When I acquired my Kiev IIa about twenty years ago it was not because of its Contax heritage but rather because of its modest price and its resemblance to another Contax copy, a Nikon S which I had foolishly disposed of twenty years earlier. Having now put aside my reluctance to spend what it takes to own the Nikon, I'm pleased to have the opportunity to compare the two Zeiss-inspired designs.
While both cameras clearly show their relation to the original Zeiss Contax, the Nikon exhibits an evolution toward post-war design trends including compactness. The Nikkor 1.4/50mm lens is a stop faster than the Kiev's Jupiter 8, but both are coated Sonnar-type 7-element designs and are interchangeable between the two cameras. The shutter in the Kiev II goes up to 1250/sec while the Nikon tops out at 1/500.
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| Top: Kiev IIa Bottom: Nikon S |
Both cameras have fully removable backs. The Nikon features a fixed take-up spool and a Leica-style horizontal-travel cloth shutter. The Kiev, like the Contax, has a vertical-travel metal slat shutter. Both cameras have combined viewfinder-rangefinder windows. While the front vf/rf widows on the Kiev are larger and wider spaced than those of the Nikon I see little difference in the clarity of the view or rangefinder accuracy.
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| The Kiev IIa Album |
In looking at the pictures the two cameras have produced for me I can really see no great differences in the cameras' handling or in the quality of the images. At the same time I have to admit that the two cameras have been used by me in very different ways.
I've owned the Kiev IIa for about 20 years and it has been pointed at quite a large variety of subjects, sometimes with the Jupiter 8, but most often using the 35mm Jupiter 12 lens, a Zeiss Biogon copy, along with a brilliant wide-angle accessory finder.
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| The Nikon S Album |
My goal now will be to give the Nikon S the chance to see a much broader view of the world than it got in the 1960s.
5 comments:
I am really looking forward to seeing your output from the Nikon S. I have always felt that certain cameras inspire. I think that this Nikon is that for you.
If you re-bond with your new/old Nikon S, you can buy modern Voigtlander SC lenses made specifically for correct focus on the Nikon mount. They appear to be well made and have modern coatings.
I was very pleased with the quality of the images from the Nikon S back in the 1960s, but I had little other experience for comparisons. Now I have a hundred other cameras to compare it to. My hope at this time is that I will be up to doing it justice regardless of comparisons.
I'd like to have a 35mm lens as that is what I've mostly used with the Kiev IIa, but the Jupiter 12 doesn't quite fit. Any of the Voigtlanders or the Nikkor lenses other than the normal 50mm look to be more costly than I am comfortable with at this point. I'm also thinking that just exploring some new subjects with the Nikon may be enough for this time around.
On giving a bit more thought to the topic of cameras I recall that I had six before the Nikon S. My childhood cameras were a Baby Brownie Special and a Hawkeye Flash. An Argus C3 came along at the end of high school. While still in college I bought a Kodak Pony 828. Just before acquiring the Nikon S I got a French Foca 35mm and a Bentzin Primarflex. I think the Nikon S got used more productively than any of the rest because I learned a few important things about the craft of photography while attending the commercial photo school in Manhattan. And now while writing this I recall that I briefly had the use of a Japanese 35mm rangefinder in the early '60s; I don't even recall the make, though it did help me learn a bit about hip shooting.
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