What's the Appeal of a Nikon RF?

Still true for many Chinese & other Asians who had direct experience w/Japan's "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" & its antecedents. My parents, for example, still refuse to purchase a Japanese car (though they have no problem w/German products), & take some pride in the fact that many Japanese branded consumer electronics are now made in China. To back up Al's comments, @ least 1 of my Jewish friends recalls his grandparents similarly boycotting German automobiles.

Getting back to photography, I heartily agree w/Vince's comment that the relative lack of lens choice/availability for the Nikon RFs is not that big a deal for RF-type photography, which isn't so dependent on modern technology, anyway. Same goes for the Contax RFs & lenses. As Vince mentioned, the main technical advances in optics since the era when the Nikon & Contax RFs were still being made have been in improved coatings, glass types, & aspherical elements, which have mostly benefitted zoom lenses & the like, i.e., lenses for SLRs. This isn't to say that modern Leica glass, etc. doesn't have many advantages over the "classic" stuff, just that you will mostly notice them only when shooting wide-open in adverse lighting conditions. The fact that the RF-era Nikon lens designs are still perfectly viable was demonstrated by the reissued & updated "Olympic" 50/1.4 & 35/1.8 (& similarly by Zeiss's new 50/1.5 C Sonnar). The other major advances I can think of have been autofocus & motor drives, which again have mostly helped SLRs to 1st catch up & then exceed RFs in speed of use.

sp9107 said:
the same was felt about Japanese products, it was not until after 1951 that the products bought by americans,
jim
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furcafe said:
....... motor drives, which again have mostly helped SLRs.......
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Kodak planted triple agents posing as an engineer at Nikon, Canon, Minolta and several others to speed the development of motor drives. Rumor has it that they also planed agents in the marketing departments to try and get the public to think that faster motor drives were better.

Now which way was that grassy knoll?

B2 (;->
 
My father will be 87 this year, he was a bomber pilot in WWII and Korea and later was stationed in Japan. He won't buy a Japanese car, but he did buy a MIOJ Nicca with 3 Nikkor lenses when he was there. 🙂
 
digitalintrigue said:
My father will be 87 this year, he was a bomber pilot in WWII and Korea and later was stationed in Japan. He won't buy a Japanese car, but he did buy a MIOJ Nicca with 3 Nikkor lenses when he was there. 🙂
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it is hard to resist the charms of a Nicca camera with a full compliment of fine Nikkor lenses. 🙂


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My father, even with many miles under his feet and seeing way too many of his friends die never had problems with German or Japanese stuff. As was mentioned before by someone else he felt the issue was with the leadership, not the people. He brought back some Leica stuff. My father-in-law added a few extra years and some time in Japan brought back an early Nikon system.

B2
 
I think my father's thoughts about Japanese cars has nothing to do with the war, rather, that he much prefers the old-style big American iron. 🙂

xayraa33, that is a really nice Nicca setup!

My father's was a Type 3, with a 35/3.5, 50/2 collapsible, and a 135/4:

niccaset.jpg
 
digitalintrigue said:
I think my father's thoughts about Japanese cars has nothing to do with the war, rather, that he much prefers the old-style big American iron. 🙂

xayraa33, that is a really nice Nicca setup!

My father's was a Type 3, with a 35/3.5, 50/2 collapsible, and a 135/4:

niccaset.jpg
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Thanks, the Nicca is a rare Type 5 with the vertical back door for easier film loading, unlike the later Nicca/ Tower 45/46 with the Leica M style door.

I got it as a non working model back in 1988, for a costly price, mainly for the lens, but and had it CLAed by an older Leica Tech person who was impressed with its build quality.

The only lens I do not like to lug around in my Nicca kit is the superb "portrait" Nikkor 105/f2.5 lens in LTM.
 
This is really true - my mother refused to buy a BMW or Mercedes for just this reason. I find it is more of an American Jewish thing than other places. In Israel many/most of the taxis are Mercedes and a lot of trade is done with Germany. For among American Jews of that generation, it is a way of saying - we wish we could have donemore, and we still aren't reconciled. somewhat silly, but true.

colker said:
I call bull****. it's the second time you come up w/ BS about jews.
first you accused BH of racism and now this ...idiocy.
i am jewish and i never heard of such thing.
you say nikon gainned a market share because jews would not use a Leica?
some jews would not use a rolleiflex in the 50s?
Avedon?
why would those jews use a japanese camera then?
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digitalintrigue said:
I think my father's thoughts about Japanese cars has nothing to do with the war, rather, that he much prefers the old-style big American iron. 🙂

xayraa33, that is a really nice Nicca setup!

