Nikon Rangefinder - The camera that shot Lee Harvey Oswald
by Jonathan Eastland
This story was originally published in Professional Photography magazine in the 1990s. It is reproduced here with some revisions; also, the prices quoted in the text for used items, will not be the same today. Should you consider purchasing a used example of any of the models listed, I recommend a thorough mechanical examination; the shutter blinds and control mechanism can be problematic.
Japanese industry benefitted hugely from allied financial assistance immediately after WWII. Companies there tended to imitate western designs rather than innovate and Nikon, who until this time, were engaged solely in lens manufacture, copied the body shape of the Zeiss Contax rangefinder camera, incorporating its best features along with the rangefinder and focal plane shutter of the Leica IIIc & f for their entry to the 35mm rangefinder market. Success for both the name of the company and its products was assured in short order by the advent of the Korean war.
Two famous photojournalists, David Douglas Duncan and Horace Bristol, both working for LIFE magazine en route to Korea via Japan, discovered Nikon had produced a number of high quality lenses. The two visited the factory and purchased sets for use with their screw thread Leica's. When Duncan returned to the United States he had the Nikkor lenses tested by Eastern Optical Co. LIFE magazine purchased entire outfits of Nikkor lenses on the strength of Duncan's work and the tests. The story was told by Jacob Deschin writing in the New York Times of 10th December 1950 and almost overnight Nikon became a household word in photographic circles.
Today, in a world where curves seem to dominate designer thinking for just about every artifact, the fifty year old angular Nikon S type rangefinder still looks good. Whereas more than a million of the Nikon F reflex camera were produced, the rangefinder models which began with the Mk I in 1946, were produced in somewhat lesser numbers; fewer than 140,000 for all models, which means that now, chrome finished cameras in better than average condition are fetching good prices. Black enamel versions of the S2, SP, S3 and S3M models are so scarce in Europe that even well used examples start at multiplication factors several times that of regular chrome models.
Early models of the marque, the I and the M, made between 1946 (first examples of the I were not released until 1948.) and 1951 are also rare, chiefly because their oddball formats - 24 X 32mm for the I and 24 X 34mm for the M - did not conform to the standard Kodachrome slide size popular in the USA. General MacArthur's Japanese Occupation force refused to grant an export license for these models. The S became the first Nikon model to be marketed in the US, despite being the same in almost every respect to the M. The S was mainly produced in chrome, although a small black enamel batch with special wind and rewind knobs were made for LIFE magazine.
The Nikon S2 was introduced in December 1954, the same year as Leica's M3 camera. The S2 was a formidable workhorse, featuring a film advance and shutter cocking lever wind, simplified advance and rewind clutch collar concentric with the shutter release, a single base plate key type back lock and standard p.c. flash socket. The Contax rapid focus wheel, considered by some to be faster and easier to use than Leica's lens barrel type, was incorporated into the design. The S2 was also the first Nikon to be generally available off the shelf in black enamel.
The 1950s was a boom era for 35mm rangefinder cameras and Leica was not the only thorn in Nikon's side. Zeiss and Canon were both in the top league with fine products. Nikon needed to go one better than the S2.
When the SP was introduced in 1957, the camera's more sophisticated viewing system required a second frosted window to illuminate the projected frame lines for six different focal length lenses. A long front window was installed which changed the Nikon appearance, endowing the new camera with a tough and sleek look. Black enamel transformed the SP still further, increasing demand for it as a leading professional tool; exactly what the 'P' in SP stands for.
Black versions of this camera in mint condition are rare, although quite large numbers exist in private collections. Several have been sold at auction both here and in Germany for prices in excess of £4,500. A fairly ordinary chrome SP body is likely to set you back over a grand - half as much again for a nice one.
In 1958, Nikon introduced the simplified and slightly cheaper S3. Instead of the SP's projected viewfinder frames, the finder of the S3 was etched with frame lines for 35, 50 and the 105mm lenses. In all other respects, both cameras are the same, having a common single wheel shutter dial speeded from 'T' to 1/1000th second to control the fabric (or titanium foil) focal plane curtains.
