Shooting a Nikon S

<p>The Nikon S was not designed for standard film - the length was short. If I use a standard 35mm cartridge in this camera, will it work? Will the film advance line-up each frame properly? </p>

<p>I wonder why Japanese camera designers resisted the 35mm film format through three Nikon models - 1, M, and S?</p>

<p> </p>

Film advance is a function of the camera, so film advance will line up the film properly with whatever format the camera is

designed for. The problem is when you are printing with some automatic printer. Most of them will scan the film to line up

the frame. But some may not.

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<p>"I wonder why Japanese camera designers resisted the 35mm film format through three Nikon models - 1, M, and S?"</p>

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<p>Because it was a poor, but expedient choice by Oskar Barnack to use an overlong Double Cine Frame format in the first place. A conventional Cine frame of the time had a 4:3 aspect ratio, but when you put two of them side-by-side you get the odd 4:6 ratio we've been forced to get used to. A less oblong frame is much more generally useful and easier to compose into. It also gets you a couple more frames to the cassette.</p>

<p>A strange thought occurs to me. Had Barnack chosen a more traditional aspect ratio, would Henri Cartier-Bresson have insisted on cropping to a 3:2 ratio, or just have gone with the flow and used whatever frame size Leica provided?</p>

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<p>or just have gone with the flow and used whatever frame size Leica provided?</p>

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<p>Surely yes - he'd just get used to seeing the picture with whatever framing he'd been given to work with.</p>

<p>Interesting that Nikon tried 32 mm initially but then tried 34 mm before throwing in the towell and going with Leica's 36 mm. Why was that I wonder? </p>

 

<p>Not sure what you mean? My first Nikon was an S with a 50/1.4. I only used 35mm film cassettes in it for a couple decades. Worked fine.</p>

<p>The reason why I presented the question is that Stephen Gandy on Cameraquest indicted that the Nikon S was designed to be used by a non-standard film size of 24x34. </p>

<p> </p>

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<p>would Henri Cartier-Bresson have insisted on cropping to a 3:2 ratio</p>

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<p>Why should he have? </p>

<p>These Nikons used standard 35mm film, but they tried to set their own more logical to them frame lengths of 32 and then 34mm. It was more similar to cropping a shot than using non standard film.</p>

<p>Do you lose 1 mm off each each side with a Nikon S? </p>

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<p>"Do you lose 1 mm off each each side with a Nikon S?"</p>

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<p>No. You lose 2mm off one side. Or you gain a better aspect ratio.</p>

<p>Dieter. HCB was famous for never cropping the full-frame image from his Leicas, which had the now-standard 36x24mm (3:2) aspect ratio. It was a joke - sort of.</p>