Shoot, Rinse, Repeat.
NIkon Nikonos II by Nikon
By nathaniel cafolla
15 June 2007
An English teacher of mine lived by the phrase "Always start an essay with a quote". As this quote isn't relative to using an amphibious camera which is staring its fortieth birthday in the face for festival photography, here's a quote from the opening paragraph of the Nikonos II instruction manual; "The Nikonos II amphibious camera is built to go with you wherever your imagination leads you. Underwater, it performs at depths down to 160 feet (50m) without a bulky accessory housing. On land, it takes rain, snow, dust, dirt and salt water in its stride. If you can take it, so can the Nikonos". In my opinion, this bold statement sums up the Nikonos II and the attitude one should take when using this pillar of functional and effective design and also sums up the attitude of this camera.
I was fortunate enough to find my Nikonos. At first, I had no idea what I had discovered, nor, at the time, did I think that it would become one of favorite and most admired of my cameras. I was working in a branch of the irish Marine Institute as a summer bursar trying to get my foot in the hermetic door of the world of irish marine science when fate brought my Nikonos and I together.
The store room in the Marine Institute was a curious and interesting place. It had accumulated a catholic array of anachronistic bric-a-brac composed of years of forgotten personal effects, obsolete scientific equipment the bi-products of a once busy office environment. What made this room even more interesting was the knowledge that everything was going to be loaded into a dumpster and the building demolished in a matter of months. Everything was "rescueable". As I left the store-room, I scanned over a stack of shelves and my eyes stopped on the dimple-textured black metal body about the size of my fist. At first, I thought it was, part of the optics system of a deep sea ROV (remote operated vehicle). Then I spotted the familiar f-stops inside the front of the lens. It's charm took me immediately. After speaking to my supervisor and other four people in the building, it was mine.
After a short Google search I discovered it was the second in a series of self-contained underwater cameras produced by Nikon. The Nikonos 1 was based on a prototype design by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Jean de Wouters called the "Calypso-phot" and then lisecned by Nikon in 1963. The Nikonos II was debuted in 1968 sporting a few small improvements such as a direct flash connection for use underwater. Five lenses were available for the Nikonos II however, only two are amphious, the other three need water contact to work. The two amphibious lenses are a 35mm (f2.5) and an 80mm (f4).
This is my festival-going camera as it takes everything on the chin (as stated) and with the 35mm lens it fits comfortably in my back pocket. Even if I do manage to fall over backwards (aided or unaided) the Nikonos' rugged design will shake it off. Remember, it can take the pressure of 50m of water compressing it from every angle, so accidentally sitting on it shouldn't have any devastating effects.
While one may think that 80mm at f4 is limiting in gig or concert situations, one must bare in mind that this is a film camera and films capable of speeds of up to 1600 or even 3200 ISO can produce beautiful photos at f4. The 35mm lens boasts a proud f2.5 which enables it to pick out light in most situations given the right film. Shutter speeds are few but precise, offering 1/500 to 1/30 with the usual stops between. The shutter is mechanical and as reliable as day itself. This leads me to my next point. The Nikonos II is fully mechanical which eliminates the need for batteries. You won't understand just how fantastic not needing batteries feels until you have experienced it.
The small yet powerful Nikonos II is neither SLR or rangefinder, it's a scale focus camera meaning basically that there is nothing couple to the lens or rangefinder with which to gauge your focus. Instead, you simply estimate your distance between you and your subject and set your focus accordingly. Most of the time this will work out fine, you get better with practice!! As the Nikonos II is fully mechanical an internal light meter is not included. While this may strike you as a disadvantage I find that it's pretty hard to go wrong if you are using black and white film especially if you are shooting outside. If shooting inside in low light, nothing beats Ilford delta 3200.
The scale focus design and lack of light meter actually gives the photographer something in return; the ability to set up a shot without having to raise the camera to your eye. This gives the photographer the ability to be discrete which can make for some excellent natural portraits. Not having to raise the camera to your eye also gives you the advantage of not putting a machine between you and your subject, which, I feel can unnerve people.
So, austere minimal functional scale focus design, a bombproof exoskeleton with the ability to withstand anything including nuclear war, the ability to be descrete, a sharp and nifty Nikkor 35mm lens with the option of an 80mm and the charm and head-turning looks makes this camera the perfect accessory for the discerning festival photographer. Stick some delta 3200 in it and you have the ability to shoot just about anything. When I thought I had lost it once, I went straight onto ebay to buy another only to find it the next day sitting proudly in the boot of a car in a small pool of coolant leaked from a beer cooling system. When I found it there I could almost hear it whispering the words "Well. What took you? Give me a rinse and lets get on with this photography thing"
Truly my precious. Truly a legend.
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