Hello, everybody! The recent Olympics has been controversial, we are even discussing some of the topics to this day and for many days to come. Some find it amusing well some people were offended. Some say it was done in poor taste, while some people claim that it points to the next step in human psychology. I do not dare to make such bold claims because I am merely a camera repair enthusiast. But this is what I can say, we can all agree that some parts of the event left us scratching our heads. To me, it was the huge disrespect by the Australian “dancer” to her sport. In this website, we do not disrespect anything related to Nikon. In order to wash away the trauma, I will present to you another “Olympic“, one that is hailed by many as a masterpiece and the best there is, even to this day. Let’s all celebrate and enjoy the “Olympic“.
Introduction:
The Nikkor-S 50mm f/1.4 (Olympic) was made in 1964 under a limited batch of less than 1700 units. It’s even rarer than Nikkor-S 50mm f/1.4 (Millennium) that is a reproduction of this lens. That year is special because of the Summer Olympics hosted by Japan. Many companies saw that as a chance to showcase their prowess by manufacturing exceptional products to be used for covering the games. Nikon made a couple of such projects, the lens you see here is one of them. It’s also the last lens ever mean by Nikon for the Nikon S rangefinder system that isn’t a reproduction. Many people consider this to be the best 50mmNikkor of its kind because of how well it performs technically, it’s surprisingly good even at f/1.4. That’s a big departure from what many people were used to with the older Nikkor-S•C 5cm f/1.4, which renders a lot differently because it’s considered to be “soft” when shot at larger apertures; that’s just the case when shooting with Sonnar-type lenses. Speaking of which, this is the only 50/1.4 rangefinder Nikkor that isn’t a copy or derivative of the famed Sonnar design.
This is by far the largest rangefinder 50/1.4 Nikkor ever made. It is longer and considerably wider than the older Nikkor-S.C 5cm f/1.4, and it’s heavier, too. The barrel is all-metal so it feels great when you hold it. A lighter type of alloy is used on some parts in order to make it weigh less so it feels a bit different when it’s held. This is in contrast to the older lenses which uses brass.
Hello, everybody! Do you know the song “Ame no Midosuji” (雨の御堂筋) by the famous singer that came from the country of Taiwan called Ouyang Fei Fei (歐陽菲菲)? It’s about a woman who is searching for her lover in a rainy night. She went on looking for him but in despair she found nobody, and just me do with her memories of him. We have all searched for something in our lives, but sometimes we never get to find some of them. Unlike Ouyang Fei Fei, I have found something that I was looking for, and it came to me as a beautiful surprise. It’s one of the rarest Nikkors ever made and I will show you what I found today.
Introduction:
The Cine-Zoom-Nikkor 17-70mm f/2.2 is one of the few Cine-Zoom Nikkors that’s seen in catalogs, it’s still a mystery even to knowledgeable historians and collectors. Nobody knew when it was made and for how long but I suspect is that it was sold as early as 1959 or 1963. Nobody knew when production stopped so I cannot even speculate. It’s a very mysterious lens and I will try my best to give you the most up-to-date information I could find, including some sample photos and a complete teardown of this lens.
Its construction and all-metal build are outstanding, definitely the best of all Cine-Nikkors. It’s also heavy, so I get nervous just thinking about how much stress the threads of the mount must endure when this is fitted to a movie camera and used for a long span of time.
Hello, everybody! I just bought a DNA testing kit, you know, the one that’s hip with the kids these days. I bought it because I wanted to know what are my health risks because I’m not young anymore. I did not get one because I want to avoid accidentally banging my relatives like what some people actually think and do for themselves. I’m also curious to know if I have relatives around the world, maybe I will find an uncle living nearby that I have never ever heard of, isn’t that exciting? Speaking of finding secret relatives and genealogy, I would like to share with you a “secret relative” of the Nikkor 135/3.5 family. It is not well known so it might as well be an urban legend for some people but we will know everything about it here in this article.
Introduction:
This adapter for Nikkor-Q•C 13.5cm f/3.5 will enable you to use the front barrel of the lens and mount it to any camera that uses the Nikon F-mount. It was made for a short time to coincide with the release of the legendary Nikon F. Not a lot of people knew about it and it’s only ever mentioned in the catalogs. It isn’t really a proper “lens” so to speak because it was ever only sold as a separate item as far as I know.
It is much shorter compared to its rangefinder cousins. It’s because the F-mount requires a longer flange distance in order to stay clear of the flapping mirror. While the construction is all-metal, the adapter feels somewhat “cheap” because the bayonet mount is part of the lower barrel. While it keeps things simple, it gives the impression of cheapness like what I have just mentioned.
Hello, everybody! Have you ever been duped into thinking that something might be fake? You pass it and regret later after finding out that it’s probably the best bargain you could ever find. It has happened a lot with some of my friends who collect expensive watches. It has happened to me several times before, but I am more lucky than stupid so I am usually blessed with good deals. Today, I will show you one such lucky find, a real find of a lifetime. In all my years hunting for rare items I have ever only seen and touched 2 of these. Please read the whole article to know why this is so special.