S3's have been advertised recently at prices starting around £750, but you can bet that it will have seen a good life. One of the rarest of Nikon S types is the S4, which because of its stripped down features, was not exported to the West in large numbers. The film counter reverts to the manual type used on the S2; the delayed action of the S3 is removed along with the 35mm bright line frame. Expect to pay well over 2 grand for a mint one.
One major feature which attracted the pros to the SP and S3, was the optional S36 motor drive - virtually identical to the F36 model used for the Nikon F reflex. When the S4 was launched in 1959, the motor drive connecting lug under the take-up spool was omitted. It was an altogether cheaper version which Nikon had hoped to sell in the USA but which in the event, Joe Ehrenreich, who had set up Nikon Inc., did not want. In a final effort to attract the masses, Nikon revamped the S3 by cutting the frame size in half. They called it the S3M. This is Nikon's only attempt at a half frame and it is also one of the rarest models. 195, all capable of being motorised up to 12 fps, were produced and most were black. A few were imported by Nikon USA but examples are few and far between in Europe.
There are many similarities between the Nikon F reflex and the S type rangefinder. The angular body shape, removable slam-shut back and the design of most of the top plate controls were taken from the rangefinder. The reflex camera began production in the same year as the SP and many of the parts, including the F's quilted titanium shutter curtains are interchangeable between the two models. All the S models except the SP had ceased production by the early 60s. The 'Pro' lingered on until 1966 when Nikon finally axed the line.
REMAKES
In the year 2000, Nikon tooled up to manufacture a limited run of the original Nikon S3 complete with the 5cm f/1.4 Nikkor lens. Rumour has it that one of Nikon's warehouses contained enough spare parts from the 1950s and 60s to assemble 2000 samples of this model with enough spares left over to maintain servicing agreements for a further decade. Dubbed the 'Millennium' S3, it is said to be a more finely engineered instrument than the original. More recently, in 2003, the company assembled another limited run of SP's, fitted this time with an updated version of the classic 35mm f/1.8 Nikkor.
DERIVATIVES
It is the purposeful,functional, distinctive and elegant look of Nikon cameras, as well as their superb engineering qualities, which sets them apart from many other brands. When the rangefinder cameras eventually hit the USA more than 50 years ago, a cult following for the type was established amongst professionals and enthusiasts. Later compact film cameras of the 1980s and 90s are endowed with recognisable features harking back to that previous era; non more so perhaps, than the Nikon 35Ti and 28Ti models. Today, you can see how Nikon, even when employing outside stylists, have managed to maintain something of the aesthetic signature of the original Nikon S and F models into the present century Dslrs.
In capitalising on the demands for retro design products with a nostalgic nod to the past, the Japanese company Cosina was not slow to develop several rangefinder type camera models tagged with the old German Voigtlander brand name. Amongst the many varieties of 35mm Bessa models, Cosina came up with a kind of hybrid based on the complex Contax and Nikon S lens bayonet where the lens is focused with a serrated wheel incorporated into the camera body. The R2S model was produced in limited numbers with a front of body viewfinder window panel replicating the Nikon SP design. These 'Voiglanders' are excellent value for money but they should not be confused with the real things on which their design is loosely based.
JUST $31 TOO MUCH!
As a youngster tramping the world's sea lanes, and after being effectively shanghai'd on a tanker for a year, I made the decision to dump the potential of a sprinkling of gold braid for a life with a camera. On a visit to Portland, Maine, I had determined to spend some of my hard earned wages on a decent 35mm rangefinder camera. An advertisement in the local newspaper placed by a camera store in the main street promised all sorts of goodies. As soon as I had shore leave, I hastened to the store where I found the proprietor expounding the virtues of a superb silver chrome Nikon SP to the only (other than me) wide eyed customer in the shop.
I listened intently to the sales patter, my young and ambitious eyes soaking up every feature of the camera as it was passed nonchalantly under the nose of the customer, as if to impart a whiff to that guy's nostrils of how well his money might be spent. In the event, the bottom line came down to the sincerest sort of audible sighing ...'the best I can do Sir... would be.......$50.' (proprietor now engaging the eyes of his prey with classroom teacher-like insistence.)
