Finally, the Nikon SP

[belgiumreporter]

Ever since i started collecting cameras i yearned for a Nikon SP. In the days before internet it was just impossible to find one here in Belgium, the few SP's wich were in Belgium must have been tucked away good by collectors or photographers who happened to have one. Each time i got a lead on one it allways ended up being a wild goose chase.

Then somewhere in the 80ties the internet started opening up international markets but even then the SP's were very elusive. Next problem were the prices. Collectiblend shows a nice price evolution on SP's being sold and some years ago price range went somewhere between 3 to 4000$ wich i thought really was to much for my budget.

But now things seem to have changed and prices dropped to a more affordable 1200 to 2000$ range. And then the miracle happened a very nice SP with 50mm 1.4 came up for sale in Germany and i was lucky to reach an agreement with the seller for an amount wich was acceptable to both of us. Now a week later the SP arrived in the mail and it is looking good indeed! Can't wait to take it out and see how it performs. No travelling though as we Antwerp cityzens are not allowed to leave Antwerp without going into quarantine (save for some exeptions) due to tighter corona restrictions.

So Finally after an allmost 50 years long hunt here it is:

[belgiumreporter]

Time for a little celebration with family and friends:

[dismayed]

Lovely camera. I was lucky to have acquired an Sp in early 2019 for a very good price. Quite nice to use. I'm looking forward to your updates!

[belgiumreporter]

Here's some first results i've got with the SP. I found the SP very restrictive, the 50mm only isn't my way of shooting.

Furthermore the rangefinder spot is difficult to work with, it takes a lot of time to find the right spot to focus on, the shot of the waterwell with the wrought iron on top was allmost inpossible to focus as it was so difficult to see if i was focussing on the wrought iron or on the houses in the back, on top of that, when searching for focus the infinity lock was constantly engaged and it isn't unlocked with the flick of a switch (i hate it!)

No lightmeter slows down shooting as well, even more so in high contrast/changing light conditions. All in all as much as i like the SP collector wise, i don't like it for shooting (has to to do with my style of shooting).

If it has to be a range finder i guess i like the Hexar more, even though it isn't a "real" rangefinder. Maybe one day i'll put in a roll of black and white, but for the time being the SP will stay on the shelve. Oh and by the way, the russian Jupiter 8M won't fit on the SP without applying force so i left that one alone, if i want to test it it will be on the Kiev.

I guess i really don't like rangefinders, must be why i sold the Contax G2 and leica M3 and M4 many years ago. I still have to try the Canon 7 and L2 not much hope for them as well... I used a over time Agfa slide film in the SP don't expect much for correct color, forgot to clean the matte glas on the slide copier so please don't mind the dust, didn't want to lose any more time on this project.

[julio1fer]

An F with rangefinder..Good results anyway!

Hope you get along better with the Canon 7. I like mine a lot.