Introduction:
The Nikkor-Q.C 13.5cm f/3.5 featured in this article is a special one, it is one of the very few existing lenses that Nikon made that came with an Exakta-mount. Only a few people have knowledge of its existence and even fewer people have ever seen one in person. I am extremely lucky to own such a rare oddity. Nobody knew exactly how many of these were made, we can only date them by their serial numbers. My example is probably from 1954.
Compared to the usual ones that came with a rangefinder mount, this one is quite short. It has to be since the Exakta is an SLR, complete with a flapping mirror. You may easily assume that this was modified using a talented specialist shop at first glance but the quality is so consistent that it can only come from Nikon. I almost dismissed it when I first saw this, singing it’s a fake.
Hello, everybody! Do you have a vice that you have been staying away from with the best of your ability? I am sure but we all do. Is it smoking, alcohol or pornography? Or is it something more benign like buying cameras and lenses? It is very hard to keep the urge, the longer you keep it the stronger the climax is. This is how I felt when I made my latest purchase, it’s something that I have always wanted but the price is not something that I can easily afford. I was lucky that I found one for a reasonable price, it’s not cheap but it is fair. When I finally got it, I felt an overwhelming release, as if something that I have been keeping in for many years suddenly came out. I have nothing more to hide so I will show you my latest yo-yo.
Introduction:
The W-Nikkor•C 2.5cm f/4 is the smallest rangefinder Nikkor that you will ever find, that is if you measure it from the lens mount of the camera. As a W-Nikkor, it fills a unique place in the catalog for a super-wide lens. During that time, a 35mm lens is already considered wide and 28mm is the entry point to the really-wide category. It was made from 1953 up to an undetermined date so we assume that production lasted until the final days of the Nikon rangefinder era. There are only 2 variations for the Nikon S-mount, earlier ones come in shiny chrome like you see here while later ones are painted black. These were also made in Leica M39 screw mounts, too. Just like everything Leica, they will cost you more than a kidney to acquire.
It is very compact, it feels dense in your hand. The build quality is typical for its time, which means this is a very well-made product. There’s nothing much to manipulate with this lens as it lacks a focusing ring, this is one of the defining traits of this lens. It is truly unique in many ways.
Hello, everybody! I was watching some old Soviet-era movies from the 1930s up until Khrushchev’s time. Some of them were colored, using a simpler process than the common 3-step process used at that time. This makes the resulting movies look a little bit brownish, this may be partly due to how it is stored, too. I enjoyed watching them because it’s a rare glimpse of life “across the curtain“, for some of us who are old enough to remember. Today, I will show you something that will give you the same look, if not similar to the movies that I have watched.
Introduction:
The Cinestill 50D has always intrigued me, I’ve been seeing it for some time now but I still do not know its selling point and what makes it special and appealing to some people. One thing is for sure, It is another repackaged cinema film without the remjet. I don’t know which film it was originally so I’ll just leave it to the experts in the comment section. This is supposed to be a “daylight” film, which means it’s best to use it on a sunny day. Some people claim that it’s similar to the Reflx Lab 100, but I find that film to have less brownish tint overall. It’s also a little bit more pleasant to look at (the results) compared to this one.
It comes in the typical Cinestill packaging, but it’s blue this time. There’s nothing special about it, it’s what I would expect from this company.
Hello, everybody! Do you believe in the “Leica glow“? It is a legend taught by the “Leica church” which has been described as something ethereal, akin to angel dust. Some will say that it was done intentionally but I see it as just an excuse to justify the high cost of a poorly coated optic, if at all. It’s like a ghost, it is there or not depending on what you believe in. Today, I’ll show you something that exhibits something similar. I do not dare say that it’s the same thing but I will let you decide the matter for yourself. Believe it, or not?
Introduction:
The Nikkor 5cm f/2.8 was produced for a very short time, somewhere between 1936–1940 about the same time as the Seiki Kogaku Kwanon and Seiki Kogaku S. Seiki Kogaku (Canon) could not manufacturer their own lenses at that time so Nippon Kogaku (Nikon) had to do that for them. It is one of the first Nikkors for the consumer market because at that time, Nikon concentrated its production for the Japanese military. It did not stay for long probably because the faster Nikkor 5cm f/2 made more sense. Both were only made to fit the unique bayonet mount (by Nikon) for the earliest Seiki Kogaku cameras mentioned before. This mount has no official name to my knowledge so people call it the Hansa-mount, or Seiki-mount for me.
The whole thing is made of metal apart from the glass and the felt lining at the mount. It is heavy since everything is mostly made from brass. The workmanship is better than many Nikkors that were made in the years right after the end of the war, or the MIOJ (Made in Occupied Japan) series. The fit and finish is nice even to this day and even after being stored poorly for decades under undesirable conditions.
