What was he shooting with 50/3.5 Micro Nikkor?

[CameraQuest]

OK, so a 1960's era photog has a Nikon rangefinder with 3 lenses including a 50/3.5 Micro Nikkor with focusing collar.
His ONLY filters are for the Micro Nikkor as follows:

Screw in 34.5mm

Nikon L38
Kenko light green K1/52
Kenko salmon LBW 10
Kenko blue LBC 12

Push On
Waltz blue "flash"
Waltz wUV
Waltz yellow Y1
Waltz yellow Y2
Unmarked Close Up Diopter filter

What is odd to me is that if he like filters so much, why not filters for the other lenses too?

Why the focusing collar for the close up outfit (which he presumably had access to) AND the close up diopter?

It seems he was very interested in close up work.

Does this combination of filters indicate any particular type of photography to you?
I was thinking maybe copy work, but not sure why these filters would be used in copy work.

 

[raid]

Could it have been for lab work on X-ray experiments? I am guessing.

 

[wes loder]

He was making a lot of microfilms. Microfilm format is traditionally 18 x 24. The Micro-Nikkor was designed for microfilming (hence the name). Motor drive would have made it easy to do a bunch of pages of whatever he was filming. Would have been an ideal combination.
Reference the Nikon Handbook. Wright has a whole section on using a Nikon RF for microfilming. Cheers, WES

 

[peterm1]

His use of filters does not surprise me too much. Back in the day, when shooting black and white film I loved experimenting with different filter effects on lenses and in particular loved using them on my Leica kit.For example apple green for nice skin tones in portraits, yellow, orange, red and even pink for landscapes. Granted, not all of his filters are those traditionally used with black and white film but that did not stop me either. �� I would often rummage thru my local camera store's odds and sods bin where I would find lots of filters I did not need - mainly for SLRS kit but now and then for rangefinder lenses. And I would often pick them up just because they were cheap and I could not resist.

 

[CameraQuest]

He was making a lot of microfilms. Microfilm format is traditionally 18 x 24. The Micro-Nikkor was designed for microfilming (hence the name). Motor drive would have made it easy to do a bunch of pages of whatever he was filming. Would have been an ideal combination.
Reference the Nikon Handbook. Wright has a whole section on using a Nikon RF for microfilming. Cheers, WES

I think you are right about the micro filming. The first 50/3.5 Micro lens test only tests it for microfilm - nothing else.
Nikon initially claimed the 50/3.5 Micro was an APO lens, but does not seem to stick to that claim later on.

Stephen

 

[Shac]

OK I don't know who - please tell😀. The equipment is seems to be in beautiful condition

 

[charjohncarter]

When I was in post grad school. We had a Leica IIIf or g that we used to copy histological microscope slides. It had some kind of sliding device to frame and focus by eye and then slide the Leica into place. We also used it to copy slides or copy documents onto slides. I don't remember too many goof ups. I remember exposure information was written for each enlargement or 1:1 setting. But as far as filters went I never used them but staining pathological slides with dyes was common so maybe they were using them to emphasize (or diminish) certain colors.

 

[CameraQuest]

OK I don't know who - please tell😀. The equipment is seems to be in beautiful condition

https://cameraquest.com/nrfs3m.htm

 

[BillBingham2]

My guess is nature in B&W. Those filters allow you to shift the rendering of particular colors across the zones to make aspects of insects and such jump out to the view better.

After reading who had it my new guess is different inks on paper. This one I'm sticking to....at least for now.

Nice kit.

B2 (;->

 

[NIKON KIU]

The main clue was that ring flash that fit the micro collar, which is not shown above.
See this thread:
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=153417

The owner was filming secret documents.

The other interesting aspect is that he was using 2 battery packs, even had a voltmeter to make sure he had enough juice.
Now, a few questions, since I answered the OP.
Are those battery packs worn evenly? The pictures posted show about the same wear, the brown one looks a little less used...Did the owner buy a second pack because he broke the first? Do they work? If both of them are working, then he was filming lots of secret documents....

Kiu

 

[sevo]

The main clue was that ring flash that fit the micro collar, which is not shown above.
See this thread:
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=153417

The owner was filming secret documents.

Romantic, but when filming secret documents you'd travel light, and not with a clutter of filters which you might leave behind, to your embarrassment. It is far more likely that it was a medical (or dental) camera - both ring flashes and filters (to differentiate between different tissue types on black and white film) were so heavily used there that Nikon later made F-mount medical lenses with internal ring flash and filters.

 

[CameraQuest]

The main clue was that ring flash that fit the micro collar, which is not shown above.
See this thread:
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=153417

The owner was filming secret documents.

The other interesting aspect is that he was using 2 battery packs, even had a voltmeter to make sure he had enough juice.
Now, a few questions, since I answered the OP.
Are those battery packs worn evenly? The pictures posted show about the same wear, the brown one looks a little less used...Did the owner buy a second pack because he broke the first? Do they work? If both of them are working, then he was filming lots of secret documents....

Kiu

Nice theory about the double battery packs. I think copying documents of some sort is highly likely, especially with the MICRO lens focusing collar, even if the PA copy stand was not in the outfit. He must have had access to one, otherwise why the focusing collar? And yes, the S3M with motor does mount on the Nikon PA copy stand.

Both battery packs work. He may have gotten the brown pack due to the extra batteries and longer motor life.

CLICK HERE for more info on the Nikon S3M and black S72 motor

 

[YouAreHere]

Romantic, but when filming secret documents you'd travel light, and not with a clutter of filters which you might leave behind, to your embarrassment. It is far more likely that it was a medical (or dental) camera - both ring flashes and filters (to differentiate between different tissue types on black and white film) were so heavily used there that Nikon later made F-mount medical lenses with internal ring flash and filters.

Not necessarily. The user may have been stationed on base and the documents brought in, photographed under different filters, and then taken away.

 

[NIKON KIU]

Romantic, but when filming secret documents you'd travel light, and not with a clutter of filters which you might leave behind, to your embarrassment. It is far more likely that it was a medical (or dental) camera - both ring flashes and filters (to differentiate between different tissue types on black and white film) were so heavily used there that Nikon later made F-mount medical lenses with internal ring flash and filters.

This kit was traveling light!!
Back in the early 1960s this was as small as you could get in a 35mm, these were considered miniature cameras, smaller would have been 16mm (sub-miniature). I am getting the feeling you are thinking 21st century terms...

I doubt he was using filters when using the ring flash attached to the collar. The filters were for other applications.

I think the officer used the collar just to use the ring flash, with that set-up, once the aperture is set, it doesn't need to be changed again, not if one is filming page after page of documents.

But then, this is all speculation.


The facts still remain this was a military intelligence officer's kit and his son said it was used for professional and personal assignments. His son also said that Dad was stationed in Japan and Germany during the cold war.

A spy using a motorized Nikon S3M!

That is as romantic as it gets!!


Kiu

 

[CameraQuest]

Circumstantially the accessory shoe is worn, perhaps by the ring flash power pack, yet it appears the ringflash may have been AC powered judging from the size of the wire. There is no need of the collar with the ring flash since the aperture ring is easily accessible.

The collar appears is E++ used, not mint shape, so he probably used the collar with a PA copy stand for copying and micro film.