Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2013/10/10
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Hello everybody. Had a wonderful time at the Photo Fair this past weekend, with my friend John Field as my guest sharing one of my three tables, and Larry Gubas and his delightful wife working the table next to us. Needless to say, the ongoing conversation was insightful and informative. During the show a rare and historically significant item dropped in my lap. Literally. A fellow handed a cased camera across my table to ask my opinion of it, the camera slid down my arm and plopped into my lap. A mighty fine thing I was sitting down with a lap to catch it because, much to my surprise, the camera inside that case was a true original 1949 Nikon M! And even better, it was wearing the extremely rare and precious Nikkor-S 5cm f/1.5 lens! Take a look: http://www.photographyhistory.com/NikonMa.jpg The camera was originally purchased for use in the old Kettering BioScience Laboratory in Sunnyvale, long before there was a "silicon valley", around 1950, by old man Kettering's son, who was stationed in Japan. When it was sent back to the USA, they engraved the bottom with a small acquisition code for tax purposes. The number refers to some long lost business ledger notation, and apparently several other pieces handed down from Kettering, microscopes and such, share this or similar engravings on them. The lab didn't survive the 1950's, the son became a doctor and took the camera with him when the old man died, and it was used for family shooting into the 1970's, until it was shoved into the back of a drawer and forgotten for nearly 40 years. Then when he died recently, his daughter rediscovered the camera and asked her husband if it might have value they could use to pay down medical bills. And that's why I'm handling it now... http://www.photographyhistory.com/NikonMb.jpg Other than the small engraved code on the bottom, it's a beauty. Not perfect, it's had a life, so there's the usual general soft wear from normal careful handling over the years. However, as you can see in the pics, it's a darn attractive example. http://www.photographyhistory.com/NikonMc.jpg Internally, it has a few of the problems you'd expect of a camera that sat in the dark, untouched for so many decades. The shutter curtains are dry and crinkling, but still intact. Remarkably, the shutter mechanism is strong and lively, and appears to be consistent throughout the speed range, even providing a dependable one second. Another surprise after so many years, the focusing mechanism is free and smooth, not gummy or stiff, but the rangefinder is frozen. The lens, like the camera, is cosmetically excellent, including bright unmarked glass surfaces. It has what appears to be round concentric mold streaks somewhere inside or behind the front element cell. Not the worst I've ever seen, the type of thing that might greatly reduce or even disappear with UV exposure, and frankly the lens would probably work just as it is, but still something the next owner might consider having cleared out professionally. As I mentioned earlier, the Nikkor-S 5cm f/1.5 lens, which was only provided with a limited number of Nikon M bodies, is actually even more rare than the camera, with probably fewer than 400 produced in bayonet mount, so this is a particularly noteworthy find. Oh, and it comes with its original cap. http://www.photographyhistory.com/NikonMd.jpg http://www.photographyhistory.com/NikonMe.jpg http://www.photographyhistory.com/NikonMf.jpg Okay, rather than make a mad dash to eBay, I wanted to first offer it here and a couple other camera collecting forums to see if any friends or members had an interest. The asking price is $6500, and I'll cover the cost of USPS Express Mail to any location in the world. Contact me directly at silver at well.com with any comments or questions. Many thanks and best wishes, David Silver