Thank Leica for the Nikon S3 2000

[Huss]

I've never hold one in my hands, but I prefer the S2 to the original S3 or SP. This has to do with the fact that for the S3 and SP no correction lenses are available for the eyepiece. For the S2 these are difficult to find, but I have a couple of them.

Erik.

This is my S2.

Dang that is nice looking.

 

[CameraQuest]

?
Still says they reissued because of the popularity of Leicas.

Jon is a professional Japanese to English Translator.

I trust Jon's take on what is the most accurate translation.

Stephen

 

[Huss]

Jon is a professional Japanese to English Translator.

I trust Jon's take on what is the most accurate translation.

Stephen

Jon's:
In the spring of 1994, the popularity of
classic cameras such as Leica was extremely high, so Mito Nikon started a new project to reissue a camera
recognized as the pinnacle of Nikon, a rangefinder camera.

Nikon's:
In the spring of 1994, driven by the surge of enthusiasm for Leica and other classic cameras, Mito Nikon initiated a new project to
reproduce a Nikon's rangefinder camera which had once enjoyed great popularity for its outstanding performance.

Both say that the reason for the S3 2000 project was Leica. So thank you Leica for giving us the S3 2000!

 

[Hogarth Ferguson]

I had a Nikon S3 sometime in 2013, this is what I consider to be the most beautiful camera ever made (personal opinion, no need to tell me I'm wrong). But, the RF patch, arguably the most important part in the camera, was so dim that using the camera was not even close to a joy. I sold it and always wanted another.

Recently, while trying to sell my gf670 as I barely used it, someone offered me a trade for a boxed s3 2000, so I figured I'd go for it. I'd prefer the camera to have a meter, but I think I'll manage with the VCii I have.

My only real complaint about the camera is that the 50mm seems very front heavy, whereas other RF cameras and even other RF lenses for this camera, have a more robust way of mounting.

The camera does not feel as solid as a brick as a leica, and the focus throw is massive, but it is an awesome, beautiful, well built, and fun camera to use.

 

[css9450]

Jon's:
In the spring of 1994, the popularity of
classic cameras such as Leica was extremely high...

Nikon's:
In the spring of 1994, driven by the surge of enthusiasm for Leica and other classic cameras...

I must be missing something. Was 1994 a particularly well-selling year for the M6? I tend to think that even if Leica had abandoned the M line in 1975, Nikon still would have made the S3 2000.

 

[Keith]

Any company will be inspired by the actions of it's competitors but giving credit to Leica for the Nikon RF rebirth is stretching it for me. It's a bit like thanking Audi for the Subaru WRX.

 

[jonmanjiro]

Jon's:
In the spring of 1994, the popularity of
classic cameras such as Leica was extremely high, so Mito Nikon started a new project to reissue a camera
recognized as the pinnacle of Nikon, a rangefinder camera.

Nikon's:
In the spring of 1994, driven by the surge of enthusiasm for Leica and other classic cameras, Mito Nikon initiated a new project to
reproduce a Nikon's rangefinder camera which had once enjoyed great popularity for its outstanding performance.

Both say that the reason for the S3 2000 project was Leica. So thank you Leica for giving us the S3 2000!

Semantics man, semantics! Classic cameras including (but not limited to) Leica. The early to mid 1990s was the peak of the bubble in Japan, and all the guys in their 40s and 50s who were feeling rich were buying up all the cameras they couldn't afford to buy when they were younger. Neither translation is referring to the M6

Interesting back story to this translation (well, as far as I'm concerned). I think it was about 2007 or so when this article and the one on the SP 2005 were posted in Japanese on the now defunct Nikon archives website (the articles have long since been deleted). Since the articles contained a wealth of information I expected English translations to follow soon after, but none did so almost a year later I translated them myself and posted them on the NHS website. Shortly afterwards, I casually mentioned my translations to the guy in charge of the Nikon archives, and he responded by telling me to take them down. Ooops, that didn't go as planned. Anyway, I did, but before I did, he copied them and used them as a base for his own translations, which are on the Nikon website to this day. Oh well, and least those translations turned out better than the translations that usually get posted.

BTW most Nikon collectors consider the SP to be the pinnacle of Nikon RFs. After copping so much flak for making a reissue of the lowly S3 instead of an SP, Nikon ended up having to appease its fans and make a reissue SP anyway. Oh and the SP has parallax correction.

 

[Huss]

Semantics man, semantics! Classic cameras including (but not limited to) Leica. The early to mid 1990s was the peak of the bubble in Japan, and all the guys in their 40s and 50s who were feeling rich were buying up all the cameras they couldn't afford to buy when they were younger. Neither translation is referring to the M6

Interesting back story to this translation (well, as far as I'm concerned). I think it was about 2007 or so when this article and the one on the SP 2005 were posted in Japanese on the now defunct Nikon archives website (the articles have long since been deleted). Since the articles contained a wealth of information I expected English translations to follow soon after, but none did so almost a year later I translated them myself and posted them on the NHS website. Shortly afterwards, I casually mentioned my translations to the guy in charge of the Nikon archives, and he responded by telling me to take them down. Ooops, that didn't go as planned. Anyway, I did, but before I did, he copied them and used them as a base for his own translations, which are on the Nikon website to this day. Oh well, and least those translations turned out better than the translations that usually get posted.