My father's was a Type 3, with a 35/3.5, 50/2 collapsible, and a 135/4:

That type 3 is close to mine- including the collapsible Nikkor 5cm F2. I do not have the 13.5cm/4, but do have the chrome 13.5cm F3.5 in LTM.
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Brian Sweeney said:
digitalintrigue said:
I think my father's thoughts about Japanese cars has nothing to do with the war, rather, that he much prefers the old-style big American iron. 🙂

xayraa33, that is a really nice Nicca setup!

My father's was a Type 3, with a 35/3.5, 50/2 collapsible, and a 135/4:

That type 3 is close to mine- including the collapsible Nikkor 5cm F2. I do not have the 13.5cm/4, but do have the chrome 13.5cm F3.5 in LTM.
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Thanks Brian, Nicca/Tower cameras are a favorite of mine and not only for their Nikkor lens, although originally that is why I bought the first one, the Type 5, but as soon as I got it, I was hooked, after it was CLAed that is.
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You lot are killing me! I have finally just reconciled myself with being part of the Leica camp or more correctly turning my back on my beloved Nikkors and then I read this essay on the Nikon RF system.

There is one thing that is stopping me from joining the Nikon RF family... the CV Nokton 35mm f1.2... if someone could convince Cosina to put the S-mount version in production, I would switch to Nikon tomorrow. I have even had fairly in-depth conversations about converting a Nokton to Nikon RF mount with Mr. Sweeney.

I must agree that the lack of lens selection is not a big deal with a Nikon as I am looking to build my M-mount lens collection around Nikkor LTM lenses. I am finding that I am drifting toward the Nikkor-style lenses in that I prefer to use my J-3 and J-9 most of the time. And will be buying the Nikkor LTM equivalents in the near future.

But ultimately lens selection will keep my firmly in the Leica camp... the CV Nokton 35mm 1.2, the Noctilux, and CV Ultron 28/2... while I could live with never owning or using a Noctilux, I could hardly imagine not having the Nokton 35mm 1.2 or not being able to have access to a fast 28mm. And there are no Nikon RF lenses to replace these.
 
Yes, if you need speed, options are harder to come by. 35/1.8 is a bit away from 35/1.2 but the 1.8 is a stellar lens. There are three 35/1.2 in Nikon mount in existence but doubt anyone could pry them the current owners at any price (Pres. K, Stephen and Tom A.).

I have no clue as to faster 28s. I have to look that Zeiss came out with a 50/1.5 this year makes me think that there might be an option to see something else in the Nikkor S mount at some time in the future, but I think they will be more boutique lens than a entire line the way Pres K did a few years back. I do not know how the 50 is selling but my gut says they are sold out. Perhaps Jon or others can give me a call.

They are a rocking camera. Pick up an S2 and give it a whirl. Bring along your SLR with say a 180/2.8 and a 50/1.4 on the S2. You could go in deep and get an S3-2000....

B2 (;->
 
It'd be nice if we had some new lens, but the old ones are really nice anyway.
For me, The Nikon RF is the equivalent of slow-food vs fast food. If I want to take fast moving sequences of sports events with a 300mm lens, digital can't be beat.
If I want to think about composition , exposure , subject , background, focus, The RF w/o automation helps me.

by the way, I have a spanking new Zeiss 50/1.5 in Nikon S mount available in classifieds
 
Fast wides are where the Nikon RF system is lacking. There are no 28s faster than f/3.5; no 25s or 21s faster than f/4. My compromise always has been carry a 28/3.5 for everyday use and 35/1.8 for instances where speed is essential.
 
The appeal of the Nikon system is this:
jonMit105f25_5.jpg


That lens by itself, out-perfoms any zoom lens by any manufacturer today:angel:
Well over half a century past it's introduction.
It will challenge any Leica or similar lens designed today!

There is the Nikon appeal for you, the 105mm f2.5

Kiu
 
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