Show Off Your Nikon RF

Now I know why I think the black S2 looks odd. It is because it looks like it has its top cut off.

It is apparent when I see the photo of the black S2, above Tom's black SP.

The black SP has the Nikon name lower from the top, and there is a respectable top portion with the long viewfinder window. This gives the front view a nice balance.

....Vick
 
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This one I know is coming along. My S3 Olympic, nice titanium shutter so less chance of a sunburn! Lens most likely the C Sonnar 50f1.5 as it has the best rendition in black/white.
Still have to pick a 3rd body, possibly a F with the 12f5.6 Heliar (could get the whole of Notre Dame in from a short distance) - or another SP or S3 as a back-up with the F-S adapter. Things like this takes time - and 4-5 weeks is not that long for all the "testing".
 
Vickko said:
Now I know why I think the black S2 looks odd. It is because it looks like it has its top cut off.
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Well, I admit that a black S2 looks somewhat strange. But I love that low sihouette and the beautiful logo just above the lens.
Black SP's and S3's look like they are blown up like a balloon. The nice sharp edges on the top of the S2 became rounded on the SP and S3. That makes the SP's and S3's look fat. They suffer from obesitas. Their logo's look insipid and are mis-placed.

Erik.
 
Erik van Straten said:
The nice sharp edges on the top of the S2 became rounded on the SP and S3. That makes them look fat. They suffer from obesitas. Their logo's look insipid and are mis-placed.

Erik.
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:eek:　.......... :D;) I think that a black S2 is the best looking Nikon RF camera, comes close to a BP M2.
 
Nikon s2 in black

Nikon s2 in black

The s2 in black is , in my opinion the nicest
Looking Nikon rf .
It is about double the price of a black s3 or sp now , as
Few were made
There is a real nice one eBay right now with an all black,5 cm 1.4 .
$12000 is a lot though
 
enasniearth said:
The s2 in black is , in my opinion the nicest
Looking Nikon rf .
It is about double the price of a black s3 or sp now , as
Few were made
There is a real nice one eBay right now with an all black,5 cm 1.4 .
$12000 is a lot though
Click to expand...

Nah.
In my opinion its either a black S3 or SP.
 
Speaking about appearances only, it is in the black S2 that I see the strongest resemblance to the black Contax I, the Contax RF camera IMHO is one that you either hate or love. Then with the advent of the SP, I clearly saw the bold departure of Nikon as a mimicker of that German camera, to a role of camera innovator. I can understand intellectually that the change in these roles had started much earlier but the eye appeal of Nikon did not begin for me until the SP. After my introduction to the SP, I was then able to revisit the earlier Nikons with a different eye.
 
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My current "walk-about" kit. S2 Bd and SC Skopar 25f4 and S3 Olympic with VC S Nokton 50f1.5. I am shooting with ORWO's UN 54, a 100 iso moviestock. I am also experimenting with Pyrocat HD as a semi stand developer (40 min). This was shot with Pan F+ though, rated at 50 and developed with the ORWO in stand development. I suspect the Pan F+ is getting a bit beyond user date though.
 
goodtimes said:
what is the difference between the S2 black dial and standard dial
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The crome dial and black dial S2's are, apart from the color of their controls, exactly the same. However, the white numerals on the black dials are much easier to read. The black dials are newer and have a more modern look.

Erik.
 
As Eric said. The black Dial and the chrome Dial are identical - but the black dial is easier to use in bright sunlight. The chrome glares enough that it can be difficult to see shutter speed and/or distance markings on the focussing scale. Not a big deal - but an excuse for getting a black Dial one!
This particular one is very nice and smooth - was serviced a couple of years ago, and it doesn't have the rather loud "clack" when triggered that some older, "unserviced" S2's can have.
 
Tom A said:
This particular one is very nice and smooth - was serviced a couple of years ago, and it doesn't have the rather loud "clack" when triggered that some older, "unserviced" S2's can have.
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But an S2 is never as silent as an M. It has a special brake in its mechanism that makes the typical sound. I found this description on the web:

"With the increase in speed of shutter curtain came larger rebounds when the shutter stopped. As a result, the image became 'chipped' and belt-shaped reexposuring was prone to occur. This is where the idea to employ a pendulum-type brake was conceived. When the shutter curtain is drawn, a 'weight', which has the same mass as the curtain, hits and stops the curtain.
You might have heard of this mechanism someplace else..... that's right, this mechanism is used in one portion of the Nikon F5's mirror-bounce protection. It is referred to as a 'mirror balancer' in a Nikon F5 catalogue, as well as in articles that appeared in a technical guide. This terminology, however, is not altogether accurate. A more correct term would be 'mass brake used for a mirror'. The word 'balancer' comes from the idea of a brake spindle which was designed with emphasis placed on weight balance, so that the brake would work exactly the same no matter the direction or position of the camera. This innovation, of course, found its way into the F5 following its success in the Nikon S2.
The 'flick' sound made when the shutter of S2 is released is made by this mechanism."

Very interesting, but I've never seen an illustration of how it works.

Erik.
 
This month's copy of the Nikon Historical Society magazine details the S2 shutter, and describes the brake in detail. Very very interesting read, for an engineer like me.
 
goodtimes said:
apart from the difference in color, what is the difference between the S2 black dial and standard dial please ?
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There are actually a couple of minor differences between chrome dial and black dial S2s that I know of.

* The film pressure plate on chrome dial S2 backs is shorter than the film pressure on black dial S2 backs. Although the changeover from short to long pressure plate most likely happened late in the chrome dial run rather than at the changeover from chrome dials to black dials.

* The flash trigger is wired a little differently on black dial S2s. I don't remember the details well, but I think its possible to fire the flash on a chrome dial S2 just by pressing the shutter release button, regardless of whether the film has been advanced or not. On black dial S2s, the flash can only be fired after the film has been advanced.

There's probably a few more minor internal differences, but nothing that effects operation of the camera.
 
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Nikon S2 B/D with C Sonnar 50mm F1.5 S







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Nikon SP with S Heliar 50mm F3.5


I added some gears to my arsenal!

S heliar looks very funny but it showed impressive performance and C Sonnar 50mm F1.5 S, it's really beautiful lens indeed. So Millenium Nikkor is away from its desk. :D
 
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