Nikon S2

by Karen Nakamura

Overview and Personal Comments

The Nikon S2 was the second in the S series* produced by the Nikon corporation between 1954 and 1958. The S2 was very well received and was the most popular of the Nikon rangefinders, with over 56,000 units manufactured. It can be considered a major revision of the S model, with a bigger, brighter viewfinder window, lever wind (instead of knob wind), a rewind crank (instead of rewind knob), the use of a standard PC sync terminal (instead of a custom one), electronic flash X sync abilities, totally redesigned shutter mechanism, and other minor changes. The S2 was followed by the Nikon SP and Nikon S3 (1958). Using the text or images on this website on an ebay auction or any other site is a violation of federal law.

* It is actually the fourth rangefinder Nikon produced. There is the Nikon I, the Nikon M, and the Nikon S before it. Most U.S. collectors did not know about the Nikon I and M because they were not issued export permits by the post-war Occupation Forces. The Nikon I and M are essentially the same, the I (pronounced 'one') has a 24x32 mm film gate, the M has a 24x34 film gate but is basically an I with the gate expanded and the sprocket counter set to the larger size. The 'S' is the 'M' + flash synchronization. So the S2 is the first real revision of the Nikon rangefinder, necessitated by the expansion of the film gate size to 24x36mm which required a redesign of the shutter.

Within all of the Nikon rangefinders, the S2 is most probably both the easiest to use and the easiest to buy. The features are simple and the construction was solid. This coupled with the popularity of the camera at the time means that you should be able to pick one up for a fairly reasonable price. Unlike the other S series, which sometimes fetch over $2000-5000 in the used market (especially for the extra rare models or black painted units), the S2 usually goes for around $1000-2000, depending on the condition. These Nikons were built very solidly and most units are in fine working condition, even 50 years after they were made. Using the text or images on this website without permission on an ebay auction or any other site is a violation of federal law.

The viewfinder only has brightlines for 50mm lenses. If you want to use other lenses, you need to use an external viewfinder. But because it isn't designed for multiple focal lengths, the finder is bright and uncluttered. The camera came standard with a 50mm f/1.4 Nikkor S-C coated lens.  The coating on the Nikkors was very tough and unlike the Zeiss and Leica lenses of the period, most are still clean, clear, and free of scratching and fogging.

My camera came without a case, so I bought the bottom half of an everready case out of the junk bin of a used camera store. I think it's for a Nikon F series. It fit the S2 fairly well except that the viewfinder was partially obscured on the rear. Some delicate surgery and I created a very original looking indentation in the leather (above) for the viewfinder.

The standard Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 takes absolutely stellar photographs. I've shot a lot of the black and white photographs in my Japan 2003 Gallery using it. On my return to the United States, I bought a Jupiter-12 35mm f/2.8 lens for it and took some of the photographs in the PAW 2003 series with it. Click on the photo below to go to my gallery.

Comparison with Other Cameras of the Period

Interesting quirks

Slightly ahead of its time, the Nikon S2 featured a standard PC sync socket with both X (electronic flash) and Focal Point (FP) bulb synchronization. While electronic flashes could only sync up to 1/55, with a FP bulb you could sync up to maximum speed of 1/1000 sec. On the left side of the camera, surrounding the rewind crank, the S2 provides for +1/0/-1 adjustment of the FP synchronization to match the characteristics of the bulb used. As I'm one of those weirdos who actually has and uses bulb flashes, this is a happy feature for me.

One quirk of the camera is that at the 1/1000 second setting, the shutter speed dial doesn't "settle" all the way down. At first, I thought my camera was broken but all S2 units seem to do this. I finally obtained a copy of the original user's manual and it says that this is a feature, so I guess it is.

After using the S2 while in Japan, I have to say that I like this camera very much. The focusing is very easy with either the lens barrel or the focusing gear. The shutter wind lever is buttery smooth like all Nikons. I like the "CLACK-kle" sound of the shutter (the shutter curtain brake uses a counterweight system that adds a slight rattle to the end of the clack-sound, thus CLACK-kle). All in all, it's a flexible and user friendly camera.

