S3 2000

>> I wish that Zeiss Ikon had made Contax IIa commemorative rangefinders instead of outsourcing the ZI to Cosina.<<

I'm not sure anyone would buy a commemorative Contax IIa. There are plenty of originals around in close to mint condition for just a few hundred dollars, whereas a new one would cost perhaps $3,000 to $4,000 to build and sell. Nikon's S3 and SP commemorative cameras appear to be a labor of love that pays hommage to Nikon history and tradition. Zeiss's corporate history and tradition is very different.
 
Hey, I wish I could nail Julia Roberts, but that doesn't mean it's doable. 🙂 Wishes are for things like daydreams. Nobody brings an accountant into a wish.
The Contax IIa suffers from an overly complex shutter that could be built in Japan and assembled in China. But it would be better off with a focal plane cloth shutter. The new ZI would be better off with a focal plane cloth shutter. I bless my lucky stars that Nikon was willing to produce an S3 that cost them money rather than made them money. I suppose my point is, if you're going to do it, do it right. Everything in the ZI is great, other than the shutter. Put a good shutter in it, and charge $300 more. The camera body is a film holder, a rangefinder, and a shutter. Holding the film is the easy part, and you really did great on the rangefinder part. Work on that shutter. 🙂 I can do without the light meter. I've got one of those in my shirt pocket. Don't build the best viewfinder/rangefinder in the history of photography and then skimp on the shutter. Good shutters have been around for 50 years. Don't reinvent a wheel and make it worse. Go with what works.

You are certainly right that a rolltop desk Contax IIa is not a great investment for a company. I wish Contax (Kyocera) had gone with a rangefinder Contax G2 instead of an autofocus G2. The lenses would have been cheaper to make, and the body could have been doable. But keep in mind that guys like us like manual focus rather than autofocus. And there are just too few of us who really love manual photography to make it profitable in a P&S age.
 
Jeffery Smith said:
I wish it had a lens that wasn't quite so wide. The 28mm equivalent is fine for many things but not for others. A 40mm equivalent would have been a bit more in line with my needs.
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A 40mm equivalent would have been fine, and 28mm is fine by me too... but why must it be so awful slow at f/4? Seems to me f/2 wouldn't have made it much bigger, if any, and offered more of that "creative control" they talk about on the site.
 
Reliability & Commitment?

Reliability & Commitment?

If you were a rank amateur with the knowledge you now have about the ZI would you choose a ZI again, stay with Bessa's or move to a Leica?
 
why-o-why I know that I will end up buying another early Kiev and probably in a few years a Nikon-S camera... For the moment I am very content with the Contax-IIIa and the wonderful 21/4 Skopar. it seems that the camera has taken a youth cure with this lens! Did I spoke about the spot-on lightmeter ?

I would tend to think as Jeffery Smith regarding the new ZI. At least dreams don't cost us any money 😉
 
>>If you were a rank amateur with the knowledge you now have about the ZI would you choose a ZI again, stay with Bessa's or move to a Leica?<<

I'd stick with Nikon ... better built than Bessa and have stood the test of time (50 to 60 years). This is, after all, a thread about the Nikon S3 camera.
 
If I had it all to do over again and had $1,400 to spend on a camera or cameras, I would probably buy the best M6 I could find. From comments of others who have Bessas and ZI's, I seem to have worse luck with those cameras than most others. I have no issues with Bessa lenses or Zeiss Ikon lenses. I really don't have issues with those camera bodies other than their fragile shutters.

Now, if someone came to me and said that their son/daughter wanted to get into 35mm film photography, and they wanted my advice on what to buy, I would be inclined to tell them to get a Bessa and a Voigtlander lens. If he/she liked rangefinder photography, then they could save up for an M6 with a Zeiss Ikon Planar.
 
tick, tick, tick....

tick, tick, tick....

message found stuck to front door this afternoon "UPS attempted delivery....will redeliver tomorrow....sender KEH, Atlanta" 🙁 😀
 
...I don't know what he's waiting for, but UPS is supposed to deliver my B&H $94 Sekonic today. Then there's the issue of the shrink-wrapped S3 to deal with. Hmmmmm.....
 
there ain't enough O's in SMOOTH...

there ain't enough O's in SMOOTH...