BTW most Nikon collectors consider the SP to be the pinnacle of Nikon RFs. After copping so much flak for making a reissue of the lowly S3 instead of an SP, Nikon ended up having to appease its fans and make a reissue SP anyway. Oh and the SP has parallax correction.

Excellent and interesting back story! I wonder if you could have been paid as they used your work?
it is interesting that for both they produced the black versions - in smaller numbers - a little while later. The silver is nice, but the black - oh my.

 

[Huss]

Any company will be inspired by the actions of it's competitors but giving credit to Leica for the Nikon RF rebirth is stretching it for me. It's a bit like thanking Audi for the Subaru WRX.

Did Subaru write that they built the WRX because of Audi? No.
But Nikon did write that they built the S3 2000 because of the popularity of Leica. In both Jon's and Nikon's translations.
😉

 

[raid]

So Nikon did a marketing decision with an eye on their competitors. Nothing wrong about it.

 

[css9450]

But Nikon did write that they built the S3 2000 because of the popularity of Leica. In both Jon's and Nikon's translations.

They also wrote "and other classics". The author could have just as easily mentioned any number of other brands instead of Leica.

 

[KEVIN-XU 愛 forever]

I think the success of Leica reminds Nikon that they also have their glory back in the golden age of the analog camera. They need to reissue the best cameras they have in their heyday, which are the legendary Nikon S RF cameras. To tell the new generation that Nikon also has a long history and have something as good as Leica.

 

[Keith]

Paul Simon never wrote any song that mentioned a Leica ... 😀

 

[Huss]

Paul Simon never wrote any song that mentioned a Leica ... 😀

Who's Paul Simon?

😀

 

[css9450]

Who's Paul Simon?

Singer, songwriter, former Illinois senator.... 😉

 

[rob.nyc1]

I have an SP 2005 (all original kit, 35mm included), and the 2000 Millennium 50mm f1.4.

It's really a dream setup...brand new Nikon film RF. Also has 1.0X magnification for the 50mm.

I'm committed to this rig for as long as it lasts in my lifetime. The only hesitation is that the new lenses are so absurdly rare, that should anything happen to them, the rig is toast.

With a Leica you could just go out and pick up another lens no problem.

 

[Ste_S]

I think the success of Leica reminds Nikon that they also have their glory back in the golden age of the analog camera. They need to reissue the best cameras they have in their heyday, which are the legendary Nikon S RF cameras. To tell the new generation that Nikon also has a long history and have something as good as Leica.

I wonder if Nikon have ever considered re-releasing the F or F2 ? 50th anniversary of the F2 in 2021 - and also my 50th birthday. Come on Nikon, make it happen !

 

[Erik van Straten]

My only real complaint about the camera is that the 50mm seems very front heavy.

The original "All black Nikkor" 50mm f/1.4 from 1953 (see above) only weights 116 grams = 4.0917107583772 ounce.


Erik.

 

[Archlich]

I think the success of Leica reminds Nikon that they also have their glory back in the golden age of the analog camera. They need to reissue the best cameras they have in their heyday, which are the legendary Nikon S RF cameras. To tell the new generation that Nikon also has a long history and have something as good as Leica.

I don't think Leica itself was that successful back in the early '90s.

It's the enthusiasm toward Leica and rangefinder cameras alike in the domestic (Japanese) market at the time that drove Nikon into making the S3 2000. it was the bubble age, during which cameras were made titanium-clad, and ultra expensive. It's natural that Leica became fashionable during such times, just like the way it is now in China.

As we all know it, Nikon was not the only one trying to ride the trend. Pentax, Ricoh, Minolta and Konica all released limited, L39 screw mount lenses. Smaller makers like Avenon/Kobalux (the maker behind is called Abe Kogaku if memory serves) became active during this time. Yasuhara, Konica and Cosina began to contemplate leica mount rangefinders, the later two went on to become full systems. Kyocera, being ambitious, had its own vision realized.

This also explains why Canon never joined the rangefinder or point & shoot race, nor did they ever seem to feel the need to address the brand's glorious heritage "back in the golden age of analogue cameras". Unlike Nikon, they were not losing ground to new technologies....they were the cutting edge, the king of today, not yesterday. That alone became their identity.

Leica sat through all these. All they did was keep making the M6.

 

[splitimageview]

That’s an accurate description. There was energy in the niche at the time, but none of it generated by Leica.