One of the things that irritates me about the Nikon rangefinder system is that accessories are incredibly expensive. The original Nikon lens hood for the S2's 50mm f/1.4 (43mm filter diameter) retails for about $80 used in Japan. Fortunately, there is a great abundance of classic camera nerds in Japan too, and there's a couple of cameras that cater to that market. So I bought an off-brand 43mm hood that looks just as good as the original for $15.

The hood wasn't designed for rangefinders so it partially obscures the viewfinder. I think I'm going to make cut-outs for the viewfinder. I haven't decided whether to go for circles (which are easily made with my drill press) or oblong shapes which will take some more intense Dremeling. I later found a Walz brand hood designed specfically for the Nikkor 50mm f/1.4, so use that these days.

The Nikon S2 features what I call a "luke-warm" acccessory shoe. The standard hot-shoe with the flash synchronization contact in the center of the shoe had not yet been standardized. The S2 had its synchronization contact built into the stop-post at the end of the shoe. Unfortunately, this proprietary system did not catch on with other manufacturers who went with the middle-of-the-road .. err... shoe standard. So for most purposes, the Nikon S2's shoe is "cold" even though it purportedly has "hot" capabilities... thus its "luke-warm" status.

The Nikon rangefinder line is semi-compatible with Contax rangefinder lenses. The bayonet mount is the same, but the focusing cam is adjusted slightly differently (for historical reasons). For wide-angle lenses, this does not matter, but you can't use Zeiss telephoto lenses on the Nikon (and vice versa). When using the 35mm lens, you have to use an auxiliary finder. I use the KMZ Turret Finder, which works quite nicely. Here's my Nikon S2 with my favorite Digisix meter and the Soviet Jupiter-12 35mm f/2.8 lens (a clone of the Zeiss Biogon):

Technical Details

About Nikon / Nippon Kogaku

Nippon Kogaku K.K. (Japan Optics Corporation) started out in 1917 as the optics affiliate of the Mitsubishi conglomerate (who also made the Zero fighter plane). Nippon Kogaku originally made military optics such as gun sights and rangefinders; as well as scientific microscopes and telescope optics. In the 1930s, they made various optics for view cameras and also were an OEM supplier to Seiki Kogaku (now Canon Camera), making lenses for the early Canon rangefinder cameras. Nippon Kogaku actually produced all of the lenses for Canon (Seiki Kogaku) until 1947.

After the war, Nippon Kogaku needed a non-military market and they started making Leica and Contax-compatible lenses. They realized that they needed to produce a camera system of their own to meet the post-War demand, both commercial as well as for the U.S. military. After waffling on a TLR system (tentatively called the Nikoflex), they made the big jump of making their own rangefinder system, the Nikon I in 1948, which was loosely based around the horizontal shutter design of a Leica and the lens/rangefinder/body of a Zeiss Contax. American photojournalists covering the Korean and then Vietnam War discovered Nikon's Leica/Contax compatible lenses as being the equal or better of their Leica/Zeiss lenses; and the Nikon camera bodies proved themselves in the Korean conflict. Life magazine was instrumental in promoting the new camera system and lenses "back home." Nikon S, S2, S3, and SP cameras are now in hot-demand as both collectibles and great user-cameras.

The Nikon F camera series, released in 1959 (well after all of the other Japanese manufacturers had released their own SLRs), launched a new era in Nikon's history. The F was acclaimed as an extremely rugged camera and for four decades through its various iterations (F, F2, F3, F4, F5), ruled supreme as the photojournalist's camera of choice for photography in harsh conditions - from the Antartic to the Sahara.

In terms of body construction, Nikon uses the same simple-strong philosophy of Leica. Nikon cameras are not crammed with features, but because of this, they are simple to use and very reliable. Nikon is also a conservative company, staying a generation behind in terms of technological innovation in cameras (auto-focus; ultrasonic lenses; vibration reduction; and currently, full-frame digital). However, pros who prefer reliability over feature-cramming prefer Leica and Nikons, while people who want the latest tend to buy Canon. This has proven to be Nikon's achilles heel in the digital photography revolution and it has limped behind Canon.

Optically Nikon also follows the Leica philosophy of resolution over contrast. Canon and Contax have traditionally valued contrast over resolution, which makes for sharp and crisp photographs. Leica/Nikon photos are more muted, but there is more fine detail in the shadows and highlights. For more information, see Dante Stella's write-up.

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