Couldn't wait for UPS to come tomorrow, so I dragged my butt through rush hour from Arlington to the Alexandria UPS terminal............



http://farm1.static.flickr.com/221/447776083_31e8d4bcce_o.jpg



It doesn't have the outer gold box or the manual...but it was $556 less than what I would have paid B & H if they hadn't sold out. 😀


Anyone know where I can snag an S3-2000 manual, I do like things to be complete if possible.....but I'll live with if I can't 😉
 

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csxcnj said:
Couldn't wait for UPS to come tomorrow, so I dragged my butt through rush hour from Arlington to the Alexandria UPS terminal............



http://farm1.static.flickr.com/221/447776083_31e8d4bcce_o.jpg



It doesn't have the outer gold box or the manual...but it was $556 less than what I would have paid B & H if they hadn't sold out. 😀


Anyone know where I can snag an S3-2000 manual, I do like things to be complete if possible.....but I'll live with if I can't 😉
Click to expand...

NICE ONE 🙂

The S3 Limited Edition Black and the SP 2005 come in a gold box, but the S3 2000 doesn't because it wasn't sold with the camera case as standard. The gold box holds the outer (cardboard) and inner (printed) camera boxes plus the camera case box.

As long as you've got the cardboard outer box and the printed inner box (pictured) you've got the original S3 2000 boxes.

I have a Japanese language S3 2000 manual I can copy for you? 😀 Just kidding! I'm sure someone will help out with an English language one.

When you get the chance to use that fine Millenium 50/1.4, post some pics for us 🙂
 
Nikon S3 Manual

Nikon S3 Manual

I'll try to find mine and copy it for you. But you don't really need it. The most important thing to remember is that you don't slide the back on the body of the camera. You place it against the back of the body and push it up the 1/2" or so necessary to seat it. I hope that made sense. You do have to slide it a bit, but don't give the pressure plate the opportunity to ram against something on the body.

I know what you mean about the UPS delay. Like being told at the last minute that Christmas was December 26 when you were 10 years old. And I never want to give them an additional day to lose it.
 
jonmanjiro said:
NICE ONE 🙂

The S3 Limited Edition Black and the SP 2005 come in a gold box, but the S3 2000 doesn't because it wasn't sold with the camera case as standard. The gold box holds the outer (cardboard) and inner (printed) camera boxes plus the camera case box.

As long as you've got the cardboard outer box and the printed inner box (pictured) you've got the original S3 2000 boxes.

I have a Japanese language S3 2000 manual I can copy for you? 😀 Just kidding! I'm sure someone will help out with an English language one.

When you get the chance to use that fine Millenium 50/1.4, post some pics for us 🙂
Click to expand...

Yes it is 😀

I have just the inner printed box, didn't know the outer box was just cardboard...

Having the manual in Japanese would be fun, I could give it to my brother to translate, then compare what he came up with with the English version...see if he's been paying attention in class🙂

Got a roll in 'er already.....I really wish B & W came in 12 shot rolls....
 
Jeffery Smith said:
I'll try to find mine and copy it for you. But you don't really need it. The most important thing to remember is that you don't slide the back on the body of the camera. You place it against the back of the body and push it up the 1/2" or so necessary to seat it. I hope that made sense. You do have to slide it a bit, but don't give the pressure plate the opportunity to ram against something on the body.

I know what you mean about the UPS delay. Like being told at the last minute that Christmas was December 26 when you were 10 years old. And I never want to give them an additional day to lose it.
Click to expand...

That would be mighty nice of you...

Got the no sliding down...lots of practice with my F-FTN....

Waiting for Christmas is EXACTLY what this last several days has felt like 🙄

Say Jeffery, didn't you just buy two new S3 kits......😀 , hmmmm, if ya ever want to part with that "spare" manual I'm your man, just ping me...
 
A trick I learned reading the manual is that you can set shutter speeds in between the full speeds. So I do a lot of shooting at 1/12, 1/22 and 1/45 (half-stop shutter speeds) when I'm in bad low-light conditons.
 
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