Product name: Nikon SP Limited Edition
with W-Nikkor 3.5 cm f/1.8, Serial Number Certificate, lens cap, lens hood, and camera case
Suggested retail price: 690,000 yen (724,500 yen including tax)
Order accepting period: January 14, 2005 to June 30, 2005
Start of sales: March 18, 2005; handed over to the customers at the shop counter
Number of units produced: 2,500

According to the records maintained at Mito Nikon, in July 2001, one year after start of shipment of the S3 replica model, the collection of the SP data was initiated. In the following August, two SP bodies were purchased from a pre-owned camera shop at Ginza, Tokyo. Furthermore, drawings were obtained from Nikon. Thus, the SP reproduction project including inspecting the viewfinder got started behind the scenes, though the formal project team was not yet formed.
Subsequently, the Nikon SP reproduction project was formally approved by Nikon in September 2002 and given the go-ahead. As in the case of the reproduction of S3, Mito Nikon was responsible for manufacturing the body, while Tochigi Nikon took charge of manufacturing the W-Nikkor 3.5 cm f/1.8 lens and the viewfinder optical system lens and prism which were to be released in combination with the body. Nikon Photo Products Inc. (present Nikon Imaging Japan Inc.)worked for marketing, officially launching the project.

In February 2003, trial manufacturing of the SP body was started at Mito Nikon in response to the go-ahead given by Nikon. In actuality, however, the project had already proceeded for about two years behind the scenes. The focus of the project was on the most difficult challenge of reproducing the universal viewfinder.
One of the significant differences between SP and S3 was the number of component parts. The total number of component parts was 895 for SP, compared to 816 for S3. For the lens and prism comprising the viewfinder, SP incorporated as many as 28 parts compared to 13 in S3, demonstrating that the SP had a very complicated construction.

The viewfinder of SP had been considered impossible to reproduce with the current manufacturing practices. However, Mito Nikon dismantled the SP purchased from the secondhand camera shop to carefully examine individual component parts and understand the construction of the viewfinder, and it reached to the projection that the viewfinder could be reproduced with the current techniques. Furthermore, due to the technical capabilities evidenced by the successful reproduction of S3, the eagerness for the revival of SP was increasingly enhanced. In practice, however, the engineers could not determine how the complicated viewfinder was fabricated in the days of the original SP.

The viewfinder of the SP features so-called couple finders having two viewing windows arranged side-by-side on the right and left. This allows selecting the appropriate field frame to match the lens mounted, wide-angle lenses in the left for focal lengths of 2.8 cm and 3.5 cm and standard to medium telephoto lenses in the right for focal lengths of 5 cm, 8.5 cm, 10.5 cm, and 13.5 cm. Field frame selection is available with the viewfinder selector installed to rotate around the rewind crank.

In addition to the difficult reproduction of the viewfinder mechanism, there was another difficulty: the method to increase the accuracy of the viewfinder was not discovered right away. However, the accuracy of the SP viewfinder is the biggest feature of the SP. The engineers were reportedly struggling to find the solutions for a half year while examining the viewfinder.
The viewfinder was assembled basically in accordance with the charts remaining in the drawings, though there was no clue regarding the assembly procedure. The engineers could not find any approach to define a position as a reference simply by looking at the drawings. In addition, even though they dismantled the purchased pre-owned SPs for reverse engineering, this could not help the engineers to define the references due to the individual differences between the used cameras.

It is not known how the cameras were fabricated and the accuracy was insured in the days of the original SP, when there were none of the lasers and other equipment for adjustment and testing and inspection of optical systems that are available today. When the engineers were trying to fabricate the viewfinder, they found that no document existed referring to the tools and materials used in those days. It was believed that, back then, the manufacturing staff might originally prepare the required tools. Moreover, individual engineers would have also made adjustment of the viewfinder separately. Based on the fact that a total of 23,000 units of SP, later appraised as an excellent machine, were shipped even under such circumstances, clearly the technical expertise of that time in the manufacturing division must have been outstanding. Every stage of the reproduction project pointed to the signs of the greatness of the technical skills in those days.
Mito Nikon eventually fabricated and installed an original system for the adjustment of the optical axis using a collimator and laser, and improved the accuracy of adjustment and also saved man-hours. Even so, individual tasks involved manual detailed operations, and it still took a great deal of time to assemble and adjust the viewfinder.

Looking into the viewfinder of the SP repro model, we find that the subjects look brighter and clearer than through the original SP. This can be partly attributed to the deteriorated visual performance of viewfinder on the original SP due to secular changes, though the reproduction model takes full advantage of the significantly enhanced performance of prisms and lens elements incorporated in the viewfinder, compared to the original model. The viewfinder on the repro model is superior to the original in visual performance and visibility.
However, surprisingly, there was a hidden trap caused by the enhanced optical performance. Light rays can pass through the viewfinder more smoothly and this causes the unexpected generation of ghost flare in the visual field of the viewfinder. Even any slight misalignment between prisms incorporated can be reflected as ghost flare.
For the ghost, a solution was established after much trial and error through fine position alignment between prisms by manually trimming some prisms constituting the viewfinder. The trimming involved hard work to achieve prism adjustments in the order of only 0.2 mm. Any excess trimming would deteriorate the principal optical performance. The solution was reinforced by coating the prism corners with black ink using a brush to block any detrimental stray light due to light reflection. This demonstrates the high level of technique achieved by elaborate hand work.

