Nikon S2
When did the things we consider to be standard become that standard? At first, it seems like asking a question like "Who put the alphabet in that order?" Often in looking at earlier versions of objects, it's not difficult to see when a standard came into being. Such is the case for the Nikon S2. Brought to market in 1955, it was not Nikon's first rangefinder camera, but it was the first to have several features that we now consider standard.
For instance, the Nikon S2 was the first of Nikon's rangefinders to feature a full 24x36mm frame size. Prior generations of Nikon rangefinders produced negatives that were 24x32mm and 24x34mm, but the S2 was the camera that brought Nikon up the the standard 3:2 ratio.
Other features that were introduced with the S2 included wind and rewind levers instead of knurled knobs. Anyone who has advanced or tried to change film when it's cold knows how much more comfortable levers are compared to the knobs. It's also telling that both of those are now standard on later 35mm cameras.
With the S2, Nikon adapted to another standard, which was the maximum shutter speed. While prior versions of Nikon's rangefinders had 1/500th of a second as their maximum shutter speed, the S2 did one better and allowed photographers to shoot at 1/1000th of a second.
Far from only catching up with what other manufacturers were producing, the Nikon S2 had a few innovations of its own, too. As the mid-1950s was a time when both bulb and electronic flashes were in use, camera manufacturers were looking for ways to allow photographers to use both. The Nikon S2 has a pc flash port that will work with either electronic or bulb flashes and it allows the user to choose the delay on bulb flashes to accommodate what part of the flash's brightness to use in the exposure. The S2 also came with a very bright 1:1 viewfinder and 50mm framelines.
So when you're looking at a more recent 35mm camera and wondering when some of these features became standard, think back to the Nikon S2 and realize how much you've come to appreciate all of those little things. Then you can go on to ponder what we did with all of those decimals before Dewey came up with a system.
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