S3 2000

Jeffery Smith said:
... What made an aficionado of the Nikon RF is perhaps the least-talked-about feature...the marvelous 50/1.4 lens.
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Excuse me??!!
There is a whole thread!
I tell you Jeffrey.That lens is made for the film you are using!!
B&W 400 speed and Nikkor 1.4

Matched in Heaven:angel:

Kiu
 
NIKON KIU said:
Did you have any doubts??

Kiu
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no doubts at all , in fact with Henry's price reduction and you heading it up on this thread, I would have been surprised if no one had bid on it.

I am just glad that the temptation went away this week by someone buying it.
I would hate to go an other 6 days with this black S3, at an even lower price tickling my fancy.
too much to bear.
 
B&H Inventory Tracking

B&H Inventory Tracking

I was keeping an eye on how many S3's B&H had in stock. I would check once a week or so (just put in a Qty, if it's more than 2 but equal to or less than their stock level, you get a "max purchase of 2" error, if it's more than 2 AND more than what they have in stock, you get an "insufficient stock" error).

It looked like this:
1/23/2007 6
1/24/2007 6
1/25/2007 6
1/26/2007 5
1/28/2007 5
1/30/2007 5
2/1/2007 5
2/12/2007 4
2/21/2007 4
3/7/2007 4
3/9/2007 3
3/14/2007 2
3/14/2007 1
3/20/2007 1
3/23/2007 0

...when it got down to only 2 new S3's left in stock, my trigger finger hit the button and I bought mine. (on 3/14) It still sits undisturbed in the factory shrink wrap, I havent had the nerve to open it yet...
 
I know what you mean. It would always be nice to have enough $$ to buy an extra one of everything and keep it in the shrinkwrap just in case. With the S3 2000, one can argue that it was never intended to be actually used anyway. But even if you feel hesitant to load up your first roll of film into it, you can always take the lens off and stick it on an S2.

But it is better to take a look at Garry Winogrand's M4 and say to yourself that your new S3 2000 will look like that some day, and it will still work!

Take a look at Garry's camera (after he died). :angel:

http://www.cameraquest.com/LeicaM4G.htm
 
to NRFB or not to NRFB... that is the question

to NRFB or not to NRFB... that is the question

...well I have a well-loved M3 that I can play with, but it really needs to be sent in for a cleaning and re-cal. Plus the meter stopped working (not the type that needs a battery). (My father bought this camera new in 195?)

Does my Nikon Nikonos V count as a rangefinder camera? I guess it doesn't technically.

I am a Zeiss employee and probably should buy a new Ikon for my camera pile, mainly because I can get them at about 45% of MSRP. But then it's really a Cosina, so I'm not that excited about it. But probably will anyway. Maybe a black Ikon would fullfill my desire to get a black S3, which seems impossible to do without buying one from outside of the states and then what do you have to pay for customs?

I really need a good hand-held meter to use with my M3 and S3. I see a Sekonic at B&H for $94. Looks small and simple (and reliable). Maybe that would do the trick.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=WishList.jsp&A=details&Q=&sku=200224&is=REG

Sorry, I'm rambling... but the bottom line is (literally), if only a rare-few people on this planet will own an S3-2000, then only a rarer-few will open it and use it. I plan to be in this group. I can only hope that when I go, my S3 will look somewhat worn (loved).
 
Hey!
Fer cryin' out loud, open the camera and start using it!

I also use the $94 Sekonic handheld. Wonderful meter, good fit with the S3-2000.

I just got back from a work conference. I stopped over a few hours at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and shot four rolls with my S3-2000. They're really wonderful cameras (I also own an original S3 -- it was my favorite until the S3-2000 came along last year).
 
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The guy next to me on my flight back from Minnesota got real curious about my S3-2000. I was taking photos through the window with a CV 35mm and he asked what I was using. I told him it's an old Nikon rangefinder. He then said it didn't look old to him. Then I had to explain it was a new release of a 1950s camera. Then he asked, "why would they do that?" Then I told him that they're really nice cameras and work great. Then he said, "but everyone is going digital these days." Sigh......I asked the flight attendant for a drink.........
 
As Brian mentioned, I've covered most of the frontplate with black tape. I also couldn't stand the DayGlo shutter-speed dial and swapped it with an old F dial, which has earth tones.

The bits of tape on the top deck is something they did with convoy ships in World War I to reduce the chances of being spotted at long distance by a submarine -- random shapes to break up a familiar pattern.


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dscottdavis said:
It still sits undisturbed in the factory shrink wrap, I havent had the nerve to open it yet...
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I was like that when I got my SP 2005. Took me a few weeks to get the nerve up to take it out of the box. Then I put some film through it and discovered how good the 35/1.8 was. Great little lens 😎

I've advanced to the stage where I got a filter stuck on it last weekend and took it to the Nikon Service Center. The staff there were VERY surprised to see the lens, but were even more impressed that I was using it. I got VIP-like treatment 😀

Break that S3 2000 out of the box, and use it! Once you see how good that Millenium 50/1.4 is you won't look back!
 
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Every now and then, someone will ask if my camera is a Leica. My standard reply, with a shrug, is, "No, it's just an old Nikon from the 1950s." That usually works quite well. If the conversation turns to digital, I'll say that I haven't yet decided to spend enough money on a digital camera that would take pictures as well as the old Nikon.
 
Fred, the Nikon Historical Society Webmaster, claims all original RF and F shutter-speed dials were Lime Green and Pink. That hasn't been my experience.

Fred spent more time in the 1960s than I did.

My two original RF dials are quite faded. The F dial, which I swapped onto the S3-2000, spent a lot of its life under an FTn prism and so does not seem to have faded. I have to believe those are the original colors. I have another parts F somewhere that also has the earth-tone dial. Finally, my F2 (not pictured) has a similar darker green under its DP1 prism.

The shutter-speed dial on the S3-2000 is certainly very groovy. But I just couldn't take it. Within a day of owning it, I had swapped it out.

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dscottdavis said:
Sorry, I'm rambling... but the bottom line is (literally), if only a rare-few people on this planet will own an S3-2000, then only a rarer-few will open it and use it...
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Not a chance!!!
This is a camera made in the 21st century!!
It is not collectible YET!!!
there are so many of them around,they dropped the price of the originals!!!
Put some film in there...the "sealed" packaging makes little difference!
Some have 3 of 'em!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Easy to get and cheaper than Zeiss!!!
Who makes Zeiss these days???

Kiu

Kiu
 
There were approximately 14,000 original S3s. There are approximately 10,000 S3-2000s. So the marketplace is flooded with S3s.
 
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