I was devastated on hearing this utterance. My heart sank. The amount in question was almost two months wages of a merchant navy apprentice. And just to rub home the point, the proprietor was, I felt, deliberately ignoring my presence in the shop as he busied himself re-arranging the glass case from out of which that gem of a camera had emerged.
I wasn't given the opportunity to even run a finger over that camera, but by the time I had made it to the bar of the Eastland Hotel a couple of hours later, I was the proud owner of a Rival 45 coupled rangefinder camera. The lens was fixed but it had a Cds meter, the usefulness of which I convinced myself, would be enormous in the days and weeks ahead.
Back aboard ship and subsequently enduring many more months crossing oceans, I toted the Rival everywhere, documenting the daily chores of the crew and whatever else caught my fancy as a motif. A roll of Kodachrome shot in Puerto Rico and handed to the ship's pilot for mailing to the lab, never made it back to its rightful owner, despite the tip. But I exposed enough rolls of b+w to kick start the picture library when I finally returned home. Over the years, those images trickled out and earned the camera cost several times over. One however, which did not see the light of day for 30 years, was finally selected for use by a corporate software company. The fee it earned would have more than covered the cost of a mint, boxed and unused black enamel SP and a handful of lenses. But by then, I was already overquipped with Leicas. I did own an S3 for several years and some who have seen them say many of my street pictures made with it are still the best of the pile.
AND THE PHOTOGRAPHER AND CAMERA WHO SHOT LEE HARVEY OSWALD?
It was Robert Jackson of the Dallas Times-Herald who made the now famous picture of Jack Ruby shooting Oswald, with a Nikon S3.
Visitors, users and viewers of the foregoing content may copy and re-use it in other internet content sites on condition the source of all material so used is acknowledged with the attachment of the following.
Copyright; Jonathan Eastland
www.ajaxnetphoto.blogspot.com 2007.
www.ajaxnetphoto.com 2007.
This original content may NOT be used in any print or electronic media made available for commercial resale.
The products and companies named in this website content are trademarks , registered trademarks or servicemarks of their respective owners or licensed users.
This story was originally published in Professional Photography magazine in the 1990s. It is reproduced here with some revisions; also, the prices quoted in the text for used items, will not be the same today. Should you consider purchasing a used example of any of the models listed, I recommend a thorough mechanical examination; the shutter blinds and control mechanism can be problematic.
Japanese industry benefitted hugely from allied financial assistance immediately after WWII. Companies there tended to imitate western designs rather than innovate and Nikon, who until this time, were engaged solely in lens manufacture, copied the body shape of the Zeiss Contax rangefinder camera, incorporating its best features along with the rangefinder and focal plane shutter of the Leica IIIc & f for their entry to the 35mm rangefinder market. Success for both the name of the company and its products was assured in short order by the advent of the Korean war.
Two famous photojournalists, David Douglas Duncan and Horace Bristol, both working for LIFE magazine en route to Korea via Japan, discovered Nikon had produced a number of high quality lenses. The two visited the factory and purchased sets for use with their screw thread Leica's. When Duncan returned to the United States he had the Nikkor lenses tested by Eastern Optical Co. LIFE magazine purchased entire outfits of Nikkor lenses on the strength of Duncan's work and the tests. The story was told by Jacob Deschin writing in the New York Times of 10th December 1950 and almost overnight Nikon became a household word in photographic circles.
Today, in a world where curves seem to dominate designer thinking for just about every artifact, the fifty year old angular Nikon S type rangefinder still looks good. Whereas more than a million of the Nikon F reflex camera were produced, the rangefinder models which began with the Mk I in 1946, were produced in somewhat lesser numbers; fewer than 140,000 for all models, which means that now, chrome finished cameras in better than average condition are fetching good prices. Black enamel versions of the S2, SP, S3 and S3M models are so scarce in Europe that even well used examples start at multiplication factors several times that of regular chrome models.
Early models of the marque, the I and the M, made between 1946 (first examples of the I were not released until 1948.) and 1951 are also rare, chiefly because their oddball formats - 24 X 32mm for the I and 24 X 34mm for the M - did not conform to the standard Kodachrome slide size popular in the USA. General MacArthur's Japanese Occupation force refused to grant an export license for these models. The S became the first Nikon model to be marketed in the US, despite being the same in almost every respect to the M. The S was mainly produced in chrome, although a small black enamel batch with special wind and rewind knobs were made for LIFE magazine.
