What a find!

cajuncc

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Roaming through an antiques mall the other day, I saw a beat up tan leather case with a Nikon logo on the front. The tag said "Vintage Nikon 35mm Camera, Case, Light meter." I'm thinking "cool! it's probably an old F or maybe F2." My heart about stopped when I opened the case and saw a Nikon SP in great condition. It has a W-Nikkor.C 2.8cm 1:3.5 lens attached.

So now I'm the proud owner of a Nikon rangefinder. From what I can tell, everything works beautifully. The shutter speeds from 1s-1/30 all sound like they're properly timed. There are no odd sounds or anything. Film transport is all working. The rangefinder works. There's a black yarn-looking light seal along the top edge of the camera where the back slots in, but no seals I can see on the sides or bottom. I'm assuming this is normal.

Anything else I should check out before I toss a roll in it and give it the ultimate test?
 

Sirius Glass

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Boy some people have a tough life.

Welcome to APUG!
 

removed-user-1

Nice find! I make it a point to have a look in the antique stores once in a while. I've gotten, on separate trips, a Pentax S2 Super with several Super-Takumar lenses ($75), a Novoflex 105mm bellows lens ($25), and a Mamiya 50mm f/3.5 macro lens ($25). I've also seen lots of obscure cameras that I have no reason to buy but enjoy seeing, nonetheless.

None of that tops a Nikon SP with a lens, however. I'm jealous!
 

Ken Nadvornick

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I'm curious. If you don't mind sharing, how much did you pay?

Ken
 
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cajuncc

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I'm almost afraid to admit this for fear of a gang of APUGers with torches and pitchforks, but I paid $100 for the camera, lens, leather case, and an old selenium cell light meter.
 

pentaxuser

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cajuncc said:
The shutter speeds from 1s-1/30 all sound like they're properly timed.
Click to expand...

I take it that there are faster speeds and that you haven't tested these because it is the slow speeds that are normally suspect? Just a thought

pentaxuser
 

ntenny

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Great heavens! I've had some decent finds in antique stores, but nothing remotely close to this. Enjoy it!

-NT
 
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cajuncc

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pentaxuser said:
I take it that there are faster speeds and that you haven't tested these because it is the slow speeds that are normally suspect? Just a thought

pentaxuser
Click to expand...

No, I just "tested" the slower speeds by listening to the shutter sound. I've got a pretty good feel for what the slower speeds sound like. I won't be able to truly test any of the speeds until I run a roll through it though. The faster speeds there's no way I could tell "by ear."
 

fstop

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cajuncc said:
I'm almost afraid to admit this for fear of a gang of APUGers with torches and pitchforks, but I paid $100 for the camera, lens, leather case, and an old selenium cell light meter.
Click to expand...

Nah, we aren't that bad... are we that bad?

I'd say you got a fair deal.
 

dnjl

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He found a bargain! Burn him at the stake and confiscate his earthly belongings!



Naah, we're not that evil. Great deal, enjoy that camera!
 

Mustafa Umut Sarac

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Super find , If its a Nikon from 50s , I have a Popular Photography Yearly from 56 plus 58 and some photographs even better than Leica. Super lens and very expensive today.
 

Sirius Glass

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Where did you find this gem? We all want to descend on the store!
 

nsurit

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Would you like to double your money? I'll even pay shipping and PayPal fees. Oh, and kick in 3% for APUG.
 

Nige

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Congrats... always dream of finding a garage sale/pawn shop bargain.

However I only have a story of woe... years ago my wife and I drove 2000kms (one way!) to help her parents clean up/out her great Aunts house and belongings after she had been moved to a high care home. Amongst the years of junk was an early Leica of some sort. Although I knew it was something 'special' it got put in a box and that was the last I saw of it. Various trinkets got distributed to family members but that camera never surfaced again
 

M Carter

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I've been having a sort of lust affair with the old Canon SLRs - the FTQL just feeling like some primitive art to me. I've found it's the fast speeds that die - the shutter curtain can no longer keep up. Which is a drag, wanting it as a walkaround camera with fast film.

Might have to look into those Mamiya SLRs that use the pentax screw mount... those are pretty too. Unless I can find a Voigtlander Vitomatic... now that's a beautiful camera and I love the size.
 
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cajuncc

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So of course, getting a great deal isn't enough for me. Now I'm scouring ebay looking for lenses and all sorts of other goodies... I've already gotten a BC-5 flash gun and I'm starting to look at picking up a 5cm f/1.4 (or possibly the voigtlander 5cm f/1.5, depending on price and such) and a 13.5cm f/3.5.

Overall, the thing is pure joy to shoot with. I find myself picking it up just to handle it and examine it.
 

M Carter

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cajuncc said:
So of course, getting a great deal isn't enough for me. Now I'm scouring ebay looking for lenses and all sorts of other goodies...
Click to expand...

I find that to be perfectly acceptable and expected behavior! It's really a joy to think about the age of an "antique" camera, wonder what sort of things have been seen through its viewfinder, how many thousands of images it may have made... and still be using it vs. having another knick-knack on display. (I am the same way about old guitars... two very dangerous interests to have!)

Isn't it odd though - for years, running around with an old metal SLR would lead people to say "He must be really broke! Digital is so cheap now!" Or "Can't you afford a smart phone?"

It's swung around now, to where an old-school camera is getting a "coolness" factor. And don't Fuji and Leica make digitals that have some of a classic rangefinder look?
 

darinwc

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ive never reallypaid attention to the nikon rangefinders. I just looked at the sale prices and they are all ove the place. Is the SP a good model?
 

Jim Rice

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The SP was Nikon's best and last RF. Its a $1000us camera easily. I always lusted for one but the closest I ever got was an S, which was pretty damn nice.
 
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