Nikonos V – My Thoughts and Experiences – Is it really indestructible?

Seven years ago I had the misfortune of loosing all my photography gear to a wild fire. Apart from my digital kit, I had some exposed film and my beloved Nikonos V in my bag. It was devastating, I borrowed some gear to continue working and although there was nothing I could do about it, it bugged me a lot, especially the unprocessed film…!

Six months later, I come across an ad on FB Marketplace for a boxed never used Nikonos V!!! That is very Rare especially in my hometown of Athens Greece! Needless to say I felt like stars were aligning on my behalf and I bought it the same day. It was the only thing from all my gear that I felt I needed the most, that I felt was irreplaceable, but at the same time not exactly a priority, gear-wise, but still I had to have it.

Why am I telling you all this? I think that knowing the whole story behind my actions might give you a better idea of my fixation and experience with this unique camera.

The Nikonos V is the only camera I have managed to keep for the longest period of time and I am positive I will never sell it. Over the past 20 years I have had a plethora of cameras, Hasselblads, Mamiyas, Rolleis, Nikons, Canons you name it I had the curiosity and opportunity to see how they work and if they fit my photography. The minute I realise I don’t use a camera that often, it becomes a burden and a potential source of income to fund the next camera. I think its the fact that this camera has one purpose really and that is to shoot film underwater and to me it justifies its existence on my shelf.

The Nikonos V is an extremely heavy and vibrant looking chunk of metal, the orange one that is! the green one is much more low key. There are five lenses in total, the 35mm and the 80mm are amphibian. The rest of the lenses, the 15mm the 20mm and the 28mm are meant to only be used underwater. They are calibrated with the refraction properties of water and will not work above water. From what I have read this works because the first element of the lens touches the water and the water basically becomes part of the lens. I guess thats why the 35 and 80 have a flat piece of glass in the front. There are two different 28mm lenses designated UW and LW. One is Only! underwater and the other one Only! for land use. It still has O-rings and is moisture resistant but not meant to go underwater. The LW is from the very first line up of lenses and therefore harder to come by but be on the look out for the designation if you are shopping for one. The 35mm is a great lens that covers most needs. When you shoot it above water it is very sharp. Its the lens I use most often as it is the only one I own. The only other lens I’ve used is the 20mm which I borrow occasionally from a friend, very sharp and plenty wide for underwater shots.

Rule number one with the Nikonos V is always keep the O-rings lubed and free of cat hair and sand. Rule number two is always rinse it thoroughly after a dive, I let it sit in a bucket of fresh water for 10 minutes then rinse and repeat and then dry it and take out the film. Fresh water needs to wash away any salt residue around the seals. Think of it this way, fresh water has to go wherever salt water has been all day.

Rule number three is always change the O-rings once a year (depending on how many dives you had and how thorough you’ve been with rinsing) and have it checked by an experienced technician. Rule number four is never load new film between dives without first rinsing-drying and re-lubing ,something is bound to go wrong with all that sand around you. Rule number five is not to get stressed if you don’t do all of the above every time you dive with it, just don’t make it a habit, it will shorten your time with this camera.

I use it periodically over the summer months .It is always loaded with 3200 or 400 B&W film depending on the time of day and the depth, it helps to have a decent aperture to work with, which brings me to my next point, estimating focus distance.

Another thing I love about the Nikonos V and found out by accident, is that if you mount the lens upside down the scales are right-way up when you tilt the camera back to set aperture and focus! Ingenious! It takes time to learn and you can never be certain, especially underwater where your own eyes deceive you. While wearing a flat scuba mask, objects underwater will appear 33% bigger (34% bigger in salt water) and 25% closer than they actually are, so it is something to keep in mind, and that’s where faster film comes in. Having a working aperture of f8-f11 can help a lot with guesstimating distance in an environment that already has visual flaws.

One thing to keep in mind is the refraction and absorption properties of water. As a general observation light travels much shorter distances when it goes through water. Light with longer wavelengths is absorbed quicker than shorter wavelengths. Because of this, the higher energy light with short wavelengths, such as blue, is able to penetrate more deeply. That is the reason why the sea is blue when in reality water is clear. Knowing the effect water has on the visible spectrum can help you realise the final image and why, what you had in mind when taking the picture is so different!

I always use flippers and a small wrist strap, the weight of the Nikonos V can become overwhelming after a while if the water is not that shallow. The funny thing is that sometimes you think people can’t see you in the water taking pictures of them but trust me they do! and it seems even creepier than out in the streets. For that reason I think for about 80% of my photographs I don’t even look through the viewfinder, i just aim and shoot. I wish though the camera was a little more discreet! And not as orange as it is! As it is a dedicated underwater camera, its very rugged and can be used in heavy rainfall or snow or any situation where a normal camera would catastrophically fail. That being said I find it quiet heavy and would not recommend it as an all around camera, there are far too many other lighter options for that, whereas going underwater without a case and ports, there is really only one way and that is one of the iterations of the Nikonos cameras.

Thank you for reading, If you want to see more of my b&w images go to www.leonisg.gr

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