I've gone and done it

[Phil_F_NM]

Originally Posted by Range-rover

Hi Phil,
Enjoy your new Nikon SP, That's a first for me to here someone traded a
Leica M9 for a Nikon SP.

Range

I look at it as an upgrade:
Battery INdependent
1:1 finder
No image buffer time
Ability to make silver prints or digital process prints/display
Film is available pretty much everywhere on earth
Latent images can be stored for months before processing
Lenses are way cheaper and just as good

I can go on and on.

Phil Forrest

[Trius]

Originally Posted by Phil_F_NM

I look at it as an upgrade:
Latent images can be stored for months before processing

Unless you shoot PanF+

[clayne]

Originally Posted by Trius

Unless you shoot PanF+

Not strictly true. Lets not be dramatic about it.

As far as other films go it's not just months it's more on the order of years.

[Jaans]

Originally Posted by Phil_F_NM

...at least I've made up my mind; resigned myself to the fact that I'm a film shooter.
After a few years of using digital rangefinders, first an RD1, then a pair of RD1s, then an M8, then an M8 and M9, then just an M9, I realize that all I want to do is get back to shooting film. The whole uphill upgrade path has only led me to more and more expensive digital cameras that I thought would be more like film and help with work but they only seem to act like similar camera with the shutter button in a similar location, is all. I've been wanting a digital camera that makes film images which is just the wrong way to go. So shuffling off the M9 and getting back to my beloved HC110 and D76 is my goal. I have one of the best scanners a mortal can own and I need to use it.

NOTE: This is not meant to be a digital vs film thread, it's more a "how I made up my mind to go with an SP over the other Nikons" thread.

I recently fell in love with the Nikon rangefinder lenses (2.8cm, 3.5cm f/2.5 and 5cm f/1.4) and the fact that they offer equal performance to their Leica or other contemporaries but at a much lower cost these days. Granted, I got a few good deals on those three lenses but I've NEVER bought a Leica lens for what I paid for any of the aforementioned three, aside from a user 5cm Elmar.

All that said...

I'm going back to film and I'm gunning for a Nikon SP with titanium curtains. if I can't find one, I have access to a few parted out Nikon F bodies with good curtains and I'll just keep one around for good measure and a possible future swap.

I've spent WAY too many hours looking at this screen, reading opinions on which Nikon RF to move into. S2? SP? S3?

I may get an S2 as well to use as a rear cap for my near mint 5cm f/1.4 lens (better rear cap than a Kodak film canister cap held on with a rubber band, if you ask me.) The big difference for me, and the main deciding factor, is the fact that the SP has parallax corrected framelines. If any other body had them, I'd go for that. The S3 and S2 are fantastic tools but I do a fair amount of close to medium shooting and don't really want to think about which corner I should be composing for when I'd rather be thinking about the scene itself.
So that's it.

Saying goodbye to digital once again, though I'm sure work and deadlines (when they come) will pull me back. Until then, I'm reloading my own canisters with Kodak Double-X and burning through the last two bricks of Plus-X in the mid-Atlantic region.
Good to be back.

Thanks for the film body GAS! It helped relieve the digital bloat.

Phil Forrest

What kind of film scanner do you own/recommend?

[Phil_F_NM]

Originally Posted by Trius

Unless you shoot PanF+

Not true at all. I took two bricks of PanF+ to Iraq in 2004 and shot through most of but waited months to process the negatives. In the meantime, this film was subject to intense heat multiple times and I couldn't see any difference. Yes, I wasn't making fine art but the film is fine stored even for 6 or 7 months.

Originally Posted by Jaans

What kind of film scanner do you own/recommend?

I have a Nikon LS-4000 and couldn't recommend the Nikon scanners highly enough.

Phil Forrest

[Range-rover]

Originally Posted by Phil_F_NM

I look at it as an upgrade:
Battery INdependent
1:1 finder
No image buffer time
Ability to make silver prints or digital process prints/display
Film is available pretty much everywhere on earth
Latent images can be stored for months before processing
Lenses are way cheaper and just as good

I can go on and on.

Phil Forrest

Phil,
What you said is all true.

Range

[Dfin]

You say that you sold the M9 in a PARTIAL trade for an SP ? Have M9s devalued that much ? An SP2000 can be had for around $4500us or have prices shot up recently ?

[clayne]

4500$ for a camera? You guys are nuts!

[Phil_F_NM]

Originally Posted by Dfin

You say that you sold the M9 in a PARTIAL trade for an SP ? Have M9s devalued that much ? An SP2000 can be had for around $4500us or have prices shot up recently ?

I traded the M9 for an SP and cash.

But the M9s do depreciate really fast.

Phil Forrest

[Range-rover]

That's one thing about Digital Cameras they do that, but a good Rangefinder
camera seems to hold there value better.

Range

[migtex]

Originally Posted by Phil_F_NM

I traded the M9 for an SP and cash.

But the M9s do depreciate really fast.

Phil Forrest

That says it all!

My D2h and D200 have less value together than my FM2/T or S2 BD alone, besides no one wants to buy them but the Film ladies it's the opposite.

[Phil_F_NM]

...annnnnnd just like I said I would, I wound up with an S2 as well.
A friend of mine offered me his S2 with 5cm f/1.4 Nikkor to me for a whopping $300.
I had to take the deal so I got the camera body and now Ben has the sweet 5cm lens on his SP.

I've noticed the S2 is a bit louder than the SP but it has a different feel as well. The slow speeds are a bit wonky too. Sometimes they are perfect (not slow or dragging) and sometimes they all act like Bulb.

Phil Forrest

[enasniearth]

Originally Posted by Phil_F_NM

...annnnnnd just like I said I would, I wound up with an S2 as well.
A friend of mine offered me his S2 with 5cm f/1.4 Nikkor to me for a whopping $300.
I had to take the deal so I got the camera body and now Ben has the sweet 5cm lens on his SP.

I've noticed the S2 is a bit louder than the SP but it has a different feel as well. The slow speeds are a bit wonky too. Sometimes they are perfect (not slow or dragging) and sometimes they all act like Bulb.

Phil Forrest

No pictures of the Nikon's , you were not joking when you go all film .

[Phil_F_NM]

Yeah, I have to borrow a digital to take digital photos!
I suppose I could take a snap or two with my phone but the "camera" in that is dismal.
I've been traveling for the last week so no images to post yet. I'll be developing a good amount of film in a few days then I'll have something to show.
Not being tethered to electricity is so liberating!

Phil Forrest

[Range-rover]

Phil,
Enjoy your S2 how's the finder in that?

Range

[Phil_F_NM]

The S2 finder is great. Very nice big frameline. The rf spot could use a little more contrast and I'll be cleaning it soon.

Phil Forrest

[Range-rover]

Hi,
Once you get in there and clean it out, it's much much better
at times in the right light it really nice.

Range