Hello, everybody! I sometimes wonder why Nippon Kogaku manufactured the bayonet mount and maybe even the rangefinder mechanism of the very early Seiki Kogaku cameras. Is it because Nippon Kogaku is a specialist and the best optics company in Japan at that time? Or perhaps Seiki Kogaku did not know how to do them properly because they lack experience in optics? If it’s just optics then why didn’t they make the helicoid and the rest of the bayonet mount themselves? These are the questions that we’ll never know the answers to, but we will definitely examine every part of the Seiki KogakuS here in this series.
Introduction:
Why is this camera called the Seiki Kogaku S? That S used to mean “最新” or latest model, it was changed to stand for the name “Standard“. Some people even believe that it stood for “Slow” because it has a slow speeds compared to the previous model (Seiki Kogaku Hansa) which has none. I do not think the name is that important in this context because we’re more interested in restoring this camera. I only mentioned it because some people may be curious about what the name means.
It is interesting to note that there’s a hole at the center of the pressure plate and in the shell underneath this. That hole is plugged with a disc that you can unscrew so you will have direct vision through the hole for peeping. This is used for adjusting the flange distance of the camera. You insert a frosted paper inside the camera as you would do with a sheet of film and then you begin adjusting. I’m very sure that they use something made of glass instead of frosted paper for the adjustment at the factory.
Hello, everybody! I had a dream a few nights ago about a girl that I was infatuated with when I was young and impressionable, I think I was in my early teens at that time. She felt out of reach to me, as if I was not good enough for her affection. It’s a feeling that many teenagers know very well and it’s part of growing up, feeling insecure and unsure of the future. Today, I’ll introduce to you one such idol of mine from some years ago. Back then, I was not sure if it’s the right equipment for me and I couldn’t afford it at that time. I wanted it so bad but it was never meant to be. Just like my crush from many years ago, time caught up so she doesn’t look that pretty anymore and so this lens isn’t so imposing anymore. But unlike that girl, this lens eventually became mine and using it definitely reminded me about why it was so special for me back then. Please read the whole article to know why this lens is so special.
Introduction:
The AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G was made from 2003 to 2022, a long time for a DX Nikkor. I can even find some old-new stocks as of writing, that’s how recent its end-of-production is. It was Nikon’s flagship normal-zoom at a time when they could only manufacture and fit APS-C sensors for the cameras they were making. For film, Nikon had the AI AF-S Zoom Nikkor ED 28-70mm F2.8D (IF) instead. This lens was hailed as an engineering marvel at that time, both mechanically and optically, a real flex. Since Nikon is known more for optics, they had given everything they had on this lens. Nikon’s cameras were amazing but at that period, the rival’s cameras are better in terms of tech, so they played their best card.
In its time, this lens is the best DXNikkor money could buy, it’s the best in its class optically and the build is nothing short of amazing. That makes it an expensive lens so it was never spoken of by the pedestrian photographers who could only afford third-party lenses. Sure, some cheaper brands have better features like vibration-reduction, but optically, this Nikkor reigned supreme. Even rivals from the other top brands fell short in terms of optical performance and that’s not an overstatement on my part, go search online. It has been somewhat of an obsession for me but I am finally able to buy one in junk condition for $50.00! I had to wait for more than a decade for this deal.
Hello, everybody! Do you remember when Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior teamed up in 1990 for the Survivor Series? I think that is one of the most important events in sports entertainment history. There will be a falling-out between these two not too long after which is very sad because we would have seen the best tag team ever beating everyone else for more years to come. It’s unfortunate, but it gave us this vision of what an ultimate wrestling duo should be. Many great partnerships do not last very long, such as Hall & Oates, Wham! and Modern Talking. The same can be said for this partnership in Japan at a time we now call the prewar years. It was a time when Nikon and Canon joined forces to compete with the world.
Introduction:
The Seiki Kogaku S or S1 as many people call it was made from around 1938 for up to a few years. It has a limited production run so you won’t find many of these. Seiki Kogaku is the company that would become Canon, as Nippon Kogaku would become Nikon. This is the 2nd production model of Seiki Kogaku, the old one is the famous Seiki KogakuHansa. Anything before these 2 designs are considered prototypes so the collectors community don’t even consider them to be commercial models. This is a historically important camera because it’s the first model from Seiki Kogaku that has slow speeds. It also has a few features that make it innovative compared to the older Seiki KogakuHansa.
It has retained the unusual bayonet made by Nippon Kogaku but it now has to film counter dial under the winding mechanism instead of the front. The unique pop-up viewfinder is still there but the top-plate has been replaced with a more familiar shell like what you’ll find on the Leica IIIa. These are the most obvious changes that you will see externally. In this photo, you’ll see that it’s paired with the Nikkor 5cm f/2.8, it is a remarkable lens for its time, even rivaling the original Zeiss Ikon Tessar 5cm f/2.8 that it copied from.
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Richard Haw's Classic Nikon Repair and Review 