting :D
 
Nikon SP, on ebay or not

Nikon SP, on ebay or not

What's the obesession with the SP, anyway, that would prompt anyone to drop so much moolah for one? Are the optics really that hot? Is the rangefinder window really that clear, sharp and full-viewed? I've handled a Contax version, so I admit comparison ignorance....maybe it is just that the whole thing LOOKS groovy and you could drop it from a building and still take pictures....? is it the challenge the thing presents...?

Chris, Nikon SP Ignorant and..... maybe happy that way...
canonetc
 
I am shocked, _shocked_, to tell you that no one bid on this fine camera... :p

William
 
canonetc said:
What's the obesession with the SP, anyway, that would prompt anyone to drop so much moolah for one? Are the optics really that hot? Is the rangefinder window really that clear, sharp and full-viewed? I've handled a Contax version, so I admit comparison ignorance....maybe it is just that the whole thing LOOKS groovy and you could drop it from a building and still take pictures....? is it the challenge the thing presents...?

Chris, Nikon SP Ignorant and..... maybe happy that way...
canonetc

At this point, it's a legend.

Simply put, it's a nice camera. The finder is pretty good, if not as bright as the contemporary Leica, but the internal 35mm/28mm finder allowed Nikon to use a 1:1 finder (yes, you can easily keep both eyes open) for focusing and lenses of 50mm and longer. The finder has bright-frames that the user selects in a manner that confuses some and who's adherents love.
There was no meter.
The lens mount itself was only partially compatible with the design it copied- allowing one to use lenses for the Contax line of rangefinders of 35mm and shorter.
It had a motor hookup.
It was known for being a good "journalist" camera, and there were plenty sold to journalists, but only a couple dozen dozen in black...

In short, it's a nice camera that was produced at the end of an era, arguably the "best" rangefinder to come out of Japan.

Oh! The optics were pretty good, too!

But that's it. For $7,000 I'd rather buy a Leica and a couple lenses (oh, wait!). Not to say that if the right SP came along, I'd not get it- I've some lenses that'd fit... It's a dream for me too.
 
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