The Nikon S2 was introduced in December 1954, the same year as Leica's M3 camera. The S2 was a formidable workhorse, featuring a film advance and shutter cocking lever wind, simplified advance and rewind clutch collar concentric with the shutter release, a single base plate key type back lock and standard p.c. flash socket. The Contax rapid focus wheel, considered by some to be faster and easier to use than Leica's lens barrel type, was incorporated into the design. The S2 was also the first Nikon to be generally available off the shelf in black enamel.
The 1950s was a boom era for 35mm rangefinder cameras and Leica was not the only thorn in Nikon's side. Zeiss and Canon were both in the top league with fine products. Nikon needed to go one better than the S2.
When the SP was introduced in 1957, the camera's more sophisticated viewing system required a second frosted window to illuminate the projected frame lines for six different focal length lenses. A long front window was installed which changed the Nikon appearance, endowing the new camera with a tough and sleek look. Black enamel transformed the SP still further, increasing demand for it as a leading professional tool; exactly what the 'P' in SP stands for.
Black versions of this camera in mint condition are rare, although quite large numbers exist in private collections. Several have been sold at auction both here and in Germany for prices in excess of £4,500. A fairly ordinary chrome SP body is likely to set you back over a grand - half as much again for a nice one.
In 1958, Nikon introduced the simplified and slightly cheaper S3. Instead of the SP's projected viewfinder frames, the finder of the S3 was etched with frame lines for 35, 50 and the 105mm lenses. In all other respects, both cameras are the same, having a common single wheel shutter dial speeded from 'T' to 1/1000th second to control the fabric (or titanium foil) focal plane curtains.
S3's have been advertised recently at prices starting around £750, but you can bet that it will have seen a good life. One of the rarest of Nikon S types is the S4, which because of its stripped down features, was not exported to the West in large numbers. The film counter reverts to the manual type used on the S2; the delayed action of the S3 is removed along with the 35mm bright line frame. Expect to pay well over 2 grand for a mint one.
One major feature which attracted the pros to the SP and S3, was the optional S36 motor drive - virtually identical to the F36 model used for the Nikon F reflex. When the S4 was launched in 1959, the motor drive connecting lug under the take-up spool was omitted. It was an altogether cheaper version which Nikon had hoped to sell in the USA but which in the event, Joe Ehrenreich, who had set up Nikon Inc., did not want. In a final effort to attract the masses, Nikon revamped the S3 by cutting the frame size in half. They called it the S3M. This is Nikon's only attempt at a half frame and it is also one of the rarest models. 195, all capable of being motorised up to 12 fps, were produced and most were black. A few were imported by Nikon USA but examples are few and far between in Europe.
There are many similarities between the Nikon F reflex and the S type rangefinder. The angular body shape, removable slam-shut back and the design of most of the top plate controls were taken from the rangefinder. The reflex camera began production in the same year as the SP and many of the parts, including the F's quilted titanium shutter curtains are interchangeable between the two models. All the S models except the SP had ceased production by the early 60s. The 'Pro' lingered on until 1966 when Nikon finally axed the line.
REMAKES
In the year 2000, Nikon tooled up to manufacture a limited run of the original Nikon S3 complete with the 5cm f/1.4 Nikkor lens. Rumour has it that one of Nikon's warehouses contained enough spare parts from the 1950s and 60s to assemble 2000 samples of this model with enough spares left over to maintain servicing agreements for a further decade. Dubbed the 'Millennium' S3, it is said to be a more finely engineered instrument than the original. More recently, in 2003, the company assembled another limited run of SP's, fitted this time with an updated version of the classic 35mm f/1.8 Nikkor.