In addition, it took much time until the colors of the field frame in the viewfinder were determined. The couple finders were reproduced with the right-side frame colored in white for focal lengths of 5 cm to 8.5 cm, yellow for 10.5 cm and red for 13.5 cm. However, when examining an existing original SP, the frame colors are found changed due to aging and the original colors cannot be identified. The frame colors cannot be represented in any simple colors, and the trial and error method was used by mixing various colors. This shows how the engineers were stuck at such details because they aimed to achieve a faithful reproduction to the original.

Based on the experience gained in the reproduction of the S3, the procurement of component parts other than the viewfinder was started in due course. Again in this project, cooperation was received from the subcontractor companies that helped Nikon in the S3 reproduction project. The SP repro model was developed with the in-house identification code of M400. The experienced engineers in the subcontractor companies should have noticed to a certain extent what the code meant.
The trend of the present times is increasingly moving toward digitalization. Nikon has also been devoting its main efforts to the development of a digital SLR. Possibly, this project would be the last attempt to reproduce any classic camera; this was the feeling of not only Mito Nikon but also of the subcontractor companies that had been supporting Nikon for a long period of time.
For the etching of the serial numbers on the upper cover, which had been one of the difficult problems to deal with in the S3 reproduction project, the shipped SP was marked with serial numbers from 0001 through 2500 without any omission. Certainly, individual engineers enhanced their skill levels through their experience with the reproduction of the S3 replica model. Even so, it was a tough task to finish both the body and the lens up to the serial number 2,500 without any omission. We can imagine how necessary it was for all the parties involved, including Tochigi Nikon that took charge of the lens, to pay special attention to details in doing the jobs.
In particular, as the unit with serial number 0001 was going to be donated to the JCII Camera Museum, great care was exercised in fabricating the No. 0001 unit by preparing five (5) units for fabrication just to be sure, and the best one of them was shipped. In this regard, it was reported that only two of the five units were successfully completed, which shows that volume reproduction of vintage cameras is still difficult.

A big problem arose. The subcontractor company that manufactured the self-timers for the S3 replica model rejected the manufacturing of the self-timer as stating, “We cannot afford to manufacture the self-timers.” The domestic self-timer workshops had been closed. The S3 and SP incorporate the same type of mechanical self-timer. The self-timer features a complicated mechanism configured with a total of 58 component parts. In practice, it was not acceptable that only the self-timer would be different from that used in the original, therefore, there was no other choice for Mito Nikon but to fabricate the self-timer on its own.
Mito Nikon asked the subcontractor company to provide the drawings for the self-timer. Fortunately, the subcontractor company responded to the request by voluntarily transferring the drawings and special tools free of charge to Nikon. Moreover, the subcontractor introduced all the affiliates involved in the production of the self-timer to Nikon. It was an exceptional case that a manufacturer transferred all the know-how about a certain product at no charge. This was the result of a close rapport between engineers who could understand the significance of the project of reproducing the time-proven camera and the importance of transmitting the technical expertise.
The Mito Nikon staff in charge of the negotiations expressed their deep gratitude. When the drawings for the self-timer were transferred, the staff was suggested that it would cost a lot of money even if the self-timer could be reproduced. However, using creative devices, the self-timer was successfully reproduced as close as possible to the original at lower cost.
The mechanical self-timer generates a humming sound while in operation. Special attention was also paid to the operating sound and as a result, a close-to-the-original humming sound was achieved owing to the fine adjustment.

In March 2004, the SP was first shipped from Mito Nikon. In the camera market, digital cameras had assumed a dominant position, and the number of units produced was finally set at 2,500. Orders were taken starting in January 2005. Shipment of SP repro model was started in March 2005, immediately after the introduction of Nikon’s flagship of both film and digital cameras, Nikon F6 (December 2004) and Nikon D2X (February 2005). Thus the Nikon S model reproduction project, which Mito Nikon had been challenging up to the very limit of the technology, came to an end.
The SP repro model was realized based on the engineers’ eagerness to make things using skilled, hands-on human labor. All the persons involved were confident that they had created an object surpassing the original. This camera is close to the hearts of its creators.
A worker in Mito Nikon who was involved in the manufacturing gave his impressions of the project after completion stating, “I am very happy to feel its roots of Nikon cameras. We have faced an impossible challenge. It has been a soul-rattling project for all of us engineers involved.” He added, “You can understand its value when you use it.” These words speak for everything relating to the project.