Photos with New 50mm Nikkor on S3-2000

[VinceC]

Here are some test shots from the past weekend using my new S3-2000 and its 50mm f/1.4 multicoated Nikkor. This lens was a big reason I bought the camera, and I'm not yet disappointed. The 4th and 5th shot are wide open. The 2nd and 3rd shot use a 2-stop neutral-density filter to get an aperture of f/ 2 outdoors in the sun, backlit at 1/1000.

No hood (I was testing for flare). Fuji 400 print film.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Nice. I'm looking forward to this camera and LENS. That latter is what pushed me over the edge. Figure the price of an Olympic 50/1.4 AND the odds of finding one. The lens may wind up on an SP and the S3-2000 with a Mint original.

I can never leave things the way they started.

 

[furcafe]

Some of my shots w/the same lens:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/furcafe/tags/nipponkogaku5014nikkorss32000olympic/

 

[FrankS]

Vince, your last shot has beautiful, almost magical ighting. Nice!

 

[VinceC]

Thanks, Frank. We've lately had some beautiful winter late afternoons, so that shot had a lot more to do with the light than the lens.

Here are a few more shots from my second roll. The lens is everything I expected it to be. Haven't had a chance to shoot bright point sources of light at night. That will come next.

 

[IGMeanwell]

Excellent!!! Gotta love that Nikkor glass .... just smooth and sharp

 

[xayraa33]

that is a superb piece of glass Vince, very nice photos.

 

[Simon Larbalestier]

Vince
The shot of what looks like the interior of a museum and the final shot (#5) of the first set you posted are wonderful.
Great light and i like the 3d quality the lens has when shot wide open.
I've always shot mine with B/W film so it's great to see something in colour @1.4
Thanks for posting.


Simon

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Well, I'm looking forward to this lens. It is the main reason why I broke down and bought a new Nikon. Don't be looking for me to change faceplates on it. Or quit using the Sonnars.

I've seen this lens fetch $1,000 by itself on EBay. A lot of SP-2005 owners will probably buy S3-2000's to get the lens, if they do not have one already.

 

[varjag]

Yes, the last one in the first series rocks. The lens is apparently a great instrument in hands of a capable shooter.

 

[VinceC]

Thanks for the nice comments.

I'm glad a few people are starting to post photos taken by this new lens. Nikon S3s of any millennium are great user cameras, and this lens seems to be one of the best RF Nikkors. (And the original 50mm Nikkor from the 1950s was certainly no slouch either).

 

[furcafe]

FWIW, here's an example of how the new Nikkor-S handles streetlights, etc. (Fuji Neopan 1600, 1/15th sec. @ f/2):

http://static.flickr.com/34/102372112_74eee91bae_o.jpg

Haven't had a chance to shoot bright point sources of light at night. That will come next.

 

[VinceC]

Nice streetlamp!

I did shoot one frame at a nighttime tennis court a couple of weekends ago while racing around with the kids. I totally overexposed the very bright arc-lights. It did show some optical circles, though nothing as dramatic is the rings on older Sonnar designs. I'll try to post the example tonight or tomorrow morning. It's on my home computer.

 

[furcafe]

Thanks. The streetlamps on the National Mall cast these cool circular shadows. The only flare I've gotten w/the new Nikkor-S is regular veiling flare, & only when spotlights were shining on the lens, e.g.,

http://static.flickr.com/34/102451348_f7c325790f_o.jpg

Otherwise, it seems to handle stage lighting quite well:

http://static.flickr.com/26/102460769_a9005d1244_o.jpg

Nice streetlamp!

I did shoot one frame at a nighttime tennis court a couple of weekends ago while racing around with the kids. I totally overexposed the very bright arc-lights. It did show some optical circles, though nothing as dramatic is the rings on older Sonnar designs. I'll try to post the example tonight or tomorrow morning. It's on my home computer.

 

[VinceC]

I'm extremely impressed with how it handles point light. This is the worst I've been able to induce, and I also had a 40-year-old filter on front of it, so that may have caused some of the ring reflections. I'm pretty sure a 1950s lens would have been wiped off the map in this light. (The orange out of focus triangle in the lower right is a traffic cone or something, not an optical effect).

 

[raid]

Vince,
The photos are beautiful, and I am impressed by the shooter and the lens. Very nice indeed. If I could sell some equipment and ... you know the rest well.

 

[Trius]

Wow, nice lens. And good shots, Vince. I really like the one of the living room in the late afternoon light. Luscious tonality and colours.

 

[flipflop]

Just wondering how much you paid for your camera kit? And where you bought it from...also do you know how many of these were made?

Thanks

 

[VinceC]

Thanks, Raid. I've been enjoying your photos as well.

I used to say that being a photographer is a lot like being a gunslinger. You have to keep practicing constantly, keep your timing at its peak, because you never know when you're going to need to be ready for that split-second moment. I used to have a job where I was shooting almost daily. Then I fell into a writing job and spent several years doing very little photography. And before I realized what had happened, my eye and timing has slipped terribly. I have to admit that when I stumbled across this forum about a year ago, it helped me rediscover photography. And trying to keep up with my daughters has given me back some of my sense of timing.

 

[VinceC]

Flipflop,
Several forum members in recent weeks/months have bought the S3-2000 w/ lens kit at B&H photo for $2,295. Not cheap, but cheaper than a new equivalent Leica and about on par with a Zeiss Ikon and lens (but a stop faster). There appear to have been about 10,000 of the new S3s made. About 14,000 original S3s were made in the late 1950s/early 1960s.