DERIVATIVES
It is the purposeful,functional, distinctive and elegant look of Nikon cameras, as well as their superb engineering qualities, which sets them apart from many other brands. When the rangefinder cameras eventually hit the USA more than 50 years ago, a cult following for the type was established amongst professionals and enthusiasts. Later compact film cameras of the 1980s and 90s are endowed with recognisable features harking back to that previous era; non more so perhaps, than the Nikon 35Ti and 28Ti models. Today, you can see how Nikon, even when employing outside stylists, have managed to maintain something of the aesthetic signature of the original Nikon S and F models into the present century Dslrs.
In capitalising on the demands for retro design products with a nostalgic nod to the past, the Japanese company Cosina was not slow to develop several rangefinder type camera models tagged with the old German Voigtlander brand name. Amongst the many varieties of 35mm Bessa models, Cosina came up with a kind of hybrid based on the complex Contax and Nikon S lens bayonet where the lens is focused with a serrated wheel incorporated into the camera body. The R2S model was produced in limited numbers with a front of body viewfinder window panel replicating the Nikon SP design. These 'Voiglanders' are excellent value for money but they should not be confused with the real things on which their design is loosely based.
JUST $31 TOO MUCH!
As a youngster tramping the world's sea lanes, and after being effectively shanghai'd on a tanker for a year, I made the decision to dump the potential of a sprinkling of gold braid for a life with a camera. On a visit to Portland, Maine, I had determined to spend some of my hard earned wages on a decent 35mm rangefinder camera. An advertisement in the local newspaper placed by a camera store in the main street promised all sorts of goodies. As soon as I had shore leave, I hastened to the store where I found the proprietor expounding the virtues of a superb silver chrome Nikon SP to the only (other than me) wide eyed customer in the shop.
I listened intently to the sales patter, my young and ambitious eyes soaking up every feature of the camera as it was passed nonchalantly under the nose of the customer, as if to impart a whiff to that guy's nostrils of how well his money might be spent. In the event, the bottom line came down to the sincerest sort of audible sighing ...'the best I can do Sir... would be.......$50.' (proprietor now engaging the eyes of his prey with classroom teacher-like insistence.)
I was devastated on hearing this utterance. My heart sank. The amount in question was almost two months wages of a merchant navy apprentice. And just to rub home the point, the proprietor was, I felt, deliberately ignoring my presence in the shop as he busied himself re-arranging the glass case from out of which that gem of a camera had emerged.
I wasn't given the opportunity to even run a finger over that camera, but by the time I had made it to the bar of the Eastland Hotel a couple of hours later, I was the proud owner of a Rival 45 coupled rangefinder camera. The lens was fixed but it had a Cds meter, the usefulness of which I convinced myself, would be enormous in the days and weeks ahead.
Back aboard ship and subsequently enduring many more months crossing oceans, I toted the Rival everywhere, documenting the daily chores of the crew and whatever else caught my fancy as a motif. A roll of Kodachrome shot in Puerto Rico and handed to the ship's pilot for mailing to the lab, never made it back to its rightful owner, despite the tip. But I exposed enough rolls of b+w to kick start the picture library when I finally returned home. Over the years, those images trickled out and earned the camera cost several times over. One however, which did not see the light of day for 30 years, was finally selected for use by a corporate software company. The fee it earned would have more than covered the cost of a mint, boxed and unused black enamel SP and a handful of lenses. But by then, I was already overquipped with Leicas. I did own an S3 for several years and some who have seen them say many of my street pictures made with it are still the best of the pile.
AND THE PHOTOGRAPHER AND CAMERA WHO SHOT LEE HARVEY OSWALD?
It was Robert Jackson of the Dallas Times-Herald who made the now famous picture of Jack Ruby shooting Oswald, with a Nikon S3.
Visitors, users and viewers of the foregoing content may copy and re-use it in other internet content sites on condition the source of all material so used is acknowledged with the attachment of the following.
Copyright; Jonathan Eastland
www.ajaxnetphoto.blogspot.com 2007.
www.ajaxnetphoto.com 2007.
This original content may NOT be used in any print or electronic media made available for commercial resale.
The products and companies named in this website content are trademarks , registered trademarks or servicemarks of their respective owners or licensed users.
Labels: Nikon, Photography, Rangefinder
posted by Ajax at 19.2.07
1 Comments:
what a nice camera! i wonder if you can still buy this one in the market. these are defintely hard to find.
pv
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