I bought a Nikon S about sixty years ago and used it briefly to do what I still consider my best street work in New York. I regretted selling the camera and thought about replacing it ever since. So, I bought one on ebay from a guy named Igor in Cleveland.
The camera looked almost like new except for a couple bumps on the leather on the back. The only functional issue was a very slight vertical misalignment of the rangefinder. Fixing that requires taking off the front panel to get at the adjustment port.
The little oval hole next to the viewfinder window on the right contains the vertical adjustment mechanism which consists of a set screw to lock the adjustment and a a ridged wheel which is turned to move the image up or down. The adjustment was accomplished easily. The front panel went back on with just a little careful wiggling to get it in place over the rangefinder focusing wheel on the left.
As I expected, the Nikkor-S 1.4/50mm lens yielded nicely sharp results from the first roll of film I got through the camera.
I won't be able to duplicate the kind of work I did with the camera in New York, as pounding the pavement for miles in a day is no longer an option for me. However, I'm still looking forward to becoming reacquainted with an old friend.
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Making horizontal adjustments to the rangefinder is easier. There is a little port in front of the accessory shoe which is accessed by just removing two tiny screws. Horizontal adjustment is accomplished the same way as with the vertical via a set screw and a small toothed wheel.
4 comments:
Isn't it nice to be reunited with a loved camera from your pas?. I will look forward to more images from your Nikon rangefinder.
Yep, looks like it will make some pictures for me. I was a little worried my rf repair would turn it into a doorstop, but I think it will be ok. So, now I've got four Nikons. Not in your league, but I'm getting there.
Nice!! That 50mm ƒ/1.4 was a pride and joy lens from Nikon company. Is it a Sonnar design? If so, it will produce a slightly different appearance than a 6-element Gauss type of lens. I won't comment "sharpness." Of course it is "sharp."
I often get lost in explanations of Nikon lenses. That was true of this one too until I found quite a thorough description of it on Ken Rockwell's website. As he says, it has 7 elements in three groups. The lens itself has no focusing helicoid, the focusing is accomplished by the rotating lens mount.
The lens mount on the Nikon S is a very slightly modified Contax mount. My Jupiter 8 from the Kiev II fits perfectly in the Nikon, Unfortunately, the Jupiter 12 does not, and the Nikkor wide-angle lenses are ultra pricey. I may be able to find a lens shade and a cap for my lens, which will be nice as that big piece of bare glass makes me nervous.
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