Nikon S Rangefinders Review

Video Description

I am doing this for almost ten years and haven’t experienced such a mind-changing camera system before. The Nikon S Rangefinders certainly have their flaws but they are also remarkable, overlooked and underrated. We explored the entire system and break down the differences, the history and today’s usability. -------- In this episode, Greg, Jules and I review the Nikon S rangefinder series. This video was sparked when one of our long-time viewers was kind enough to lend us a Nikon S3 Y2K version. Jules got so excited about the camera that he ended up getting a Nikon S4 which I had purchased for him during a trip to Tokyo and then a Nikon S2 plus fitting lenses. In the process, I was bitten by the bug as well and ended up purchasing a Nikon S2 as well and really enjoy shooting it as a long-time Leica aficionado. Last but not least, we purchased a Nikon SP to complete the set. We decided to look at all the Nikon S rangefinders together as they are quite similar offering a life-size viewfinder, excellent build quality and mechanical operation as well as high-quality Nikkor lenses to use on it. Thanks to Voigtländer, there are even some modern lenses available for the Nikon S mount which are often overlooked. Historically, these rangefinders are closely tied to the famous Nikon F SLRs. Nikon S rangefinders are arguably underrated and often overshadowed by the much more successful Leica M rangefinders - but they also played an important historical role and had famous proponents like David Douglas Duncan back then. The Nikon S has some of its roots in the Contax which was a fierce competitor to Leica at the time. But while Nikon and Leica kept improving, Contax didn’t continue to push for innovation. So there is a lot to discuss and understand in detail here. As always, Greg, Jules and I took the cameras out on various photo walks and I also used the Nikon S4 during a portrait session. Cameras used: Nikon S2 Nikon S3 Y2K Edition Nikon S4 Nikon SP Voigtländer Bessa R2S Lenses used: Voigtländer 21mm f/4 SC-Skopar W-Nikkor C 3,5cm f/2.5 Nikkor-H 5cm f/2.0 Nikkor-S 5cm f/1.4 Voigtländer 85mm f/3.5 S APO LANTHAR Nikkor-P C 10,5cm f/2.5 Films used: Ilford FP4 Ilford Delta 400 Harman Phoenix 200 (I) Fuji Velvia 50 If you enjoy our videos and like to follow us on Instagram, find us here: https://www.instagram.com/analog_insights