2005 Nikon SP Limited Second Look

[@IdleSummer]

Beautiful rangefinder

[@kayreezy]

I don't mind seeing this beautiful camera a second time AT ALL. Great video as always. Thank you!

[@tedhan1920]

The quality of the last video was fine!

[@AndrewWertheimer]

That is a amazing camera. Happy new year.

[@tompleysier1268]

awesome video and awesome camera :D though, you should stop using auto focus, and just remember where your focus distance is

[@suspiciousninja1220]

yes

[@tikkathreebarrels]

Prettty thing. There's quite a bit of Contax/Kiev in the design.

[@xxGravyBabyxx]

Nikon, Kiev, and others stole the Contax design since the factory was over sought by the Allied Forces directly after WW2

[@mattdyer9544]

@@xxGravyBabyxx Not really stolen, many German patents were made public as reparations after the war. Hence the reason so many camera makers got their start making Leica based cameras

[@jlwilliams]

@@mattdyer9544 In the case of the Kiev, it went considerably beyond patents: the Soviet army crated up huge sections of the Contax assembly line, including production machinery, test fixtures, and parts inventory, and hauled them off by rail to the Zavod Arsenal works in Kiev (now Kyiv, in the independent nation of Ukraine 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦 ), where they became the basis of improved models that extended all the way to 1973. I still wouldn't call it stolen; as the guy in the film "The Monuments Men" said of his Soviet counterparts, "They had twenty million casualties -- they were entitled to something."

[@jlwilliams]

@@xxGravyBabyxx The only Contax design element that Nikon used was the internal/external bayonet mount with its finger-wheel focusing system. They intelligently took a pass on the Contax's complicated and not-too-reliable metal slat shutter, substituting a conventional cloth curtain shutter similar to what Leica used, and rangefinder optics of their own design (they already had experience at this, having designed the rangefinders for the first Canon camera models in the 1930s at Canon's request.)

[@dylan.1776]

@@jlwilliams it’s still Kiev and will be part of USSR 2.0. Cope harder

[@zaharib]

Thanks!!!

[@petercooper9054]

Glad I bought my Nikon S2 a while back. Now where did I put my black paint!!! £10,000 for a camera that does the same as a chrome S2. Collectors are mad!

[@Gerard-hu6kp]

It's absolutely outrageous the market is the way it is because of greedy people Buying in bulk

[@rjsbass]

it's not the same as an S2. it also comes with the legendary 35mm f1.8

[@PedroHipolito]

How’s the focus patch? Never found a single image or video explaining and showing the focus patch / viewfinder. How does it compare with a modern Leica?

[@rjsbass]

it's excellent. the sp 2005 is my go-to

[@andreacesaremazzoni8951]

Very interessino, buy use a more closed diaphram to have more field 🙂

[@Datachrome]

I was wondering, is the body of this "new" lens fully made of brass? I think the original is aluminium.

[@japanvintagecamera8869]

The original was a mix of aluminum and brass, the newer one appears the same, but with a better paint job and without the chrome filter ring.

[@philmtx3fr]

Beautiful camera , beautiful and fast lens. It s a pity they didn t take the opportunity to add to it a light meter and why not an automatic aperture priority. Anyway too expensive for me for just making b&w films :)

[@nickfanzo]

Why use this over a Leica? The two windows seems annoying.

[@kurocamera]

100% magnification viewfinder, cheaper (if you don’t go with this special edition then WAY cheaper), you can buy a kit with 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm and 105mm lenses (which are all amazing) for less than half of the cheapest Leica lens. Of course, if you want asph lenses, Leica is the best way forward, but if you like classic rendering, Nikon lenses with Sonnar designs are amazing, compact, light, and quite flare resistant compared to Leica counterparts of the 50s~70s. If you shoot 28, 35mm leica is better, but if you shoot mainly 50mm this is a great camera. PS: I love Leica and use them too, but this is a great option too, that to me looks even more beautiful than a Leica body, both in silver and black…and I do love the Sonnar rendering compared with Double Gauss which Leica lenses are based on for the most part.

[@nickfanzo]

@@kurocamera I know all of that but for that I would just use a Nikon f2 for example, and have more accurate framing

[@kurocamera]

@@nickfanzo of course, but SLR is not the same as Rangefinder. I actually have an FM3A, S2 and a SP, and love all. But FM3A works much better (for me) with 50mm and narrower focal length it’s. SP is great because i can use the 28mm / 35mm for zone focusing & street photography using the main finder, but then I have the smaller viewfinder there for when I (rarely) need more precise framing with these focal lengths. On the S2 if I want to do the same, I’d have to get an external viewfinder. That’s the big advantage of the SP for me, that’s why I actually shoot 35mm with it, and 50mm with the S2.

[@chriscaarnold]

I shoot Nikon but have never had a rangefinder. Im always tempted. But i just dont want to start buying more lenses. These cameras or an m3 are just tooo expensive.

[@petercooper9054]

I agree. I found an S2 with a dent in the back which I hammered out. It's in really good condition and I serviced it because I can do that. I recently bought many Kodak retina cameras and have stripped them down and serviced them. I use a retina iiic which is a lovely folding camera that has a great lens and will not break the bank.

[@bradmiller1185]

please close down your aperture and turn off your active auto focus. I couldn't even watch the video. I couldn't even read the little numbers on the camera because it would be focused on your arm or something.

[@musa7606]

Just turn off autofocus and set it manually before the video. If you are working in a particular range it will be fine.

[@alcideboaretto1301]

Number one! 👍

[@TheChosenOne_]

That thing goes for a pretty penny. Leica is the budget option now 😂