Nikon S3

by Karen Nakamura

Overview and Personal Comments

Released in March of 1958, the Nikon S3 was the fourth in the S rangefinder series*. It was the junior version of the very sophisticated but very expensive Nikon SP. Unlike the SP with its multiple, gorgeous viewfinders, the S3 had a simpler and less-expensive single viewfinder design, harking back to the Nikon S2. If you're not familiar with the Nikon rangefinder series, read my report on the S2 before this page. Using the text or images on this website on an ebay auction or any other site is a violation of federal law.

The S3 was designed as the lower-cost alternative to the SP. It had a single viewfinder with fixed 35mm, 50mm, and 105mm framelines. There was no parallax correction or frame switching. In 1958, the S3 with 50mm f/1.4 was ¥86,000 compared to the SP which was ¥98,000. This was still a lot of money and the Nikons were priced to appeal only to professional photographers. Luckily, the Nikkor optics were clearly professional quality, matching or sometimes beating the offerings from Leitz or Zeiss.

From the front, the S3 looks almost identical to the older S2. The main differences are the self-timer; a slightly wider viewfinder window; and the Nikon logo is smaller. On the top plate, it's very different. The S3 has a non-rotating shutter-speed dial in black. The accessory shoe is now on the "stepped up" section of the top plate. The frame counter is recessed and automatically resets.

One area of major change was the shutter. While from the outside it looks similar, using rubberized cloth, internally they made several improvements. Curtain travel speed was increased so that 'X' sync speed was 1/60 second. The shutter speed dial no longer rotates. And the braking mechanism was changed from the counterweight system (which gave the S2 it's charateristic 'klackle' shutter sound) to a friction brake which was quieter. In 1959, the SP and S3 both gained the titanium foil shutter curtain from the Nikon F series. My S3 was an early unit with cloth shutters. The titanium shutters are more robust but a bit louder.

The S3 viewfinder has etched brightlines for 35mm, 50mm and 105 mm lenses. If you want to use other lenses, you need to use an external viewfinder. Since they are fixed, the display is a bit cluttered and they don't adjust for parallax. Not a huge deal, but it does feel a bit like Nikon was cutting corners.

The standard Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 takes absolutely stellar photographs. The later black aluminum one is optically identical to the earlier chromed brass one. I've shot a lot of the black and white photographs in my Japan 2003 Gallery using the Nikon S2. I also bought a Jupiter-12 35mm f/2.8 lens in Contax mount and took some of the photographs in the PAW 2003 series with that. My S3 came with the 105mm f/2.5 which is apparently a legendary lens that made the Nikkor lens series famous. I'll definitely have to give it a spin.

Nikon S2 vs S3 vs. SP

Compared to the S2, the S3 handles much better. With a non-rotating shutter dial, you don't have to worry about your shutter finger causing a shutter timing error by dragging against it by mistake. X-sync is now 1/60 marked in red, rather than a separate 'X' setting. The frame counter is self-resetting. There's a self-timer.

But one area where the S2 wins (other than cost) is the RF viewfinder. For some reason, S3 finders are dimmer than comparable S2 finders. I'm not sure what the cause is. I think I'll eventually have my S3 finder re-silvered since the RF spot is rather faint.

One thing that should me mentioned viz. a viz the SP is that the SP and S3 are identical, except for the finder. That is the only area where they are different and the S3 is clearly a professional quality camera. Other than the finder, you can completely interchange parts completely between the S3 and SP. Nikon wanted a single line that could produce two versions. Since the S3 was produced in much smaller numbers than the S2 or SP, I expect prices will eventually rise for them.

Comparion of the Later Nikon 'S' Series

Compared with other cameras of the late 1950s, the Nikon S3 was very expensive. The Nikon SP was one of the most complex and expensive rangefinders ever produced. At ¥86,000 the S3 was $60/¥12000 cheaper than the SP, but the Canon P in comparison was a measly ¥52,700. That's almost 50% more expensive! No wonder the P was sold in incredible quantities compared to their Nikon brethren.

Comparison with Other Cameras of the Period

Interesting quirks

The Nikon S3 features a standard PC sync socket with both X (electronic flash) and Focal Point (FP) bulb synchronization. While electronic flashes could only sync up to 1/60, with a FP bulb you could sync up to maximum speed of 1/1000 sec. The accessory shoe is "luke-warm" -- it has a proprietary flash sync socket located in front of it. Modern flashes will have to use the PC-sync socket on the left side of the body.

You switch between 'X' electronic flash and 'FP' flash bulbs by lifting up the shutter speed's outer ring slightly and rotating. This will cause a small dot in front of the shutter speed dial to change from 'red' (X) to 'green' (FP). For most of us in this century, we'd use the red dot setting with our electronic flashes.

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 Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 (43mm filter diameter) retails for about $80 on the used market in Japan. I bought an after-market Walz hood designed for the Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 that looks just as good as the original for $15 in the U.S.

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).

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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